Gender (Complete)

Gender (Complete)

1. Turn-taking

   • Same-sex males follow turn-taking structure
   • Same-sex females use shared floor - overlaps and simultaneous speech is supportive

2. Overlaps and Interruptions

   • Zimmerman and West (1975)
     • Same-sex overlaps and interruptions were equal
     • Mixed sex men overlap and interrupt more

3. Topic shift

   • Mixed sex men initiate topic shift
   • Domestic context women attempt to initiate topics only to be silenced by male partner

4. Tag questions

   • Holmes (1995)
     • Women use more facilitative tags
     • Men use more epistemic facilitative tags

5. Questions

   • Women use questions more than men

6. Directives

   • West (1990)
     • Men use aggravated directives
     • Women use mitigated directives

7. Conversational Structures

   • Jesperson (1922)
     • Men use hypotaxis
     • Women use parataxis

8. Intensifiers and boosters

   • women use more extreme intensifiers and boosters

9. Modality

   • Women use modal auxiliaries in directives, declaratives and compound requests

10. Evaluative lexis

    • Women use more strongly positive and negative evaluaative lexis

11. Taboo language, euphemism and expletives

    • Jesperson (1922) and Coates (1975)
      • Men swear more than women and use more taboo language, women prefer euphemisms
    • Coates (1993)
      • Swearing is class linked, both sexes swear more in same-sex situations
    • De Klerk (1997)
      • Male expletive use is linked to issues of masculine identity
      • Increase of female swearing is challenging for men

12. Facework

    • Holmes (1995)
      • Women use more positive politeness strategies

13. Terms of address

    • Poynton (1985) and West (1990)
      • When men held power balance, women were address by first names

14. Compliments

    • Holmes (1997)
      • Women - compliments maintain and strengthen relationships
        • Men are less comfortable about them

15. Apologies

    • Women see them as positive politeness strategies, whereas men see them as face saving

16. Back channel behaviour

    • Women use more back channel behaviour or minimal responses than men

17. Hedges

    • Lakoff
      • Expressions of weakness and tentativeness in women's speech
    • Holmes (1995) and Coates (1997)
      • Holmes - part of positive politeness strategies
      • Coates - express speaker's level of confidence

18. Tannen (1992)

    • Men use language for
      • Status Independence Advice Information Orders Conflict
    • Women use language for
      • Support Intimacy Understanding Feelings Proposals Compromise