Language and genderdoc1.docx
- 文档编号:3310354
- 上传时间:2022-11-21
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:14
- 大小:38.17KB
Language and genderdoc1.docx
《Language and genderdoc1.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Language and genderdoc1.docx(14页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
Languageandgenderdoc1
Languageandgender
.
[hide]Thisarticlehasmultipleissues.Pleasehelpimproveitordiscusstheseissuesonthetalkpage.
Thisarticlepossiblycontainsoriginalresearch.Pleaseimproveitbyverifyingtheclaimsmadeandaddinginlinecitations.Statementsconsistingonlyoforiginalresearchmayberemoved.(January2013)
Thisarticleneedsadditionalcitationsforverification.Pleasehelpimprovethisarticlebyaddingcitationstoreliablesources.Unsourcedmaterialmaybechallengedandremoved.(January2013)
Languageandgenderisanareaofstudywithinsociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,andrelatedfieldsthatinvestigatesvarietiesofspeechassociatedwithaparticulargender,orsocialnormsforsuchgenderedlanguageuse.[1]Avarietyofspeech(orsociolect)associatedwithaparticulargenderissometimescalledagenderlect.
ThestudyofgenderandlanguageinsociolinguisticsandgenderstudiesisoftensaidtohavebegunwithRobinLakoff's1975book,LanguageandWoman'sPlace,aswellassomeearlierstudiesbyLakoff.[2]
Thestudyoflanguageandgenderhasdevelopedgreatlysincethe1970s.ProminentscholarsincludeDeborahCameron,PenelopeEckert,JanetHolmes,DeborahTannen,andothers.
Contents
[hide]
∙1Studiesoflanguageandgender
∙2Speechpracticesassociatedwithgender
o2.1Minimalresponses
o2.2Questions
o2.3Turn-taking
o2.4Changingthetopicofconversation
o2.5Self-disclosure
o2.6Verbalaggression
o2.7Listeningandattentiveness
o2.8Dominanceversussubjection
o2.9Politeness
∙3Gender-specificvocabulary
∙4Seealso
∙5Externallinks
∙6References
Studiesoflanguageandgender[edit]
In1975RobinLakoffidentifieda"women'sregister,"whichshearguedservedtomaintainwomen's(inferior)roleinsociety.[3]Lakoffarguedthatwomentendtouselinguisticformsthatreflectandreinforceasubordinaterole.Theseincludetagquestions,questionintonation,and"weak"directives,amongothers(seealsoSpeechpracticesassociatedwithgender,below).[4]
StudiessuchasLakoff'shavebeenlabeledthe"deficitapproach,"sincetheypositthatonegenderisdeficientintermsoftheother.Descriptionsofwomen'sspeechasdeficientcanactuallybedatedasfarbackasOttoJespersen's"TheWoman,"achapterinhis1922bookLanguage:
ItsNatureandDevelopment.Jespersen'sideathatwomen'sspeechisdeficientrelativetoamalenormwentlargelyunchallengeduntilLakoff'sworkappearedfiftyyearslater.[4]Nevertheless,despitethepoliticalincorrectnessofthechapter'slanguagefromamodernperspective,Jespersen'scontributionsremainrelevant.Theseincludetheprospectoflanguagechangebasedonsocialandgenderedopportunity,lexicalandphonologicaldifferences,andtheideaofgenderlectsandgenderrolesinfluencelanguage.
NotlongafterthepublicationofLanguageandWoman'sPlace,otherscholarsbegantoproducestudiesthatbothchallengedLakoff'sargumentsandexpandedthefieldoflanguageandgenderstudies.[2][4]Onerefinementofthedeficitargumentistheso-called"dominanceapproach,"whichpositsthatgenderdifferencesinlanguagereflectpowerdifferencesinsociety.[5]
JenniferCoatesoutlinesthehistoricalrangeofapproachestogenderedspeechinherbookWomen,MenandLanguage[6]Shecontraststhefourapproachesknownasthedeficit,dominance,difference,anddynamicapproaches.
"Deficit"isanapproachattributedtoJespersen(1922)thatdefinesadultmalelanguageasthestandard,andwomen'slanguageasdeficient.Thisapproachcreatedadichotomybetweenwomen'slanguageandmen'slanguage.Thistriggeredcriticismtotheapproachinthathighlightingissuesinwomen'slanguagebyusingmen'sasabenchmark.Assuch,women'slanguagewasconsideredtohavesomethinginherently'wrong'withit.
Dominanceisanapproachwherebythefemalesexisseenasthesubordinategroupwhosedifferenceinstyleofspeechresultsfrommalesupremacyandalsopossiblyaneffectofpatriarchy.Thisresultsinaprimarilymale-centeredlanguage.ScholarssuchasDaleSpender[7]andDonZimmermanandCandaceWest[8]ascribetothisview.
Differenceisanapproachofequality,differentiatingmenandwomenasbelongingtodifferent'sub-cultures'astheyhavebeensocialisedtodososincechildhood.Thisthenresultsinthevaryingcommunicativestylesofmenandwomen.DeborahTannenisamajoradvocateofthisposition.[9]Tannencomparesgenderdifferencesinlanguagetoculturaldifferences.Comparingconversationalgoals,shearguesthatmentendtousea"reportstyle,"aimingtocommunicatefactualinformation,whereaswomenmoreoftenusea"rapportstyle,"whichismoreconcernedwithbuildingandmaintainingrelationships.[9]
The"dynamic"or"socialconstructionist"approachis,asCoatesdescribes,themostcurrentapproachtolanguageandgender.Insteadofspeechfallingintoanaturalgenderedcategory,thedynamicnatureandmultiplefactorsofaninteractionhelpasociallyappropriategenderedconstruct.Assuch,WestandZimmerman(1987)[10]describetheseconstructsas"doinggender"insteadofthespeechitselfnecessarilybeingclassifiedinaparticularcategory.Thisistosaythatthesesocialconstructs,whileaffiliatedwithparticulargenders,canbeutilizedbyspeakersastheyseefit.
ScholarsincludingTannenandothersarguethatdifferencesarepervasiveacrossmedia,includingface-to-faceconversation,[11][12]writtenessaysofprimaryschoolchildren,[13]email,[14]andeventoiletgraffiti.[15]
DeborahCameron,amongotherscholars,arguesthatthereareproblemswithboththedominanceandthedifferenceapproach.Cameronnotesthatthroughoutthehistoryofscholarshiponlanguageandgendermale-associatedformshavebeenseenastheunmarkednormfromwhichthefemaledeviates.[16]Forexamplethenorm'manager'becomesthemarkedform'manageress'whenreferringtoafemalecounterpart.Ontheotherhand,Cameronarguesthatwhatthedifferenceapproachlabelsasdifferentwaysofusingorunderstandinglanguageareactuallydisplaysofdifferentialpower.Cameronsuggests,"Itiscomfortingtobetoldthatnobodyneedsto'feelawful':
thattherearenorealconflicts,onlymisunderstandings.[...]ButtheresearchevidencedoesnotsupporttheclaimsmadebyTannenandothersaboutthenature,thecauses,andtheprevalenceofmale-femalemiscommunication."[17]Shearguesthatsocialdifferencesbetweenmen'sandwomen'srolesarenotclearlyreflectedinlanguageuse.OneadditionalexampleisastudyshehasdoneoncallcenteroperatorsintheUK,wheretheseoperatorsaretrainedtobescriptedinwhattheysayandtoperformthenecessary'emotionallabor'(smiling,expressiveintonation,showingrapport/empathyandgivingminimalresponses)fortheircustomer-callers.Thisemotionallaboriscommonlyassociatedwiththefemininedomain,andthecallcenterserviceworkersarealsotypicallyfemales.However,themaleworkersinthiscallcenterdonotorienttothecovertlygenderedmeaningswhentheyaretaskedtoperformthisemotionallabor.Whilethisdoesnotmeanthatthe'woman'slanguage'isrevalued,nordoesthisnecessarilycallforafeministcelebration,Cameronhighlightsthatitispossiblethatwithtime,moremenmayworkinthisserviceindustry,andthismayleadtoasubsequent"de-gendering"ofthislinguisticstyle.[18]
Communicationstylesarealwaysaproductofcontext,andassuch,genderdifferencestendtobemostpronouncedinsingle-gendergroups.Oneexplanationforthis,isthatpeopleaccommodatetheirlanguagetowardsthestyleofthepersontheyareinteractingwith.Thus,inamixed-gendergroup,genderdifferencestendtobelesspronounced.Asimilarlyimportantobservationisthatthisaccommodationisusuallytowardsthelanguagestyle,notthegenderoftheperson.Thatis,apoliteandempathicmalewilltendtobeaccommodatedtoonthebasisoftheirbeingpoliteandempathic,ratherthantheirbeingmale.[19]
However,Ochs(1992)arguesthatgendercanbeindexeddirectlyandindirectly.[20]Directindexicalityistheprimaryrelationshipbetweenlinguisticsresources(suchaslexicon,morphology,syntax,phonology,dialectandlanguage)andgender.Forexample,thepronouns"he"and"she"directlyindexes"male"and"female".However,therecanbeasecondaryrelationshipbetweenlinguisticresourcesandgenderwherethelinguisticresourcescanindexcertainacts,activitiesorstanceswhichthenindirectlyindexgender.Inotherwords,theselinguisticresourceshelpconstitutegender.ExamplesincludetheJapaneseparticles"wa"and"ze".Theformerdirectlyindexdelicateintensity,whichthenindirectlyindexesthefemale"voice"whilethelatterdirectlyindexescoarseintensity,whichthenindirectlyindexesthemale"voice".
Womenaregenerallybelievedtospeakabetter"language"thenmendo.Thisisaconstantmisconception,butscholarsbelievethatnogenderspeaksabetterlanguage,butthateachgenderinsteadspeaksitsownuniquelanguage.[21]Thisnotionhassparkedfurtherresearchintothestudyofthedifferencesbetweenthewaymenandwomencommunicate.
Speechpracticesassociatedwithgender[edit]
Notallmembersofaparticularsexmayfollowthespecificgenderrolesthatareprescribedbysociety.[22]Thepatternsingenderandcommunicationthatfollowareonlythenormsforeachgender,andnoteverymemberofthecorrespondingsexmayfitintothosepatterns.
Minimalresponses[edit]
Oneofthewaysinwhichthecommunicativebehaviorofmenandwomendifferisintheiruseofminimalresponses,i.e.,paralinguisticfeaturessuchas‘mhm’and‘yeah’,whichisbehaviourassociat
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Language and genderdoc1