A Level Language And Gender

Front 1

Lakoff

Back 1

Theory - deficit approach

Key idea- women's language is weaker than men's due to the way women have been socialised.

A01- Hedges, empty adjectives, super-polite forms, avoid taboo, tag questions, indirect requests.

Criticism - outdated (70s)

Ignores multi-functionality of language.

Front 2

O Barr and Atkins

Back 2

•1980s

.Studied the language variation betweenmen and women in courtrooms for 30-months.

. Many of the so called 'women's features' were actually used by the powerless.

.They concluded that thatlanguage differences are based on situation-specific authority or power and notgender.

Front 3

Janet Holmes

Back 3

.1992

Multifunctional language-critiqued Lakoff

•Holmes suggests that rather than being mere signs of weakness, tag questions are multi-functional.

Holmes also suggests that many other features of so-called ‘women’s language’, for example lexical hedges and fillers are used for a variety of functions.

Front 4

Tannen

Back 4

Difference Approach

Gender differences being down to men and women being from different 'subcultures'.

• Independence vs Intimacy
• Status vs Support
• Competitiveness vs collaboration
• Advice vs understanding
• Information vs feelings

Criticisms -based on anecdotal data.

Front 5

Coates -Men Talk

Back 5

Sample size-wide-ages 15-60-various parts of UK, mixture of social classes

Features of men's talk

• impersonal topic choice
• 'playing the expert'
• rapid fire talk
• lack of overlapping

Wider reading -Men Talk (Coates)

Front 6

Fishman

Back 6

(1980)

'Conversational ---- work'

Women do all the work to keep conversations going, therefore tag questions can be a sign of women supporting men involved rather than weakness.

Front 7

Zimmerman and West

Back 7

(1970s)

Theory

Dominance Approach -men are more dominant in conversations

They found in a study of conversations that 96% of interruptions made by men.

Criticisms

Very small sample size. One particularly dominant male could skew the data.

White middle class sample

Ignores contextual factors such as positions of power.

Doesn't differentiate between interruptions and overlaps.

Front 8

Cameron

Back 8

Theory

Dynamic approach

We are constantly 'creating' our gender identity and this changes depending on the context. Talks of performing gender roles.

Also stresses range of masculinity and femininities.

Front 9

Hyde

Back 9

Theory

Gender Similarities hypothesis

Meta-study

Analysis of a large sample of various studies showed that there was no statistically significant difference in language features looked at.

Features looked at: interruptions, assertiveness,

affiliate speech, self disclosure

Criticisms -impossible to explore context.

Front 10

GeoffreyBeattie

Back 10

claimsto have recorded some 10 hours of tutorial discussion and some 557interruptions (compared with 55 recorded by Zimmerman and West). Beattie foundthat women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency (men 34.1,women 33.8) - so men did interrupt more, but by a margin so slight as not to bestatistically significant.

Front 11

DeborahJones' 1990 study of women's oral culture, which she (Jones) calls Gossip andcategorizes in terms of

Back 11

•HouseTalk - its distinguishing function is the exchange of information and resourcesconnected with the female role as an occupation.•Scandal- a considered judging of the behaviour of others, and women in particular. Itis usually made in terms of the domestic morality, of which women have beenappointed guardians.•Bitching- this is the overt expression of women’s anger at their restricted role andinferior status. They express this in private and to other women only. Thewomen who bitch are not expecting change; they want only to make theircomplaints in an environment where their anger will be understood and expected.•Chatting- this is the most intimate form of gossip, a mutual self-disclosure, atransaction where women use to their own advantage the skills they have learnedas part of their job of nurturing others.

Front 12

Deborah Cameron and verbal hygiene

Back 12

women havebeen instructed in the proper ways of talking just as they have been instructedin the proper ways of dressing, in the use of cosmetics, and in other“feminine” kinds of behaviour.