language diversity: gender Flashcards
1
Q
Robin Lakoff [1975]
Language and a woman’s place (FINDINGS)
A
found that women used:
- hedges: phrases like ‘sort of,’ ‘kind of’ and ‘sit seems like’
- empty adjectives: ‘divine’ ‘adorable’ and ‘gorgeous’
- super polite forms: ‘would you mind..’ ‘is it ok if..’
- apologise more: ‘I’m sorry, but I think I that..’
- speak less frequently
- avoid coarse lang. and expletives
- tag questions: ‘you don’t mind eating this, do you?’
- hyper correcting grammar and pronunciation: use of prestige grammar and clear articulation
- indirect requests: ‘i’m so thirsty’ – really asking for a drink
- speaking in italics: use tone to emphasise certain words e.g. ‘so’ ‘very’ ‘quite’
2
Q
Robin Lakoff [1975]
Language and a woman’s place (DETAILS)
A
- she lists main features of female speech – seen as a representative of ‘deficit approach/ model’
- admits ‘it’s my impression, though I don’t have precise statistical evidence’
3
Q
Robin Lakoff [1975]
Language and a woman’s place (CONCLUSIONS)
A
- sees female lang. as weaker w/ use of indirect requests and apologetic forms (less powerful than that of males), but ‘tag’ questions aren’t weaker e.g. cross- examinations
- woman socialised to us a kind of lang. that makes its users sound trivial, silly and powerless
- shows how conventional lang. use had the effects of putting and keeping women in their place – it’s Lakoff’s suggestion that women aren’t just kept in place by thy’re spoken and written about, but by how they use lang. themselves
4
Q
Otto Jesperson [1922]
A
- argued male lang. forms were the ‘norm’ and the lang. of others (including women) were ‘deficient’
5
Q
Jenny Chesire [1982]
FINDINGS
A
- boys used non-standard forms more frequently than girls, so ‘variation is controlled by both social and linguistic factors. In boys’ speech, variation is governed by ‘norms’ that are central to the vernacular culture and are transmitted through the peer group.
- Variation in girls’ speech appears to be a more personal process, less rigidly controlled by vernacular norms’
6
Q
Jenny Chesire [1982] ‘grammatical variations in speech of young children’
(DETAILS)
A
- looked specifically at certain grammatical variations in speech of young children– frequency of kids using:
- non-standard -s
- non-standard was
- multiple negation
- non-standard never
- non-standard what
- non-standard do
- non-standard use of come and ain’t
7
Q
Pamela Fisherman [1983]
The work women do (DETAILS)
A
- listened to 52 hours of recovered conversations between young American couples – specifically linked to Lakoff’s research and focused on ‘tag’ questions
- ‘women are the ones who are trying to initiate a conversation and keep it going’ –called conversational sh*twork
8
Q
Pamela Fisherman [1983]
The work women do (FINDINGS & CONCLUSIONS)
A
- women used ‘tag’ questions more frequently
- Lakoff claimed tag questions represented uncertainty, but Fisherman argues for females questions are used to start conversations w/ males and sustain dialogue
- -men don’t always respond to declarative sentences or respond minimally
- females use ‘tag’ questions to gain conversational power rather than as a sign of tentativeness
9
Q
Deborah Tannen [1990]
FINDINGS (Status v Support etc.)
A
- Status v support: men use lang. to show power and dominance in conversation; women more likely to use lang. choices that support and agree w/ others
- Independent v intimacy: men use lang. to show they don’t need to rely on others; women prefer to use lang. to connect w/ others and maintain closeness
- Advice and understanding: men likely to offer solutions to a problem through lang. choices; women show empathy and understanding to given situation
- Info. v feeling: men likely to be factual in lang. choices; women use lang. choices that seem from a more emotional viewpoint
- Order v proposals: men likely to be direct – using imperatives to command other; women are more suggestive in lang. choices
- Conflict v compromise: men likely to use lang. to argue a point; women use lang. to avoid conflict and negotiate
10
Q
Jennifer Coates [1989] – same sex groups
A
- girls and boys tend to belong to same sex friendship groups growing up and subsequently develop different styles of speaking – theorises female lang. is cooperative in single-sex conversations
- views tag questions and modality as characteristics that help to make women’s talk supportive and cooperative
- uses the DIFFERENCE MODEL
11
Q
Deborah Tannen [1990]
DETAILS (Status v Support etc.)
A
- Was a student of Lakoff – believes ‘there are gender differences in ways of speaking, and we need to identify and understand them.’
- believes the desire to affirm that women are equal has made some scholars reluctant to show that they are different
12
Q
What is the difference model
A
- the idea that males and females speak and converse differently
- used by: Deborah Tannen, Jane Pilkington
13
Q
Jane Pilkington [1992]
A
- found the women in same sex talk were collaborative and use positive politeness strategies – men in same sex talk were a lot less collaborative and complimentary and less supportive than women
- uses DIFFERENCE MODEL
14
Q
Deborah Cameron (2008)
A
- criticised that there are innate differences in male and female speech: ‘The idea that men and women…use lang. in vey different ways and for different reasons is one of the greatest myths of our time.’
- believes these myths have shaped our expectations of men and women and the type of linguistic behaviour we deem to be ‘normal’ or ‘devient’
15
Q
Janet Hyde (2005) Psychologist –‘gender similarities hypothesis’
A
- proposes ‘gender similarities hypothesis’ claiming there are more similarities than there are differences between male and female lang. and where there are differences it could be because of other variable e.g. age, class, ethnicity, education etc.
