Language and Gender

Question 1

Deficit Model: Robin Lakeoff

Answer 1

• Non-standard dialects or language variety are weaker in their language.

Question 2

Difference Model: Deborah Tannen

Answer 2

• concept of genderlect
• Her theory demonstrates how both genders can be different in communication without being seen as unequal
• Men often use language to assert dominance and women to build relationships and rapport.

Question 3

Continuation: Difference Model

Answer 3

• male genderlect uses communication to:
• Exchange info
• show independence
• show status
• female genderlect uses communication to:
• Network
• Connect
• Develop intimacy

Question 4

Diversity Model: Deborah Cameron

Answer 4

• The Myth of Mars and Venus
• the idea that sex differences might have biological than social causes
• much similarities between each gender as there is between men and women
• argues the linguistic differences are the need to construct and project personal, meaning and identity.

Question 5

Dominance Model: Robin Lakeoff

Answer 5

• she argues that the
  features of language used by women are ‘weaker’ and more uncertain than the language used by men

Question 6

Difference between sex and gender:

Answer 6

• sex is the biological attributes and how they are expressed
• gender is socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities

Question 7

What is Heteronormativity?

Answer 7

• is what makes heteorsexuality seem coherent, natural and privileged

Question 8

What is Hegemony? (political theory)

Answer 8

• leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others

Question 9

Judith Butler: Performativity Theory

Answer 9

• argues that gender is fluid.
• meaning that the performace of gender is what makes gender exist.

Question 10

What is Polari?

Answer 10

• a gay slang language, which has almost died out.
• was used to skirt the UK’s skirt anti-homosexual laws.

Question 11

Feminists perspective:

Answer 11

• radicals: placed great emphasis on the patriarchal history of marriage.
• marxists: were not opposed to either family or marriage.

Question 12

What is Epicene?

Answer 12

• having characteristics of both sexes or no characteristics of either sex.

Question 13

Linguistic Reflectionism:

Answer 13

• suggests that language simply reflects the needs, views and opinions of it’s others.

Question 14

Linguistic Determinism:

Answer 14

• suggests that language determines the way a person sees the world.

Question 15

Anthropomorphism:

Answer 15

• the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a God, animal or object.

Question 16

Tautology:

Answer 16

• the saying of the same thing twice over in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style

Question 17

Marking:

Answer 17

• identifying something as different from the norm

Question 18

Corpus Studies:

Answer 18

• a study of language in use across a HUGE database of real-world texts.

Question 19

Connotations:

Answer 19

• negative/positive ideas and feelings associated with word or phrase on top of dictionary definition.

Question 20

collocations:

Answer 20

• words that appear alongside each other in discourse more often than can be down to mere chance like pairings of words and phrases.

Question 21

Pamela Fisherman: The Dominance Theory

Answer 21

• focus on tag questions, women use more than men
• Females use questions to start convos while men use it to continue and sustain dialogue