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Gender differences in Language Theories - Coggle Diagram
Gender differences in Language Theories
Dominance model
Men
have
traditionally
had
more power
in society and
women
have been used to being
subservient
This causes
language differences
between the genders.
Theorists that go with this model:
Zimmerman and West 1975
They report that in
11 conversations
between men and women,
men used 46 interruptions
, but
women only used 2.
Men are seen as
controlling and dominant in mixed-sex interactions
.
In a small study,
96% of interruptions
in mixed-sex conversations were
made by men.
Limitations of Zimmerman and West's research on the Dominance model:
70s
- lack of validity as contemporary society has changed, as well as the development of opinion/role of women
Use of tape recorders
- not as reliable as only a limited amount can be stored on them
Small sample
(lack of representation in the data) of
students
(age, ideologies are similar)
Wide spread comments = general.
Significant generalisations
based on a small amount of data
Beattie 1982 - critical of Z and W
Ester Greif 1980
Adds to Zimmerman and West's findings --
Greif found that:
Both parents
interrupt daughters more than sons
Fathers
interrupt
more
than mothers
Dale Spender
Advocates a
radical view
of languages as
embodying structures that sustain male power.
Refers to Z and W, to the view of the
male as norm
and to her own idea of patriarchal order.
Claims that it is
especially difficult
to challenge this
power system
, since the way that we think of the world is part of, and reinforces, this male power
Pamela Fishman
Argues that in
Interaction: the Work Women Do
that conversation between the sexes sometimes fails,
not
because of anything inherent in the
way women talk
, but because of
how men respond
In
Conversational Insecurity
Fishman questions Lakoff. Lakoff suggests that asking questions shows women's insecurities and hesitancy in communication, whereas Fishman looks at
questions as an attribute of interactions
: Women ask
questions because of the power
of these, not because of their personality weaknesses
Fishman also claims that in
mixed-sex language interactions
,
men
speak on average for
twice as long
as women
Deficit model
Men's
speech is the
standard
that all language is measured by.
Women's
speech falls
short and is weak
.
Theorists that go with this model:
Lakoff 1975
Stated that women's language consists of a prevalence of these methods in conversation:
Hedges
e.g. 'sort of'
Super polite forms
e.g. 'Would you mind...'
Tag questions
e.g. 'Isn't it?'
Empty adjective
e.g. 'lovely' or 'nice'
Germaine Greer
'Comments sent to a blog I came across bewail tendency of female comics to work around the
themes of 'bras, periods, chocolate, WeightWatchers'
Janet Holmes 1992
Tag questions
- not a sign of uncertainty but a sign of politeness. They also help keep conversation going
Mills 1991
Sees feminine styles of speech as a
mechanism of social control.
This means that women try to be 'nice' and 'ladylike' and carefully monitor their
behaviour to ensure it is appropriate
Any other factors that may help to explain why speakers use language in this way:
Social Status
-
more important to women
than men - speech can be taken as an indicator of social class, so women make more effort to
conform to standard usage
in an effort to
demonstrate their respectability
Subordinate position
of women has a major impact too
Society's expectations of women
- Society expects
'better' behaviour from women
than men. This begins in childhood when boys' misbehaviour is tolerated more than girls
Society also expects
women to play the dominant tole in child rearing
, and this includes providing children with model's of
'correct' speech for them to imitate
Overt and Covert Prestige
- approach shifts the focus towards men: Men associate non-standard forms with masculinity and toughness
Difference model
There
are differences
between the genders' speech
but neither is better
Men and women use language for different purposes:
men compete and women co-operate
Theorists that go with this model:
Jennifer Coates 1989
Jennifer Coates looks at
all-female conversation
and builds on Tannen's ideas:
All
female talk is co-operative
: speakers
negotiate discussions and support
each other's rights as speakers
These patterns are
not found in mixed-sex talk
(Can use as evaluative points for Tannen/Pilkington)
Deborah Tannen 1990
You just don't understand: Men and Women in Conversation
Controversial
- looked at mixed gender conversation
She attempts to explain
'male-female miscommunication'
by claiming that male-female speech is
'cross-cultural communication'
Further research -
'Cross-cultural communication in action'
Status v. Support
- men see conversation as a contest, women do not think of the people they converse with as 'trying to get one up on them'
Independence v. Intimacy
- men see consulting with their partner to be 'asking permission' rather than simply discussing
Advice v. Understanding
- to many men a complaint is a challenge to come up with a solution, but often women are looking for emotional support, not solutions
Information v. Feelings
- to men, talk is information. It has a practical purpose, and if it does not, it is just not worth saying
Orders v. Proposals
- women hedge their orders, 'Let's...'. Men can feel that by doing that, a woman is trying to slyly manipulate him to do something rather than just directly ask, like he would
Conflict v. Compromise
- women are reluctant to openly oppose others
Criticisms of Tannen's research on the difference model:
Ignores the
issue of power
- pairings are not labelled in terms of power - power is ignored
Excuses men's power in language
, due to their
subculture
Not enough evidence for her claims -
small study
, can't be used for all mixed sex conversations -
anecdotal claims
Participants from
very similar demographics
, with women having similar jobs and men having powerful positions in their jobs --
occupation having a larger impact?
Research is often
15 years
ahead of the dominance model came out - perhaps why
power is not discussed as a determining factor
Jane Pilkington 1992
Women in
same-sex talk are more collaborative
than men in all male talk
Women aim for more
positive politeness strategies.
Men are
less supportive
and
less complimentary to each other
(Can use as evaluative points for Tannen/Coates)
Men and women
belong to different sub-cultures
and preferences.
This approach
avoids 'blaming' men
for being dominant, and
avoids suggesting women's speech is inferior
Diversity model
Gender
is one of
many factors
that may influence people's use of language.
There
may be more differences
between
two women's
speech than between
a man's and a woman's
Theorists that go with this model:
Cameron
Looked at the
gaps in previous research
that helped establish the binary oppositions of language use of men and women. Highlighted more robust evidence (e.g Hyde) that showed the
gender difference was negligible
when it came to
aspects of discourse such as interruption
'The basic trend, especially in formal and public contexts, is for
higher status speakers
to
talk more than lower status
ones, The
gender pattern
is explained by the observation that is most contexts where status is relevant,
men are more likely than women to occupy high-status positions'
Variation that exists within each gender group: