language and gender

Question 1

what are marked terms + example

Answer 1

words that reveal a person’s gender e.g. ‘wife’ ‘policeman’

Question 1

what is sexist language

Answer 1

Language that insults, patronises or ignores people on the basis of their gender. There is more sexist language about women than men.

Question 2

what is a feminising suffix + example

Answer 2

words that are marked by a feminising suffix, e.g. ‘usherette’, ‘actress’, implies that the male version is the norm/original and so it seems superior to the female version

Question 3

what are unmarked terms + example

Answer 3

don’t reveal the persons gender e.g. ‘police officer’ and ‘spouse’

Question 4

what is a generic term + example

Answer 4

When a marked term is used to refer to both men and women. It’s mostly always a masculine term which is used to mean people in general.
e.g. ‘mankind’

Question 5

what is the negative affect of generic terms on women

Answer 5

• can make females feel invisible by being ignored
• when this occurs, women are said to be occupying ‘negative semantic space’

Question 6

what is negative semantic space

Answer 6

using unnecessary words

Question 7

what is lexical asymmetry + example

Answer 7

pairs of words that appear to have a similar meaning, but aren’t equally balanced
e.g. ‘bachelor’ and ‘spinster’

Question 8

what are patronising terms + example

Answer 8

words used by speakers that imply superiority over the person they’re talking to
e.g. ‘girls’ and ‘love’ (term of endearment)

Question 9

who theorised the deficit model

Answer 9

Robin Lakoff

Question 10

briefly explain the deficit model

Answer 10

• women’s use of speech is inferior to males
• women are less assertive and certain in their speech style

Question 11

what are some of women’s speech features according to Lakoff

Answer 11

• swear less
• super-polite forms
• hedges
• empty adjectives
• apologising more
• tag questions
• use of special lexicon
• hypercorrect grammar and pronunciation
• speak in italics

Question 12

what theorist supports Lakoff and what do they say

Answer 12

Jespersen 1922
- women’s language is a projection of their deficiency compared to the male norm

Question 13

what theories criticise Lakoff

Answer 13

• O’Barr and Atkins
• Janet Holmes

Question 14

what did Janet Holmes discover that criticises Lakoff’s theory

Answer 14

that there are several uses of tag questions, not just lack of authority

Question 15

what did O’Barr and Atkins discover that criticises Lakoff’s theory

Answer 15

• observed both men and women using ‘women’s language features’ in a courtroom setting and discovered that high status females didn’t use these features
• while lower class males did
• they concluded that the use of ‘women’s language features depend partially on social status

Question 16

who theorised the Dominance model

Answer 16

Dale Spender

Question 17

briefly explain the dominance model

Answer 17

• women have a powerless position in society in comparison to men, so subsequently, their use of language is not seen as powerful
• women and men learn appropriate language behaviour according to gender expectations

Question 18

other theorists who support the dominance model

Answer 18

• Zimmerman and West 1975
• Fishman 1980s and 1990s

Question 19

how does Zimmerman and West support dominance model

Answer 19

In mixed-sex conversations, men are more likely to interrupt than women. Men are therefore more dominating (or trying to dominate) the conversation.

Question 20

what are the criticisms of Zimmerman and West

Answer 20

• very small study and subjects weren’t varied
• didn’t count interruptions in same-sex conversations
• Beattie 1982
  a larger study and found that men and women interrupt with more or less frequency

Question 21

how does Fishman 1980s support dominance model

Answer 21

• Women put more work into a conversation due to their inferior position in society
• Mens dominant position in society means they’re more reluctant to do ‘shitwork’

Question 22

how does Fishman 1990s support dominance model

Answer 22

women ask more questions, use attention-getting phrases, give minimal responses and supportive noise to show interest and support

Question 23

who theorised the difference model

Answer 23

Deborah Tannen

Question 24

briefly explain the difference model

Answer 24

• Tannen believes that the sexes were socialised into seeing themselves as having very different roles and positions in life
• and this trained them into using different linguistic strategies in interactions
• men and women have different conversational goals when they speak and neither sex is deficient

Question 25

give some examples of Tannens ideas on the difference in conversational goals

Answer 25

• advice v understanding
• conflict v compromise
• status v support
• independence v intimacy
• orders v proposals

Question 26

other theorists who support the difference model

Answer 26

• Coates
• Locke

Question 27

how does Coates support the difference model

Answer 27

looked at single sex, all male talk and characterised male talk as…
- preferring impersonal topics
- ‘holding the floor’
- verbal sparring
- lack of overlapping