‘The next teacher is going to be…Tereza Rico’ : exploring Gender Positioning in an all-girl Preschool Classroom

Abstract

This article sets out a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis, FPDA, approach to examine gender positioning in an all-girls preschool classroom in Colombia where English is mostly taught/learnt as a foreign language (EFL). After selectively describing findings in the field of gender and young children's language use and concentrating on features of poststructuralism, I move on to briefly sketch FPDA. Then the analysis of an EFL class segment called Talk Circle will be developed. I will posit that the EFL classroom seems to be an environment in which femininities could be constructed and encouraged, or diminished and constrained through the interplay of competing discourses. Finally, I will mention an avenue for further research for those interested in the discursive analysis of gender, early childhood and EFL education using FPDA.