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soc factors on language (GENDER (LAKOFF 1975 Made it clear that she was…
soc factors on language
AGE-It has been suggested, by linguists, Dan Clayton and Rob Drummond, that there is something ‘inevitable’ in younger generations developing their own way of talking and writing.
The desire to create a new identity - separate from their parents’ - is a natural stage of adolescent development.
GENDER
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There are four primary theories that mark the twentieth century gender debate. What three of them have in common is that they define and judge women’s language against that used by men:
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Otto Jespersen 1922-
Argued that ‘women much more often than men break off without finishing their sentences, because they start talking without having thought out what they are going to say.’
Also argued that women’s language could simply be typified as ‘lively chatter’
criticism- he would be classified as a folk linguistic today
LAKOFF 1975 Made it clear that she was looking at a very specific group of women - American, white, middle class and educated - but her findings were interpreted as relating to all women. Labelled women’s spoken language in a way that implied an almost complete dissimilarity from men’s language, and characterised it as having ‘linguistic features that highlight women’s uncertainty and powerlessness’.
lakoffs features
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Fishman 1980
The ‘dominance’ approach occurred against the historical and political backdrop of second-wave feminism, which had a central goal of removing gender inequality.
This approach understands men as positioned above women because of their social and political power. From a language perspective:
Men were seen as using language as a means of reinforcing or maintaining their power in conversations,
Zimmerman & West (1975) found that men were responsible for 96% of interruptions in mixed-sex conversations
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Suggests that women are the ones who initiate conversation and try to maintain conversation, an action she refers to as ‘conversational shitwork’.
Fishman accepts that this is due to male dominance - males are reluctant to do this role because of what they perceive to be their dominant role.
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In her book ‘You Just Don’t Understand: Men and Women in Conversation’ she established ‘six contrasts’ between the language of men and women.
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Judith Butler 1990-
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Argues that we are constantly engaged in constructing gender - gender is something we do, not what we are.
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GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
Accommodation theory is a theory of communication developed by Howard Giles. It argues that, "When people interact they adjust their speech, their vocal patterns and their gestures, to accommodate to others
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