Individual Variation - Language and Gender

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Gender
The personal identification of the self: the most common being male and female
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Pejorative Term
A negative term that brings with it judgement and disapproval
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Gendered Term
A word that caters to a particular gender and excludes other genders, e.g. fireman is often used to refer to all firefighters
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Overt Prestige
The language use that is mot valued by the majority of people in a particular area. Research shows that women speak in this way more often than men.
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Queer Theory
The idea that traditional labels of gender and sexuality are incorrect. It suggests that identity consists of many elements and cannot be labelled
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Sex
The biological gender assigned to someone at birth
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Connotation
The associations that we understand between a word and something seperate to its literal meaning e.g. an eagle representing bravery
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Backchannelling
Verbal elements that reassure the speaker that you are listening to what is being said, most associated with women's speech e.g. mmhmm, yeah, uh-huh
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Feminism
The support of the quality of the sexes across all areas of society e.g. employment
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Covert Prestige
Language use that is less valued by the majority, but is favoured in particular groups. Research shows men speak in this way more often than women
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Polari
A specific type of sland used prior to legalisation of homosexuality in 1967 as a means of coding conversation and preserving gay culture
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Transactional Talk
Language that has a clear purpose and is used to convey information, usually associated with men's speech
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Interruption
An act (linguistic or otherwise) that prevents someone from being able to continue to speak, often associated with male behaviour
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Gossip
Talking about somebody who is not present. Coates' study suggested that women do this to maintain relationships and it is uncommon in male speech
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Objectification
Considering someone to be an object and lacking consideration for their non-physical arrtibutes, most commonly done to women by men.
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Rapport
The relationship that exists when everyone involved is aware of and conscious towards the feelings and needs of the others
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Taboo
Language that is not appropriate to use in social situations, mostly associated with male speech, e.g. profanity and swear words
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Sexism
The oppression of a person purely because of their biological sex or the gender they identify as.
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Deficit Theory
The view that women's language lacks something that male language considered the 'norm' at th time, does not.
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Dominance Approach
The theory that women are dominated by men, specifically in regards to language use
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Dynamic Approach
The theory that suggests that women's language is no different to men's and that there is a lot fo similarity that we have not yet considered.
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Difference Approach
The theory that suggests that women's language is not inferior to men's language - it simply contrasts with men's and this should be accepted
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Tannen
Theorist holding the 1990 vie that women's speech is not inferior to men's speech; they have different communicative goals and that affects language use
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Orders vs Proposals
Tannen's (1990) view that suggests that men give commands, whereas women make suggestions in speech
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Conflict vs Compromise
Tannen's (1990) view that men seek arguments as a means of showing dominance, whereas women seek non-threatening solutions
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Information vs Feelings
Tannen's (1990) view that men view communication as conveying information, whereas women view it as a means of sharing feelings
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Independence vs Intimacy
Tannen's (1990) view that men prefer independent decision making, whereas women prefer consulting with others before making a decision
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Status vs Support
Tannen's (1990) view that men seek high social ranking, whereas women seek friendship
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Advice vs Understanding
Tannen's (1990) view that men see problems as requiring solutions, whereas women see problems as requiring sympathy and comfort
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Lakoff
A theorist who identified features of women's language in 1975. Often considered to have propagated ideas of deficiency in women's language, but her reason pointed to an inequality of power
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Spender
1980 theorist suggesting that language keeps women inferior, e.g. in that women take the man's name in marriage and 'man' is considered neutral
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Butler
Theorist suggesting in 1990 that male and female behaviours are constructed by 'social norms' that we learn; language is more diverse than previously thought.
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Qualifier
A word used before an adjective to describe the extent it is true about something e.g. a bit. Women use these to downplay what they are saying
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Expletives
Swear words, most commonly associated with men's language use
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Hedging
Making speech less direct by using modal auxiliary verbs and words that communicate uncertainty, often associated with women e.g. kind of/sort of.
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Hidden Directives
Giving a command that sounds like a suggestion, e.g. Maybe you could get this done by Monday. This is associated with women's speech.
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Modal Auxiliary Verb
A verb that conveys modality, such as obligation. These verbs include should, could, must. Women are thought to use these to avoid assertiveness
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Polite Forms
Elements of language considered more respectful than neutral terms, most associated with women's speech.
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Prosodics
The elements found at the syllable level, predominantly made up of stress, intonation and rhythm
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Tag Question
A question added to the end of a declarative sentence e.g. "It's lovely here, isn't it?" Most commonly associated with women's speech
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Topic Management
The method(s) used to control the subject of a conversation. Research shows that men have a heavier influence on conversations than women.
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Interactional Talk
Language that is used as a means of maintaining relationships, usually associated with women's speech. This is evidenced by Tannen's research.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

A negative term that brings with it judgement and disapproval

Back

Pejorative Term

Card 3

Front

A word that caters to a particular gender and excludes other genders, e.g. fireman is often used to refer to all firefighters

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

The language use that is mot valued by the majority of people in a particular area. Research shows that women speak in this way more often than men.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

The idea that traditional labels of gender and sexuality are incorrect. It suggests that identity consists of many elements and cannot be labelled

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
View more cards

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