Diversity - Gender Flashcards
(Deficit) What did Robin Lakoff say about women’s language use ? (give examples)
That women’s language is made weaker by the patriarchal society
She said that women are indirect and lack certainty in their language use (commands and requests) , this weakens their language use
Tag questions
They use Hedging ( sort of, kind of, it seems like ) to soften statements
(Defcit) What does Jepersen (1930’s) say about women’s language use and what is the reason why?
He said women’s vocabulary Is less extensive than men, this is because the development of new words has been for men
(Dominance) What did Zimmerman and West write about regarding male and female conversations?
They found that during same-sex conversations interruption was incredibly uncommon. However in mixed-sex conversation 96% of interruptions were preformed by males
(Diversity) What does Camroen argue about differences in language using Beatties findings?
We ignore statistics such as the findings of Beatties work as we want to see a difference in Male and Female speech
(Dominance) What does Spender argue about the way males use language?
Spender argues that males use language to keep power by use of words such as “bachelor” for a single man and “spinster” for a single woman. Both portraying very different connotations
What type of theory is Fishmans work a counter to?
It Is a counter to deficit theory
(Counter to deficit) Why is the reason Fishman gives for conversions between men and women falling?
Because men don’t respond properly or simply don’t respond at all
(Dominance) (Counter to deficit) What did Fishman find about male and female conversations?
Women try harder to continue conversations with questions (ex: don’t you think?)
known as ‘ conversational shit work’
Men speak for twice as long as women
(Difference) What did Tannen find about the difference in the way men and women use language in her study “you just don’t understand” (1990)
Men and Women speak two completely different genderlects
Men use language to gain status, and independence, give advice and information, give orders and for conflict
Women use language to gain support, intimacy, to understand, portray feelings give proposals and for compromising
(Difference) who’s theory of hypercorrectness does Trugils work connect with?
Robin Lakoffs
(Difference) What does Trudgil say about male and female use of language?
Women use the prestige pronunciation of words more often than men and overestimate their use of RP
Men use language to convey prestige, to appear tough or down-to-earth so underestimate their use of RP
Women have to work incredibly hard to be taken seriously so use standard English to not sound inferior in any way (hypercorrectness)
(Diversity) What does Cameron write about the difference between male and females use of language in her study “the myth of Mars and Venus” ?
That difference is a “folk belief”
any difference is down to how we as individuals spend our time as that’s what influences our language used
Claimed that any findings apart from that support a difference due to gender demonstrate prejudice in society
What does biology say about the difference in male and female speech?
Men on average have a voice twice as deep as women , this is due to their larger Adams apple and longer vocal cords
What did Graddol and Swan (1983) find in their research involving biology?
That women use the higher range of their biological pitch
Men use the lower ranger of their biological pitch
What was the reasoning behind the use of each gender’s vocal pitch according to Graddol and Swan (1983)?
Men used lower pitches as a high pitch in men is seen as feminine/gay
A lower pitch in women is seen as masculine so is avoided
What is Gender Premorality?
The social aspect of gender
Who’s work does gender premorality link to?
Graddol and Swans
What did Pemberton (1998) focus on during their research? (Biological)
The vocal pitch of women from 1945 compared to 1990
What did Pembertons (1998) research find regarding change of pitch over time ? (Biological)
Found that women’s pitch since 1945 has dropped by 23Htz over 5 decades
This could reflect women having to try harder to be viewed as important
What does Pembertons findings suggest (1998) (Biological)
That gender can be performed to a certain degree
What are the four models for gender?
Deficit, dominance, difference and diversity
Who’s study criticises Lakoff’s work?
O’barr and Atkins court room study
(Counter to Lakoff) What did O’barr and Atkins find during their courtroom study?
Found that men in the witness stand used lots of features of (according to Lakoff) ‘women’s language”
Named powerless language by O’barr and Atkins
Also showed that people in a position of power used lots of “male language” features (named powerful language by O’barr and Atkins
(Counter to deficit) What did O’barr and Atkins’s courtroom study suggest?
That language use is based on status and not gender
(Dominance) who built upon Fishmans work ?
Defrancisco
(Dominance) What did Defrancisco build upon from Fishman and find?
“Conversational shit work” - women are forced to work harder during mixed-sex conversations
Found that male silence and delayed minimal responses are used to control conversations and dominate women
(Difference) What was Tannens reasoning for the difference in male and female speech?
Due to socialisation, male and female children and taught to use their gender’s specific genderlect
(Difference] What did Tannen suggest caused the failure of male and female conversations?
Women and men both go into conversations differently due to different language use
(Difference) What did Coates find in their study “Men, Women and Language” (1993)
Overlaps and interruptions used in a collaborative way In women’s speech
Women try very hard to help people save face in conversations (example: use of hedging)
(Difference) What did Coates find in their 2003 study “Men talk”?
Topics discussed in male circles tended to be impersonal
Verbal sparring was very common
Interruptions minimal in male groups
(Deficit) What are some criticisms of Lakoff’s study?
Sample wasn’t able to be generalised as it was based off a small group of educated middle class white women
(Diversity) What did Hyde conclude during her study of all avaliable data on male and female language use ?
That there was statistically minimal difference in language features (0.025%)
We need to study other factors to explain language use such as status
(Diversity) What did Butler in their study “gender trouble” about language change in conversation?
Found that most speakers change their language use between same-sex and mixed groups as well as converging and diverging from prestige accents
Also converge and diverge between genderlects depending on context
(Deficit) What did Holmes research find about the reason women use tag questions?
The research found that women seek equality and inclusion during conversation
(Deficit) What were the 3 types of tag question that Holmes suggest were used?
Referential tag questions
Affective (faciliative) tag questions
Affective (softening) tag questions
Who wrote about the reasoning behind Vocal tone of men and women
Graddol and Swan
(Diversity) What was the difference in language use statistic that Hyde found?
0.025 %
