Difference model Flashcards
(39 cards)
What is the difference model?
Men and women use language differently but neither is better
men use language to compete and women use language to cooperate (work jointly)
Which theorists support the difference model?
Cheshire 1982
Holmes
Baxter
Tannen 1990
Men and women email diff
Coates 1989
Jones 1990
Barker 1982
Pilkington 1992
Trudgill 1970
What did Cheshire study in 1982?
the relationship between the use of grammatical variations in the speech of young boys and girls
What 4 specific things was Jenny interested in when comparing language variations between boys and girls?
-not standard use of was and has
(was you there, you has to do that)
-double negatives (i ant got no)
-non standard use of ‘what’
(are you the ones what did that)
-nonstandard use of ‘s’
(they calls me names)
What were Jenny Cheshires findings?
-she found that boys used the non-standard forms more than girls did
-boys are more influenced to and likely to adopt vernacular culture (slang and popular language) than girls
-language isnt innate and children are influences by vernacular culture but boys are more than girls
Whats the difference between lakoff and cheshires study?
Cheshire doesnt state that boys language is better than girls shes just saying its diff, whereas Lakoff said boys are better than girls
Explain Holmes’ theory-
What 2 things did she argue?
Holmes concluded that unlike Lakoff there are 4 reasons women used tag questions;
facilitation (invite more ppl to talk)
softening
uncertainty
confrontation
-She argued that women use a cooperative style of interaction to include everyone and develop relationships
-She argued hedges and fillers don’t necessarily indicate uncertainty as they have a variety of uses unlike what Lakoff said
How can we criticize Homes’ theory for the difference model
Its been criticised as its based on a stereotypical view of women’s language
-she also doesnt have much data to. back her theory up
Describe Janet holmes further investigation supporting the dominance model
-language discriminates against women through the use of unmarked terms
-Animal and food imagery is used to describe women but not men eg- tart, bitch
Concludes that our language is sexist and holding women back
Which theorists support the idea that power is the reason for language difference instead of gender?
Atkins 1980
Describe Atkins power study in 1980
-Looked at interactions in a court room for 30 months
-Found that men from lower class backgrounds used similar language to the features Lakoff proposed women used
-Found that women of higher education and confidence didn’t really use Lakoffs features.
he concluded that these language features were used more with people of lower powers and class, meaning power causes difference in language not gender
What was Tannen interested in studying?
The idea of being male as a norm
eg- mankind
What did Tannen believe?
She believed that men and women talk in different ways because they have been socialized in different ways (not innate)
-She believed the differences aren’t because men have power but because men and women want different things out of a convo
What did Tannen find to suggest that young boys and girls use language differently due to socialization
=Boys use convo for one-upmanship and to negotiate states
-Women use convo to mirror each other’s syntax and to prove they’re the same,e
Give the example of the differences between language used by men and women in advice vs understanding- Tannen study
Advice- men think a complaint is a challenge to find a solution
Understanding- Women want and understand others may want sympathy instead of a solution
Describe Tannens rapport and report talk
Men (report)- speak publicly and asymmetrically
Women (rapport)- talk in private and symmetrically
How do men and women use language differently in email?
Females are less persuasive, more personable, apologize more and use more exclamation marks
Males are more confident and emotionally detached which is seen as more professional
Why is it a problem with trying to get women to adopt male email etiquette?
-Were changing the individual when the problem is societal. People should just take women seriously anyway
How can females email style be seen as advantagous?
Exclamation marks can be useful as email suffers from the fact that it doesnt benefit from non verbal cues so we can get our point across easily by using them
What did Reiss create?
A Google plugin to highlight qualifiers and soften word phrases
She built it to sound more like herself and have the option to remove those, not to sound more manly
What are problems for women in the work/email context?
-Women cant win theyre unprofessional if use features like ! and repeating letters but seen as rude of they dont
Describe what Coates said about the difference in men and women’s language
-Argued men’s language is based on competitiveness and women on cooperation
-He said men and women struggle to understand each other as they were brought up differently
What did Coates say was the reason for girls and boys developing different speaking styles?
-Says boys and girls develop different speaking styles as their peer groups influence their social language development
-Girls stay in smaller groups and boys go to larger groups that include a joint activity
What did Coates suggest about gossip?
-Found that gossip was creative and constructive rather than to be pathetic
eg- it can be used to include rather than exclude others
