Gender

Question 1

Robin Lakoff - Deficit Model

Answer 1

• Studied women’s language.
• Results were:
• women speak less frequently
• women apologise more
• use more hyper-correct grammar + pronunciation
• women use minimal responses to show they are listening - ‘mm’, ‘yeah’
• hedge = terms like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’
• tag questions - ‘aren’t you?’
• modal constructions - words like ‘can’, ‘should’ ‘would’
• indirect questions - ‘wow its cold in here’ = wants the window shut
• use more intensifiers
• women know more colour terms
• empty adjectives - divine, adorable
• lack of sense of humour
• avoid slang, threats and insults

Question 2

Pamela Fishman - Dominance Model

Answer 2

• studied women’s use of questions and mixed-sex conversation talking.
• she claimed that women ask questions due to the power of them not because they’re weak.
• this rejects Lakoff’s model as she suggested asking questions was a sign of insecurity and hesitancy.
• also claimed men typically speak twice as much as women.
• introduced conversational shitwork which is where women carry the conversation.

Question 3

Don Zimmerman and Candace West - Dominance Model

Answer 3

• studied interruptions in mixed-conversations by recording middle-class, white people under 35 at the University of California.
• said that men are more likely to interrupt than women.
• in 11 conversations men made 96% of the interruptions.
• they concluded that since men made the interruptions it was because they were asserting dominance or trying to assert dominance.

Question 4

Jennifer Coates - Difference Model

Answer 4

• studied all male and all female conversations.
• found that men discuss ‘male topics’ such as sport, business, politics and economics.
• men reject conversation topics introduced my women whilst women will accept topics introduced by men.
• women are more likely to initiate conversation with men but are less likely to succeed in the conversation.
• male groups of speakers tend to be hierarchal and establish dominant and submissive power roles.
• groups of women are more supportive, expressing affection and concern,
• Coates labelled features in women’s conversations as women’s cooperative discourse.
• this said that women discuss people and feelings rather than things.
• they encourage participation rather than seeking information.
• they encourage talk and avoid threats and challenging.
• they show they are listening by subtle signals - minimal responses.

Question 5

Deborah Tannen - Difference Model

Answer 5

• studied male and female conversations.
• put the conversations in categories of contrasts, mens category is on the left.
• Status v Support - mens talk is competitive as they seek to achieve the upper hand so no one will dominate them. women talk to gain confirmation and support for their ideas.
• Independence v Intimacy - men focus more on independence. women often think in terms of closeness and support and preserve intimacy.
• Advice v Understanding - when someone complains men often give advice as they believe a solution is necessary. women seek sympathy instead.
• Information v Feelings - mens talk is more goal orientated. women’s talk is about emotion and support.
• Orders and Proposals - men use and prefer to hear imperative orders when being told what to do. women often suggest people to do things indirectly.
• Conflict v Compromise - when there is a conflict men will resist is vocally. women will comply and complain after.

Question 6

Janet Hyde - Diversity Model

Answer 6

• reviewed meta-analyses on gender but with psychological differences, not just linguistic ones.
• said that males and females are similar on most, but not all psychological variables.
• said that males and females are more alike than they are different.
• the exceptions are some aspects of sexuality which show large gender differences and as well as differences in aggression.
• gender differences can vary at different ages and depend on the context in which measurement occurs.