Language theories

Question 1

Lakoff - Language and Woman’s place (1975)

Answer 1

Speak less frequently.​

Show they are listening by using minimal responses (mm, yeah).​

Speak more quietly than men and tend to use the higher pitch range of their voices.​

Use hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation: Standard English and clear enunciation.​

Use a greater range of intonation and ‘speak in italics’: so, very, quite.​

Use questions intonation in declarative statements: women make declarative statements into questions by raising the pitch of their voice at the end of a statement, expressing uncertainty.​

Overuse qualifiers: (for example, “I think that…”)​

​Hedge: using phrases like “sort of”, “kind off”, “it seems like”. ​

Use super-polite forms: “would you mind…”, “I’d appreciate it if…”, “…if you don’t mind”.​

Apologize more: (for instance, I’m sorry, but I think that…”)​

Use tag questions: “You’re going to dinner, aren’t you?”​

Have a special lexicon: e.g. women use more words for colors, men for sports.​

Use empty adjectives to describe approximate amounts, around, about.​

Use euphemisms more than men​

Use direct quotation: men paraphrases more often

Question 2

Janet Holmes - Language and Gender in the Workplace (1996)

Answer 2

Three themes:

1. different types of workplace interactions
2. the construction of workplace identity
3. the concept of the gendered workplace.

Question 3

Janet Holmes - Language and Gender in the Workplace (1996)

• part 2

Answer 3

Swearing, like verbal sexual harassment, for instance, is characterized as normatively masculine verbal behavior with negative consequences for women in some workplaces.

Workplace humour can provide effective cover for harassment which places women in a double bind unable to respond without loss of respect, yet risking condemnation or punishment if they do.

uantitative analyses of workplace meeting discourse have identified a tendency for men to dominate meeting talking time, and to interrupt more than women.

women professionals appeared to“speak in ways which minimize status differences and downplay their own authority”.

Even in workplaces with higher proportions of women, positions of power are often held by men, and this is typically the most significant influence on who talks most in meetings.

Question 4

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

Answer 4

the theory predicts that men and women will use different conversational techniques based on the way their gender is constructed/socialized to converse.

Question 5

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

• part 2

Answer 5

Emotion and Rapport​:

• Women are likely to talk about emotions, relationships and people and encourage others to do the same.
• When seeking status, men will avoid emotion as they consider it a sign of weakness.

Question 6

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

• part 3

Answer 6

Private and Public:​

• Women talk more in private conversations as they want to gain connection with others.
• In public, there is much less opportunity to create individual relationship. So, women tend to talk less in public.
• men tend talk to talk more in public. This allows their audience to recognize them and give men the power and status they seek.

Question 7

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

• part 4

Answer 7

Listening and Interrupting​:

• Women will listen to others in order to create empathy and find common interests in order to connect better to the other person.
• Women listen carefully for a long period of time without interrupting.
• Men use interruption to demonstrate status and gain attention.
• In a male-dominated conversation, the topic changes frequently as they compete to take the lead. As well, men interrupt by stating facts.

Question 8

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

• part 5

Answer 8

Jokes and Stories​:

• When telling stories, women will talk about how they have been emotionally hurt.
• They often talk about themselves in the position of the victim.​
• Men will use humor in order to tell emotionally detached stories.
• When they do tell stories, they will put themselves as the heroes/intellectuals in the situation. They talk about how they are able to solve complex problems, taking the lead and saving the day.
• When telling jokes they put others down and raise their own status.

Question 9

Tannen - Genderlect Theory

• part 6

Answer 9

Conflict:

• Conflict, for women, is when a connection to someone else has been reduced.
• Men will use conflict to gain status.
• A short fight quickly establishes the power they seek- establishing who is at a higher position and who is the “alpha male” ​
• When given an order, women are likely to comply and men are likely to challenge back.