Language and Gender - The Four Models

Question 1

What are the four models for Language and Gender?

Answer 1

Deficit Model
Dominance Model
Difference Model
Diversity Model

Question 2

What are the models known as?

Answer 2

The Four Ds

Question 3

What are the two main questions that Language and Gender looks at?

Answer 3

• Do Men and Women use language in the same of different ways?
• Is language inherently sexist?

Question 4

What is the Deficit Model?

Answer 4

Woman’s language is less assertive - it’s inferior to men’s language.

Question 5

Why is Women’s language seen as inferior?

Answer 5

(Deficit Model)
Women aren’t bought up to be assertive, therefore they don’t use language assertively and this restricts them to getting higher statuses and jobs etc…

Question 6

Who are the theorists that believe in the Deficit Model?

Answer 6

Lakoff (1975)

Question 7

What is criticism for the Deficit Model?

Answer 7

Lakoff didn’t do any imperial research and makes big generalisations about men and women’s speech styles without taking other factors into account.

Question 8

Who criticises the Deficit Model?

Answer 8

Holmes - also did research against it

Question 9

What is the Dominance Model?

Answer 9

Men dominate language

Question 10

What is Spender’s theory on the Dominance Model?

Answer 10

Men have deliberately exerted control over language

Question 11

What is Zimmerman and West’s theory on the Dominance Model?

Answer 11

Men dominate mixed sex conversations.

“They violate turn-taking rules”

Question 12

What is the Difference Model?

Answer 12

Men don’t dominate but just speak differently to women.

Men and women use different areas of the brain

Question 13

Who are the theorists that support the Difference Model?

Answer 13

Deborah Tannan (1990) 
Jenny Coates

Question 14

What is the book that Deborah Tannen wrote?

Answer 14

You just don’t understand

Question 15

What is Tannen’s theory of men and women’s speech styles?

Answer 15

Women = problem sharers
they keep social bonds
Men = problem solvers
they use it to get stuff done

Question 16

What is a criticism of the Difference Model?

Answer 16

It stereotypes and generalises men and women

Question 17

What is the Diversity Model?

Answer 17

There is not much significant difference between the two different sex’s speech styles. There are other factors which need to be taken into account.

Question 18

What are the other factors that the Diversity Model refers to?

Answer 18

Age, Ethnicity, Social Class

Question 19

Who is the theorist that believes in the Diversity Model?

Answer 19

Deborah Cameron (2003)

Question 20

What is Cameron’s theory on the Diversity Model?

Answer 20

There’s more difference between different groups of women compared to other women. And more difference between different groups of men compared to other men than there are between the two different genders.

Question 21

What is the book that Deborah Cameron wrote?

Answer 21

Myth of Mars and Venus

Question 22

Who does Cameron refer to?

Answer 22

Janet Hyde (metastudy)
- this found little significant difference too.

Question 23

What is the problem with many of these studies

Answer 23

Most were carried out in the 70s and 80s in America by White, Middle Class Feminists.