Name: Le Minh Thuy
Group: QH2013.E2
Course: Introduction to Linguistics – Final Assignment –Week#15
Topic: Collect transcript of one episode of a reality show featuring both male and female judges (for example Master Chef, American Idol)
a. Do the following observations apply to the judges’ speech (you can choose to focus on one observation): women’s speech is characterized by the use of rising intonation at the end of statements, the more frequent use of hedges and tag questions while men tend to use more assertive forms, “strong” language and direct speech acts.
b. What could be the effects of following/not following the observations of gendered speech in this reality show?
c. Extra question: How would you suggest the judges to improve their judgments?
Gender speech is a subject of sociolinguistic study. The analysis on conversations reveals both genders’ different characteristics in terms of intonation and speech acts. Generally, women have higher pitch range and usually raise intonation at the end of statements while men have low and calm voice. Another difference is in the way men and women make speech acts. These differences come down to biological
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Sometimes strong language can be known as strong words or slangs which are used to express strong feeling, both negative and positive. Obviously, in the show, the audience encountered such a strong language from Demi Lovato. Surprisingly, she said “I freakin’ love you” (10:23 – 10:24) and “That’s so sick. I’m diggin’ it. That’s sick” (21:27 – 21:32) to show her excitement. The words “freaking”, “digging” and “sick”, which are informal words used to show strong likeliness came out from Demi Lovato, not other three judges. More surprisingly, Britney Spears, L. A. Reid, Louis Walsh did not say any strong word from the beginning to the end of the show. It is clear that the gendered speech cannot be applied to male and female judges in this