Gender and language key studies Flashcards
- 1974
- Found that men were less likely to use the prestige pronunciation of certain speech sounds to seem down to earth or tough.
- Men were found to be less socially aspirational.
- Women tended towards hyper-correctness, and claimed to use more high prestige forms.
Peter Trudgill: Social differentiation in norwich.
What was the objective of Robin Lakoff’s study: Language and woman’s place?
To establish a general features in the speeches of men and women.
Give 5 things that Lakoff found in her study Language and Woman’s place.
- Women hedge more.
- Women use (super) polite forms.
- Women use tag questions.
- Women speak in italics.
- Women use empty adjectives.
- Women use hypercorrect grammar and punctuation.
- Women use direct quotations.
- Women use question intonation in declarative sentences.
- Women use “wh-“ imperatives: “Why don’t you open the door?”
- Women speak less frequently.
- Women overuse qualifiers “I think that…”
- Women apologies more.
- Women use modal constructions: “Can”, “Would”.
- Women use indirect commands and requests.
- Use more intensifiers.
- Lack a sense of humour.
What was the chief focus of Lakoff’s approach?
To show how patterns of interaction between men and women reflect the dominant position of men in society.
Who tested Lakoff’s 10 basic speech differences between men and women?
William O’Barr and Bowman Atkins in 1980.
Why is ‘Language and a woman’s place’ often criticised?
- Lakeoff’s work was not based on empirical research.
- The automatic equation of subordinate with ‘weak’ is problematic. (This highlights her attention on the difference- dominance paradigm.)
What did William O’Barr and Bowman Atkins that tested Lakoff’s findings?
- The differences in speech were not necessarily a result of being a woman; it is more about being ‘powerless’.
- women using lower frequency of women’s language traits had unusually high status.
- A corresponding pattern was found amongst men with similar speech characteristics.
Dominance paradigm:
- Dale Spencer.
- Pamela Fisherman.
- Don Zimmerman.
- Candace West.
Difference Paradigm:
Deborah Tannen.
based on 31 segments of conversation, who found that in 11 conversations between men and women, men used 36 interruptions but women only 2?
Zimmerman and West: Sex roles, interruptions and silences in conversation (1975).
Conclusions made from which study supported the dominance model, a perspective proposed by linguists who believe men and women speak differently?
Zimmerman and West: Sex Roles, interruptions and silences in conversation (1975.)
Which linguist examined the suggested language traits in Women’s and men’s speech by Zimmerman and West?
Geoffrey Beattie.
What did Geoffrey Beattie find?
That Women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency, in this study men interrupted more but only marginally so it is not considered statistically significant.
What did Pamela Fishman examine in The Work that Women do (1983)?
- She examined interaction.
- She found that the reason for the occasional failiure in conversation between two people of different sexes is because of how men respond or don’t respond.
What did Pamela Fishman examine in Conversational Insecurity (1990)?
- Challenges Lakoff’s view that women ask questions to show insecurity and hesitancy in communication.
- Fishman claims that in mixed sex interactions, men speak on average for twice as long as women.
