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Lakoff's Theory Of Gender Differences In Language

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The deficiency theory suggests that gender differences in language reflect power differences in society. In mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women. An old study of a small sample of conversations, (Zimmerman & West 1975) at the University of California produced 31 segments of conversation. In 11 conversations between men and women, men used 46 interruptions, but women only 2. However, it is true that in studies like these, one interrupting man can seriously destabilise these results and skew conclusions (Beattie 1982). Α study in the 1980s by O'Barr & Atkins looked at courtroom cases and witnesses' speech. Their findings challenge Lakoff's view of women's language as his methodology was also founded on anecdotal …show more content…

What are the factors that determine gender?
[factors determining gender]
Several factors may determine gender but the obvious ones are upbringing, context and society. These in turn, may affect EFL success, learning outcomes and expectations. To start with social roles or else stereotypes, Holmes (1992:172) has susggested that women are appointed to ‘the role of modelling correct behaviour in the community’ and they are assigned a series of tasks involving verbal interaction in private contexts’ (child upbringing). Kramarae (1981:145), on the other hand, states that ‘men specialize in instrumental or task behaviours and women specialize in expressive or social activities’.

Society’s sex-stereotyping of jobs influence girls’ behaviour and expectations, and encourage positive attitude towards language learning while society’s division of tasks and assumptions according to sex is transferred to boys and girls through formal and informal instruction. This alliance between society-education may explain boys’ and girls’ different concerns, attitudes and expectations.
Girls’ communicative skills are enhanced if not maximised because of their expected patterns of interaction. Consequently, girls may develop a liking for languages. Therefore, society’s requirements play an important role in the account of girls’ language and FLL …show more content…

In China, Peacock and Ho (2003) researched 1,006 Chinese students of English and report that ‘females reported significantly higher use of all strategy categories; they also report a much higher use of individual strategies’ that are also associated with higher proficiency. In Malaysia Punithavalli (2003) conducted a research study with 170 ESL learners and found that female learners used greater strategies in and outside of classroom compared to the male learners. In many studies across different cultures there are important differences between genders in the use of social/ affective strategies with females using them more often (Zeynali 2012; Oxford 1995; Mohamed Amin,

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The author’s point of view is to prove that young women are using linguistic features to build a relationship. In the text, the author uses an informative tone. He describes the text in a related language that grabs the attention of teens, specifically young women. The text made the young women groups feel more differently than the male gender

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396 Words | 2 Pages

Rosemary Okumu PSYC 1113 – Section 11/18 /2016 Gender Gender is the state of being male or female. Male are thought to be adventurous, aggressive, strong whereas females are to be affectionate, attractive, shy and sexy. While I highly identify with my feminine gender characteristics, at times l possess masculine characteristics like confidence, ambition, and sometimes aggression.

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Of all the 70 scientific studies Tannen could have chosen to talk about, the number of which she releases later in her paper, her choice of these two serves to demonstrate how biased and varied in results the scientific studies on this topic have been in the past. This helps Tannen justify the need for her article on the subject as it gives reason to why the issue on which gender speaks more still has not yet been resolved. Later in her essay, Tannen uses the results of a survey done by Campbell Leaper and Melanie Ayres on the results of 70 studies published in scientific journals several times. Her first use of their results follows her statements on the studies talked about earlier in this paper, noting that they “found that counting words yielded no consistent differences”. She then goes on to say, “Campbell and Ayres note that many studies find women doing more ‘affiliative

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383 Words | 2 Pages

Morghan Renfrow Instructor C. Shackelford English 1113, Section 101 1 September 2016 Analysts of “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently” An essay written by Deborah Tannen called “How male and females students use language differently”, is describing how they talk and interact with others. The writer presents different studies on how language changes based on a certain person. The essay states that men are more aggressive and talkative, while women are calm and modest about talking about the views they share.

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696 Words | 3 Pages

This thought has never crossed my mind before because I, myself, took ‘gender’ as a natural phenomenon. Gender is a product of socialization. It is cultural roles and personality characteristics that are labeled appropriate for men and women (lecture). Gender facilitates normative accountability: “structures that are in place to “correct” people’s gender non-conforming behaviours” (Johnson). Normative accountability and gender expectations were big issues children in the film faced.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Sex, Lies and Conversation There are many differences between a man and woman, communication is just one difference. Deborah Tannen, a University of California graduate, got her PhD in linguistics at Georgetown University; there she studied the communication between men and women. Tannen has published over one hundred articles and wrote over twenty books, including You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (1990), which spent almost four years on the New York Times best seller list and was translated into twenty-nine languages. The article Sex, Lies and Conversation appeared in the Washington Post in 1990 and gives insight to how opposite sexes communicate with each other. From an early age we are programed to play and be friends with the same gender as our own.

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The Impact of Culture and Gender Roles Heather Richardson-Barker Drexel University Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender, as well as the influence of family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role. The term Gender, as defined by the United Nations, includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. It further defines acceptable

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While gender roles and stereotypes may seem innocent and almost nonexistent in today’s culture, they are still present and cause a major effect on the current and future generations. They set limits on both boys and girls talents and skills. They try to force men and women into certain job categories. They affect education by telling boys to go to school especially in college and limit girls education, They affect the way a person is raised in the family from their childhood and how they keep themselves by labeling traits and behaviors as female or male. Gender roles limit the dreams of boys and girls alike, such as boys who want to be dancers and designers.

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Gender is not the only future predicting factor. In fact, there are very many I was unaware of until this semester. A few examples would be: Race, Ethnicity, Social Class (which is usually the same throughout your life), Culture, and more throughout the textbook. Each individual factor has its own effect on an individual and that was extremely

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1930 Words | 8 Pages

Gender Language in Japan The study of language and gender has had a big impact on Japanese ideology. The use of Japanese language in Japan include, how the language reveals attitudes towards gender and how people use the language by speaking and writing in ways that reflect gender. In Japan for instance, gender differences in Japanese language used to be very recognizable, but recently the language has become more gender natural as the language evolved.

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Who are you? Do you define yourself as man or woman? How do you know? Born biologically male/female, do you know how to behave in a masculine/feminine way? Of course you do!

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Gender and education, from a sociological perspective, refers to the idea that the educational system does not offer the same type of opportunities for upward mobility to both genders equally. (Raina) Gender bias occurs when people make assumptions regarding behaviours, abilities or preferences of others based upon their gender. (Scantlebury, 2009) In this vignette, Miss Toh’s construction of boys as sporty, energetic and active supports a standard norm of the males, which is differentiated from the gentle and slow females.

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One of these perspectives is analyzing communication through gender. In the book, You Just Don’t Understand, Deborah Tannen (1990) popularized the term “genderlect” to describe the way in which men and women communicate with each other. She suggested that men and women have different styles of conversing, forming two distinct dialects. In a review of Tannen’s book, DeFrancisco (1992) attributed the differing communication styles of men and women to the respective cultures in which they grow up. Because of such gender differences, misunderstanding between men and women creates a gap in the communication process.

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1316 Words | 6 Pages

Moreover, In the 1970s women researchers started looking at how a linguistic code transmitted sexist values and bias. Women talk more than men, women break the ‘rules’ of turn-taking less than men, women use more standard forms than men and women’s speech is less direct than

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694 Words | 3 Pages

Speech patterns for men and women are influenced by formal and informal conversations, perceptions and implications, and social confidence in everyday conversations. Whether a conversation is formal or informal plays a huge part in men and women’s speech patterns. Janet mentions that research done by American, British, and New Zealand researchers revealed that men spoke more than women during committee meetings, staff meetings, seminars, and task-oriented decision-making groups (Holmes 262). This is true, especially when it comes to politics. During formal speeches there are more men talking than women.

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