Theories to know: Language + gender
Language + gender
Theories to know:
Robin Lakoff: Deficit Approach (1975) 'Language and Woman's Place
1. Women use precise discrimination's in naming colours.
2. Women avoid swear words
3. Women use hyperbolic or 'empty' adjectives (eg. sweet, lovely...)
4. Women use intensive 'so'
5. Women use tag questions (could be to seek approval or create a dialogue)
6. Rising intonation in answering questions
7. Hedges (To be assertive or polite)
8. Hypercorrect grammar and superpolite forms
9. Women don't tell jokes
10. Women speak in italics
Criticisms: Pamela Fishman
The conclusion she drew was very different to Lakoff. She argued that questions are used by females to start conversation and to continue dialogue, she calls this "conversational shitwork". Fishman accepts this is down to male dominance. Males are reluctant to do this "shitwork" due to their dominant role.
Zimmerman & West: Dominance Approach (1975)
The theory that in mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women. They report that in 11 conversations between men and women, men used 46 interruptions, but women only 2.
Criticisms:
Geoffrey Beattie
Why do interruptions reflect dominance? Can interruptions not arise from other sources? Do some interruptions not reflect interest and involvement? "...you might simply have one very voluble man in the study which has a disproportionate effect on the total..."
O'Barr & Atkins
They studied the language of the courtroom, and found female lawyers to be assertive and interrupt. Both sexes, however, used weak "female" language. They concluded that these weak language traits are actually "powerless language" rather than a "female language".
Jenny Cheshire
Overall, boys used non-standard forms (e.g 'aint') more frequently than girls did. Cheshire concluded that "variation is controlled by both social and linguistic factors". In boy's speech, variation is governed by norms that are central to the vernacular, culture, these are transmitted through peer group, however in girls' speech it's a more personal through peer group, however in girls' speech it's a more personal process. So, does our language very from a young age?
Deborah Tannen: Difference Approach (1990) - "You Just Don't Understand"
She believes the difference starts in childhood, where parents use more words about feelings to girls and use more verbs to boys. Males and females belong to different sub-cultures ad therefore speak differently. She claims that there are 6 differences between the ways males and females use language.
1. Status vs. support - men see language as a means of asserting dominance; women see it as a way of confirming/supporting ideas.
2. Independence vs. intimacy - men 'go it alone'; women seek support
3. Advice vs. understanding - men see language as problem solving; women see it as a means of empathy
4. Information vs. feelings - males are concerned with the facts; women with emotions
5. Orders vs. proposals - men use imperatives; females use hidden directives
6. Conflict vs. compromise - men will argue; women will try to find a middle ground
Criticisms:
Theories to know:
Robin Lakoff: Deficit Approach (1975) 'Language and Woman's Place
1. Women use precise discrimination's in naming colours.
2. Women avoid swear words
3. Women use hyperbolic or 'empty' adjectives (eg. sweet, lovely...)
4. Women use intensive 'so'
5. Women use tag questions (could be to seek approval or create a dialogue)
6. Rising intonation in answering questions
7. Hedges (To be assertive or polite)
8. Hypercorrect grammar and superpolite forms
9. Women don't tell jokes
10. Women speak in italics
Criticisms: Pamela Fishman
The conclusion she drew was very different to Lakoff. She argued that questions are used by females to start conversation and to continue dialogue, she calls this "conversational shitwork". Fishman accepts this is down to male dominance. Males are reluctant to do this "shitwork" due to their dominant role.
Zimmerman & West: Dominance Approach (1975)
The theory that in mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women. They report that in 11 conversations between men and women, men used 46 interruptions, but women only 2.
Criticisms:
Geoffrey Beattie
Why do interruptions reflect dominance? Can interruptions not arise from other sources? Do some interruptions not reflect interest and involvement? "...you might simply have one very voluble man in the study which has a disproportionate effect on the total..."
O'Barr & Atkins
They studied the language of the courtroom, and found female lawyers to be assertive and interrupt. Both sexes, however, used weak "female" language. They concluded that these weak language traits are actually "powerless language" rather than a "female language".
Jenny Cheshire
Overall, boys used non-standard forms (e.g 'aint') more frequently than girls did. Cheshire concluded that "variation is controlled by both social and linguistic factors". In boy's speech, variation is governed by norms that are central to the vernacular, culture, these are transmitted through peer group, however in girls' speech it's a more personal through peer group, however in girls' speech it's a more personal process. So, does our language very from a young age?
Deborah Tannen: Difference Approach (1990) - "You Just Don't Understand"
She believes the difference starts in childhood, where parents use more words about feelings to girls and use more verbs to boys. Males and females belong to different sub-cultures ad therefore speak differently. She claims that there are 6 differences between the ways males and females use language.
1. Status vs. support - men see language as a means of asserting dominance; women see it as a way of confirming/supporting ideas.
2. Independence vs. intimacy - men 'go it alone'; women seek support
3. Advice vs. understanding - men see language as problem solving; women see it as a means of empathy
4. Information vs. feelings - males are concerned with the facts; women with emotions
5. Orders vs. proposals - men use imperatives; females use hidden directives
6. Conflict vs. compromise - men will argue; women will try to find a middle ground
Criticisms:
- No concrete evidence
- Separates men and women into binary groups and assumes that there's only 2 genders
- In what context is this true? - work, family, friends
Janet Hyde: Dynamic Approach (2005) Gender similarities Hypothesis
There are more similarities than differences between male and female language. Where there are differences, this could be due to a number of other variable: age, class, ethnicity, education, occupation, sexuality, politics etc...
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