Language and Gender - Theorists

Theorists and What They Said...Summary...

Robin Lakoff (1975)
Claimed that much of women's language lacked real authority when compared to that used by men and proposed a set of features that characterised women's language as deficient when compared to men's.

Peter Trudgill (1974)
Studied how male and female speakers pronounced the suffix -ing in Norwich.  Men tended to use a non standard pronunciation and women over reported.

Jenny Chesire (1982)
Analysed the talk of teenagers in Reading and found in nearly all cases boys used non standard forms more than girls did.

Janet Holmes…