Gender

Question 1

Theory: Baker

Answer 1

• said the honorific ‘ms’ is not favourable for women - has marked connotations - also girls is more commonly used than boys when referring to adults

Question 2

Theory: Pamela Fishman (1980)

Answer 2

• stated women carry out ‘interactions shift work’ , suggesting women are more supportive in conversations eg turn taking, tag questions, minimal response

Question 3

Theory: De Klerk

Answer 3

expletives used to exert masculine identity and power

Question 4

Theory: Julia Stanley (1977)

Answer 4

• negative semantic field for women exist - women carry a negative association with roles eg ‘women writer’

Question 5

Theory: Miller and Swift

Answer 5

• said women are often portrayed as emotional and irrational

Question 6

Theory: Ann Bodine

Answer 6

• suggest we live in a ‘androcentric society’ and men are seen as more dominant

Question 7

Theory: Muriel Schulz (1975)

Answer 7

• suggested terms related to women become pejorative over time - semantic derogation eg dog -> bitch

Question 8

Theory: The Deficit Model

Answer 8

• suggests language used by men is the norm - women’s language is judged; as as seen as lacking something - according to model: men = powerful language to gain control and women use tentative/powerless language

Question 9

Theory: Robin Lakoff

Answer 9

• researcher of The Deficit Model, - released a book in 1975 called “ language and women place”

Question 10

Gender bias

Answer 10

one gender being favoured

Question 11

Gender neutral language

Answer 11

using language to avoid creating a gender bias

Question 12

Default assumption

Answer 12

when we assume unless we are told

Question 13

Unmarked terms

Answer 13

the normal/neutral form of a word e.g. lion

Question 14

Marked terms

Answer 14

word that stands out from the norm e.g. lioness

Question 15

Hegemonic man

Answer 15

• athletic man - work orientated - competitive - dominant - unemotional

Question 16

Hegemonic women

Answer 16

• aesthetic women - domesticated - maternal - submissive - emotional

Question 17

Gender versus sex

Answer 17

gender - how you identify; masculine/feminine sex - biological differences; man/women

Question 18

Stereotyping

Answer 18

assigning a set of characteristics to a group (often negative connotations)

Question 19

Dominance model

Answer 19

Researchers: West and Zimmerman and Dale Spender - said women are dominated by men in conversations - men often interrupted women

Question 20

Difference model

Answer 20

Researcher: Deborah Tannen, 6 traits (w vs m) 1. Support vs. status 2. Understanding vs. advice 3. Feelings vs. information 4. Proposals vs. orders 5. Compromise vs. conflict 6. Intimacy vs. independence

Question 21

Theory: Peter Trudgill

Answer 21

• found men were less likely and women more likely to use prestige pronunciation of certain speech sounds - men= due to wanted to appear ‘tough’ - women tended towards hypercorrectness

Question 22

Theory: Janet Holmes

Answer 22

Tag Question Model - she contradicts The Deficit Model as she says both men and women use tag questions - says women use more Facilitative tags and men more Epistemic men = speaker oriented women = addressee oriented

Question 23

Model: Deborah Tannen

Answer 23

Researcher of The Difference Model

Question 24

Model: West and Zimmerman and Dale Spender

Answer 24

Researchers of The Dominance Model

Question 25

Theory/model: Dale Spender

Answer 25

• she supports The Dominance Model says language is biased towards males; “man made language” - challenges view that women like to gossip, and men=talk and women=listen

Question 26

Theory/model: D’Barr and Atkins

Answer 26

• they contest The Dominance Model - in court room: female lawyers= more assertive and interrupt - Lakoff’s weak ‘female’ language was seen in both, so concluded this should be named ‘powerless language’ (shows importance on context)

Question 27

Genderlect

Answer 27

• term coined by Deborah Tannen (difference model) to describe the way that the conversation of men and women is not right/wrong… just DIFFERENT

Question 28

Theory/model: Geoffrey Beattie

Answer 28

• contradicts The Dominance Model - said interruption aren’t necessarily a sign of dominance in every situation (depends on context)

Question 29

Tag Questions, all

Answer 29

Researcher: Janet Holmes 2 types 1. Speaker Oriented tags: a. epistemic modal tags b. challenging tags 2. Addressee Oriented tags: a. facilitative tags b. softner tags

Question 30

Tag question: Speaker oriented: Epistemic modal?

Answer 30

• to gain clarification if uncertain e.g. there are 4 types are tag questions, aren’t there?

Question 31

Tag question: Speaker oriented: Challenging?

Answer 31

• uses confrontation e.g. you did not listen, did you?

Question 32

Tag question: Addressee oriented: Facilitative?

Answer 32

• encouraging others to participate in discourse e.g. that was a great gig, wasn’t it?

Question 33

Tag question: Addressee oriented: Softner?

Answer 33

• mitigates the force of the interrogative e.g. close the windows, could you?

Question 34

support versus status - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 34

• tanner argues that men see the world competitively and speech is used to build status. - on the other hand, for women, the world is a network of connections - they often use language to seek and offer support

Question 35

Advice versus understanding - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 35

• women tend to seek comfort and sympathy for their problems, thus showing more of an understanding; in contrast, men will often seek a solution of the problem. - Tannen claims that, to many men a complaint is a challenge to find a solution - eg when mother saids doesn’t feel well, father offers to take to doctors. however she is disappointed. he is focused on what he can do, but she wants sympathy

Question 36

Information versus feelings - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 36

• Tannen states that men’s conversation is message-oriented, based upon communicating information. For women, conversation is much more important for building relationships and strengthening social links

Question 37

Orders versus proposals - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 37

• Men will use direct imperatives and orders “close the door” “switch on the light” when speaking to others. - Women encourage the use of superpolite forms (“let’s”, “please” “would you mind if”

Question 38

Conflict versus compromise - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 38

• Tannen asserts that most women avoid conflict in language at all costs and instead attempt to resolve disagreements without any direct confrontation, so as to maintain positive connection and rapport - Men, however, are more likely to use confrontation as a way of resolving differences and thereby negotiating status

Question 39

Independence versus intimacy - The Difference Model (AO2)

Answer 39

• The difference theory asserts that men favour independence, while women are more likely to seek intimacy. - Tannen demonstrates this with the example of a husband making a decision without consulting his wife - She theorises that he does so because he doesn’t want to feel a loss of independence that would come from saying “let me consult this with my wife first” - Women on the other hand, like to demonstrate that they have to consult with their partner, as this is seen to be proof of the intimacy of the relationship. - Tannen asserts that women, seeing the world as a network of connections and relationships, view intimacy as key to achieving consensus and avoiding the appearance of superiority, whereas men, who are more likely to view the world in terms of status, see independence as being key to establishing their status - Tannen also clarifies that while both men and women seek independence and intimacy men and more likely to be focused on the former while women are more likely to focus on the latter

Question 40

What are Robin Lakoff’s claims that women do? (The Deficit Model)

Answer 40

• Hedge eg sort of - Use (super)polite forms eg would you mind - Use tag questions “aren’t you?” - Speak in italics: intonational emphasis equal to underlining words eg so, very (using prosodic features) - Use empty adjectives eg lovely, adorable - Use hypercorrect grammar and pronunciation eg english prestige grammar and clear enunciation - Use direct quotation (men paraphrase) - Have a special lexicon (words for things like colours vs. men use words for things like sports - Use question intonation in declarative statements eg what school do u attend? Tenbury? - Use “wh-“ imperatives eg why don’t you open the door?” - Speak less frequently - Overuse qualifiers eg i think that - Apologise more eg i’m sorry, but i think that - Use modal constructions eg should we turn up the heat? - Avoid coarse language or expletives - Use indirect commands and request eg isn’t it cold in here! (close the window) - Use more intensifiers eg i’m SO glad you can - Lack sense of humour: do not tell jokes well and don’t understand the punch line of jokes