GENDER

Robin Lakoff (1975)

DEFICIT - Women are socialised into behaving like 'ladies' linguistically and this stops them from being powerful.

* Minimal responses
* ==Hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation==
* ==Greater range of intonation==
* Tag questions
* Hedges
* Empty adjectives
* More euphemisms
* Indirect requests
* Lack a sense of humour

Dale Spender (1980)

DOMINANCE - Language is inherently patriarchal. Society has structured language to reflect men's best interests.

Zimmerman and West (1974)

DOMINANCE - Men interrupt women more than women interrupt men in mixed sex conversations.

Geoffrey Beatie (1982)

Opposes Zimmerman and West; Men and women interrupt one another around about the same amount. Zimmerman and West's data is not statistically significant.

Pamela Fishman (1983)

Women do more of the conversational work, (inferior position within society). power to reduce their conversational inferiority as opposed to Lakoff (women use questions due to their hesitancy and insecurity).

Deborah Tannen (1990)

DIFFERENCE - Women use language differently to men because of differing conversational goals NOT because of inferiority.

* Status vs Support
* Independence vs Intimacy
* ==Advice vs Understanding==
* ==Information vs Feelings==
* ==Orders vs Proposals==
* ==Conflict vs Compromise==

Jennifer Coates (1988/89)

Men and women develop different linguistic styles because they tend to form same-sex friendship groups.

* Men will reject topics proposed by women, Women do the opposite.
* Women are more likely to initiate conversation but less likely to make the conversation succeed.
* All-male groups tend to be HIERARCHICAL.
* Groups of women are more cooperative/supportive and use WOMEN'S COOPERATIVE DISCOURSE:


1. Topic - Discuss people and feelings over things.
2. Hedges - Encourage talk an avoid challenging/threatening.
3. Questions - Encourage participation.
4. Minimal responses - Active listenership.
5. ==Turn-taking - Overlapping conversation aids cooperation and topic development.==

Deborah Jones (1990)

DIFFERENCE - Categorised women's talk into four main groups:

* House Talk (Exchanging info or resources about being a wife/mother)
* Scandal ( Judging the behaviour of others, especially women)
* Bitching (Overt expression of a woman's anger at their restricted role and inferior status)
* Chatting (Mutually disclosing their intimate secrets and gossip).

Penny Eckert (1990)

==DIVERSITY - Other reasons (such as class) may be behind language variation.==

Deborah Cameron (2009)

DIVERSITY - The gender 'template' doesn't fit everyone; there may be just as much difference between two men as there is with a man and a woman.

Janet Holmes (1984)

DIVERSITY - Tag questions can be used to express solidarity or to weaken a command or criticism; they are not just used due to the gender of the speaker.

O'Barr and Atkins (1980)

DIVERSITY - O'Barr and Atkins renamed Lakoff’s ‘women’s langage’ as 'Powerless language. Both men and women used the features of Lakoff's 'women's language' in powerless situations (in this instance, men and women in the courtroom).

Janet Hyde (2005)

DIVERSITY - Men and women are similar in most, but not all, psychological variables; they are more alike than they are different.

Victor Seidler (1989)

Men and women tend to discuss different topics in single sex conversations.

James Pennebaker (2005)

In mixed sex conversation, men and women speak around the same amount; there are more differences WITHIN genders than BETWEEN them.

Jane Pilkington (1992)

Women in same sex conversations are collaborative and use positive politeness strategies.
Men in same sex conversations were less collaborative, less complimentary and less supportive than women.

Judith Butler (1993)

The way we present ourselves, such as our speech and body language, and continually repeat these presentations, constructs our gender rather than reflecting it.

Jenny Cheshire (1982)

Males are more susceptible to covert prestige, but social attitude is more of a determining factor than gender.