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Gender and Language (Language Similarities and Differences by Gender…
Gender and Language
Language Similarities and Differences by Gender
Reasons for Communicating
Similarity: The goal is usually similar, both want to build and mantain social relationships
Difference: Is in how they go about accomplishing the goal. Men usually try to make conversation fun by inserting bad jokes, while Women focus more on feelings.
Also, Men are more likely to use speech to complete the job at hand rather than nourish relationships.
Conversational Style
Similarity: Both Men and Women view topics raised by Women as tentative, as compared to when topics raised by Men, which is viewed as something to be pursued.
Difference: Women ask more questions in a mixed-sex conversation than Men do. Text messages by Woman are often more expressive than those sent by Men.
Content
Difference: Female friends discuss relational topics while Male friends discuss recreational topics
Similarity: Work, Movies, and Television
Nongender Variables
Research showed that gender doesn't play as big a part as people previously thought it did. Three sex roles are seen to be more important.
Androgynous
Anything in between
Masculine
More dominant style of speaking.
Feminine
More submissive style of speaking
Understanding Gender Differences in Language Use
Social Factors
Society views Men as breadwinner and to be depended upon. So they will be more likely to pick up a task-focused instrumental style of speaking while women pick up a more affective language.
Biological Factors
High testosterone levels lead to more competitive styles of speaking and may cause a more emotional reaction when experiencing setbacks. Less likely to engage in emotional and socially connecting languages.
Cannot view testosterone as anti-social and estrogen as emotional.
Hormones are one factor, but not the most important one.
Transcending Gender Boundaries
Neither Male or Female styles of speaking can be effective at all times. So obviously, one must be able to use both styles effectively in order to be a better speaker and user of the language.