Gender Theories

Status vs Support                                          Orders vs Proposals 

• Men work to achieve the upper hand    - Women suggest in indirect ways               
• Women want support for their ideas      - Men use direct imperatives

Information vs Feelings                                 Conflict vs Compromise

• Women discuss their concerns more     - Women refuse to oppose the                           
• Men give information                               will of others openly            

Independece vs Intimacy

• Women struggle to preserve intimacy
• Men concerned with status so focus on independence 

Advice vs Understanding 

• Men look for a solution to a complaint
• Women want understanding

• In mixed conversation men and more likely to interrupt 
• They concluded this means that this means are trying to dominate

Criticisms 

• Geoffrey Beatie 
• Interruptions could reflect interest not dominance
• Small sample so one very voluble man could have a disproportionate effect

• D - direct quotation
• E - empty adjectives
• F - speak less fequently 
• I - indirect commands 
• C - correct grammar and pronunciation 
• I - intonational emphasis 
• T - tag questions 

• Super polite forms
• Special lexicon
• Question intonation in declaractive sentences
• Wh- imperatives 
• Apologise more
• Modal constructions
• Avoid coarse language 
• Lack a sense of humour

Men

• reject a topic introduced by women
• discuss male topics e.g. sports, politics
• Groups are hierarchial and have dominant and submissive roles 

Women

• Talk about people and feelings rather than things
• Use more hedges
• Women are more flexible and cooperative
• Accept topics introduced by men

Coopeative Discourse 

• Questions used to encourage cooperation 
• Turn taking aids coopartion and topic development 

House talk - exchange of information and resources connected with the female role as an occupation 

Scandal - judging the behaviour of others in terms of domestic morality 

Bitching - expression of anger as their restricted role. Expressed in private and to other women only 

Chatting - intimate form of gossip, women use to their own advantage the skills they have learn by nurturing others.

• Mixed sex conversations fail because of how men respond or don't respond
• Conversation Shitwork - the work women do to keep a conversation going 
• Women ask questions because of the power of them not because of insecurity 

• Studied language in the courtroom
• Langauge Lackoff associated with women was used by both sexes when in a powerless situation
• Renamed it 'powerless language' rather than 'women's language'

• Studied children at play in Philadelphia 
• Girls use mitigated directives rather than direct commands
• Girls use 'let's', 'we're gonna', 'we could', to get others to do things

Modal tag questions - signalling the speaker's degree of uncertainty

Affective tag questions - expresses the speaker's attitude to the addressee

Facilitative tag questions ( from affective tags) - support the addresse or soften the force of  negatively affective speech acts