Research Article | | Peer-Reviewed

A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom

Received: 17 October 2025     Accepted: 29 October 2025     Published: 9 December 2025
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

This study’s main goal was to compare the English language achievement of female students in an all-girl school and a mixed-sex school within the Ethiopian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. The findings, motivated in part by the observation that female students tend to have higher levels of "language-related anxiety," which affect their performance in the environment surrounding them at school. The research involved 92 grade 9 female students from both Pharo (Homosha) Boarding School, an all-girl school, and Bambassi Secondary School, mixed sex school. The study was conducted using a causal-comparative design. Semi-structured interviews were added to the data obtained by analyzing documents from students' English achievement records during their second semester. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to measure differences in achievement across the two groups. The mixed-sex school students had a slightly higher average grade in English achievement than those from the only-girl school, but the difference was not statistically significant (p =.068) according to the result. Even though school type has some influence on English achievement, the findings also indicate that other factors such as teaching style and school resources are equally important, as psychological factors like speaking anxiety can also have an impact.

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14
Page(s) 154-159
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

English Achievement, Single Sex School, Mixed Sex School, Language Related Anxiety

References
[1] Awol, E. (1999). The role of English in Ethiopian education. Addis Ababa University Press.
[2] Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (2nd ed.). Longman.
[3] Cherney, I. D., & London, K. (2006). Gender-linked differences in the toys, television shows, computer games, and outdoor activities of 5- to 13-year-old children. Sex Roles, 54(9-10), 717-726.
[4] Dale, R. R. (1974). Mixed or single-sex school? Volume I: A research study of the effects of school type on student achievement and attitudes. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
[5] Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
[6] Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
[7] Ganschow, L., & Schneider, E. (2006). Fostering foreign language learning in students with language learning difficulties: Effective instructional strategies. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 21(3), 283-299.
[8] Hyde, J. S. (2005). The sex similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592
[9] Jones, M. G., Howe, A., & Rua, M. J. (1972). Gender differences in students’ experiences, interests, and attitudes toward science and scientists. Science Education, 86(4), 493-505.
[10] Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Pergamon Press.
[11] Lee, V. E., & Bryk, A. S. (1986). Effects of single-sex secondary schools on student achievement and attitudes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(5), 381-395.
[12] Ministry of Education. (2002). The education and training policy of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Author.
[13] Pahlke, E, Bigler, R. S., &Martin, C, L. (2014). Gender and play: The role of gender identity and gender segregation. Sex Roles, 70(9-10), 454-468.
[14] Simpkins, S. D., Davis-Kean, P. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2006). Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs. Developmental Psychology, 42(1), 70-83.
[15] Rovai, A. P., Baker, J. D., & Ponton, M. K. (2013). Social science research design and statistics: A practitioner’s guide to research methods and IBM SPSS analysis. Watertree Press.
[16] Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2019). Using multivariate statistics (7th ed.). Pearson Education.
[17] Warner, R. M. (2013). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Leta, A. M., Ahmed, S. A., Bonda, D. T. (2025). A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom. English Language, Literature & Culture, 10(4), 154-159. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Leta, A. M.; Ahmed, S. A.; Bonda, D. T. A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2025, 10(4), 154-159. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Leta AM, Ahmed SA, Bonda DT. A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2025;10(4):154-159. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14,
      author = {Abiyot Mosissa Leta and Sherif Ali Ahmed and Desalegn Tolesa Bonda},
      title = {A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom},
      journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
      volume = {10},
      number = {4},
      pages = {154-159},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20251004.14},
      abstract = {This study’s main goal was to compare the English language achievement of female students in an all-girl school and a mixed-sex school within the Ethiopian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. The findings, motivated in part by the observation that female students tend to have higher levels of "language-related anxiety," which affect their performance in the environment surrounding them at school. The research involved 92 grade 9 female students from both Pharo (Homosha) Boarding School, an all-girl school, and Bambassi Secondary School, mixed sex school. The study was conducted using a causal-comparative design. Semi-structured interviews were added to the data obtained by analyzing documents from students' English achievement records during their second semester. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to measure differences in achievement across the two groups. The mixed-sex school students had a slightly higher average grade in English achievement than those from the only-girl school, but the difference was not statistically significant (p =.068) according to the result. Even though school type has some influence on English achievement, the findings also indicate that other factors such as teaching style and school resources are equally important, as psychological factors like speaking anxiety can also have an impact.},
     year = {2025}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Comparative Study on English Language Achievement of Female Students Between Only-Girl School and Mixed-Sex School in EFL Classroom
    AU  - Abiyot Mosissa Leta
    AU  - Sherif Ali Ahmed
    AU  - Desalegn Tolesa Bonda
    Y1  - 2025/12/09
    PY  - 2025
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14
    T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
    JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
    JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
    SP  - 154
    EP  - 159
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-2413
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20251004.14
    AB  - This study’s main goal was to compare the English language achievement of female students in an all-girl school and a mixed-sex school within the Ethiopian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. The findings, motivated in part by the observation that female students tend to have higher levels of "language-related anxiety," which affect their performance in the environment surrounding them at school. The research involved 92 grade 9 female students from both Pharo (Homosha) Boarding School, an all-girl school, and Bambassi Secondary School, mixed sex school. The study was conducted using a causal-comparative design. Semi-structured interviews were added to the data obtained by analyzing documents from students' English achievement records during their second semester. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to measure differences in achievement across the two groups. The mixed-sex school students had a slightly higher average grade in English achievement than those from the only-girl school, but the difference was not statistically significant (p =.068) according to the result. Even though school type has some influence on English achievement, the findings also indicate that other factors such as teaching style and school resources are equally important, as psychological factors like speaking anxiety can also have an impact.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Sections