LANGUAGE & GENDER how differently we use it BY Anastasia Tsypkina Who is possibly talking — —Oh dear, honey, you put the ice-cream into the refrigerator, again!? —Damn! You’ve put the ice-cream into the refrigerator, again? — —What a lovely idea! I’m so excited! —An awful idea. I’m done! — genderneutral.jpg Why do we call it Gender? — —Nowadays: — —Language and gender — — — is not biological sex of speaker, it’s social identity. — (Miriam Meyerhoff) How does the language affects our thoughts? —German A KEY — Spanish — — —Masculine — —hard, heavy, jagged, —metal — — —Feminine — —golden, little,lovely, —shiny, tiny Gender Differences in Language — M A L E — —Avoid eye contact Physical orientation — — From decision to discussion Directness/Indirectness — — Talkative in public, quiet in private Public/private talk — —Trouble talk avoided, would not put —status in risk Conversation style Gender Differences in Language — F E M A L E — —Uses eye contact Physical orientation — —From discussion to decision Directness/Indirectness — —Quiet in public, talkative in private Public/private talk — —Troble talks used to create rapport Converstion style George Keith and John Shuttleworh — In “Living language” (p.228) they suggest that: — — —Women – talk more, than men, talk too much, are more polite, ask more questions… — —Men – swear more, don’t talk about emotions, talk about sport/women, machines (in the same way) more… — — — Reasons for communication —Female —Male —Most common theme – Empathy: —‘To know you’re not alone’. — —To establish and maintain relationships: —‘Talking is the essence of relationship‘. —To get practical tips — —Direct at practical, straight to the point. — —Conversations are fast-paced Why women are more chatty? —Researchers found the so called ‘language protein’ that makes women more talkative — —Women have higher levels of Foxp2 protein — —Girls learn to speak earlier and more quickly than boys — —Daily women speak about 13000 words, men – 7000. Summary — 1.There are differences in men’s and women’s speech: 2. — they brought up differently; — — have different social tasks/roles. — — 2.A possible explanation – evolution Literature —Jeniffer, C. (1993). Women, Men and Language (originally published 1989, 2nd edition 1993) Harlow: Longman. —Keith, G and J Shuttleworth (2008). Living language and Literature, 2nd ed. Hodler Education —http://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/neurolinguistics —Why are women more chatty? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2281891/Women-really-talk-men-13-000-words-day-preci se.html —http://www.popsci.com/article/science/different-ways-men-and-women-talk-facebook — Thank you for your attention menvswomenwords (1).jpg