gender theories

Question 1

explain the deficit approach

Answer 1

women seen as deficient or inferior in terms of their language use compared to men

Question 2

for the deficit approach, list 10 female talk features

Answer 2

• tag questions - to show uncertainty
• hedges and fillers - you see, well
• empty adjectives
• intensifiers
• precise colour terms
• standard grammar
• more polite forms
• avoidance of taboo lexis
• rising intonation on declaratives
• emphatic stress on specific words

Question 3

critics of the deficit approach

Answer 3

Dubois and crouch 1975
O’Barr and Atkins 1980
Holmes 1992

Question 4

Dubois and Crouch 1975

Answer 4

men used more tag questions than women, not suggested that they were less confident speakers

Question 5

O’Barr and Atkins 1980

Answer 5

language in the courtroom study found that many of Lakoff’s features occurred in women’s speech but also in mens from lower class backgrounds
powerless language was more useful than women’s language

Question 6

Holmes 1992

Answer 6

tag questions may also function as a device to help maintain discussion or to be polite so tag questions are multi-functional

Question 7

dominance approach with 3 theories

Answer 7

men are more controlling and commanding in mixed-sex conversations
- Zimmerman and West 1975 –> 96% of interruptions in mixed-sex conversations were made by males, restricting linguistic freedom of women
- Dale Spender 1980 –> men talk more, women are perceived as talking more because of the view that they should be silent, women felt silenced as men contributed 70% of words
- Pamela Fishman 1980 –> women used 3x more yes/no questions and tags than men