Female students’ participation and performance in peer-led language learning (PLLL) in EFL classrooms: Bahir Dar University second year textile engineering students in focus

Abstract

This study examines the involvement and performance of female second-year Textile Engineering students in a classroom setting where language learning is driven by peers. One hundred eight female students, spread across 6 sections, made up the total 351 pupils. In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting, three teachers were teaching the course "Communication Skills" to those students as English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. Three male students from each of the three parts, 34 female students from three sections, and all three teachers were chosen using convenience sample and purposive sampling procedures. Data was gathered using focus groups, document analysis, classroom observations, and interviews. The results indicated that female students' involvement in the Peer-Led Language Learning (PLLL) process was extremely low or unsatisfactory, but that the introduction of peer-led team learning improved the performance of female students as a whole.