Emphasis on Cross-Gender Communications
Language is a learned social behavior. That is, conversation is fundamentally a cultural ritual that begins in childhood, and understanding the interpretation correctly will require a certain type of response. Deborah Tannen suggest that men and women differ in cultural language patterns, specifically with regards to conversational rituals.
To elaborate Tannen suggest that men use language to negotiate their ‘status’ and to protect their independence. That is, men (boys) perceive that there is a hierarchical structure social order and not every man (boy) is equal. Due to this notion of inequality
(in language), most men grow up and expect that language is a tool best utilized to prevent from being “pushed …show more content…
Women on the other hand, are more cooperative and use language to define and explain similarities to create friendship and ‘connection’. That is they are socially less concerned with competition and taking the “center stage” (Tannen, 2004) within a group and emphasize more on the connection of the relationship. Interestingly, her observational studies in same-sex conversations revealed the efforts of men (boys) displayed trying to be competitive, women, (girls) displayed the same amount of effort trying to be equal (even if they’re were not). Her studies indicate that men and women
(again, beginning in childhood) practice conversational rituals quite differently and in order to reduce misunderstanding one should be cognitive of these vital gender differences. Tannen studies suggest women are more indirect and men are more direct when communicating. However, for both women and men, the usage of indirectness and directness will greatly vary in different environmental situations. Tannen states that through the process of communicating indirectly, “we attempt to consider and balance our needs with others and to obtain a sense of idea and physical reactions that
Language is a learned social behavior. That is, conversation is fundamentally a cultural ritual that begins in childhood, and understanding the interpretation correctly will require a certain type of response. Deborah Tannen suggest that men and women differ in cultural language patterns, specifically with regards to conversational rituals.
To elaborate Tannen suggest that men use language to negotiate their ‘status’ and to protect their independence. That is, men (boys) perceive that there is a hierarchical structure social order and not every man (boy) is equal. Due to this notion of inequality
(in language), most men grow up and expect that language is a tool best utilized to prevent from being “pushed …show more content…
Women on the other hand, are more cooperative and use language to define and explain similarities to create friendship and ‘connection’. That is they are socially less concerned with competition and taking the “center stage” (Tannen, 2004) within a group and emphasize more on the connection of the relationship. Interestingly, her observational studies in same-sex conversations revealed the efforts of men (boys) displayed trying to be competitive, women, (girls) displayed the same amount of effort trying to be equal (even if they’re were not). Her studies indicate that men and women
(again, beginning in childhood) practice conversational rituals quite differently and in order to reduce misunderstanding one should be cognitive of these vital gender differences. Tannen studies suggest women are more indirect and men are more direct when communicating. However, for both women and men, the usage of indirectness and directness will greatly vary in different environmental situations. Tannen states that through the process of communicating indirectly, “we attempt to consider and balance our needs with others and to obtain a sense of idea and physical reactions that