gender and language

• Who proposed the Deficit View of language?

  Otto Jespersen
• What did Jespersen believe about women's language?

  It is inherently different and deficient
• What did Robin Lakoff publish in 1975.

  "Language and the Woman's Place"?
• What are the ten features of women's language identified by Lakoff?

  1. Hedges
  2. Superpoliteness
  3. Hypercorrectness
  4. Tag questions
  5. Speaking in italics
  6. Empty adjectives of approval
  7. Use of implication
  8. Special lexicon about colour
  9. Question intonation in declarative statements
  10. Women have no sense of humour
• What is an example of a hedge in women's language?

  Phrases like "sort of" or "kind of"
• What does superpoliteness in women's language refer to?

  Using phrases like "Would you mind?"
• What is hypercorrectness in women's language?

  Avoiding non-standard grammar and lexis
• What are tag questions?

  Questions added to the end of statements
• What does "speaking in italics" refer to in women's language?

  Emphasizing certain phrases for effect
• What are empty adjectives of approval?

  Adjectives like "sweet" or "adorable"
• What does the use of implication in women's language mean?

  Suggesting rather than stating directly
• How does women's special lexicon about color differ from men's?

  Women use specific terms like "mauve"
• What is question intonation in declarative statements?

  Raising intonation at the end of statements
• What stereotype does Lakoff suggest about women's sense of humor?

  Women do not tell jokes well
• What does the Dominance Model claim about men's behavior in conversation?

  Men behave uncooperatively towards women
• What did Zimmerman and West study regarding turn-taking?

  They studied male dominance in conversations
• What are overlaps in conversation?

  Starting a new turn too early
• How do interruptions differ from overlaps?

  Interruptions prevent a speaker from finishing
• What did Geoffrey Beattie criticize about Zimmerman and West's study?

  It had a very small data sample
• What are minimal responses in conversation?

  Signals of active participation
• What did Pamela Fishman find about tag questions?

  Women used them more to elicit responses
• What did Janet Holmes reveal about tag questions?

  Men and women used about the same number
• What did Victoria DeFrancisco observe about women's conversation?

  Women introduce more topics than men
• What did Tannen suggest about men's and women's language?

  Differences arise from upbringing and social conditioning
• What is rapport talk in women's conversation?

  Used to establish and maintain relationships
• What is report talk in men's conversation?

  Used to convey information and facts
• What are Tannen's two kinds of turn violations?

  Uncooperative overlaps and cooperative overlaps
• What does the Diversity Model oppose?

  Biological determinism in gender roles
• What does Janet Hyde's Gender Similarities Hypothesis claim?

  There are more similarities than differences
• What did O'Barr and Atkins study in the courtroom?

  Gender differences in language use
• What did O'Barr and Atkins conclude about Lakoff's features?

  They are not limited to women
• What myths about language and gender did Cameron address?

  Women speak more and communicate better
• What does Cameron's performative language suggest?

  Language is used to present ourselves
• What is Butler's view on gender performativity?

  It is not linked to biology
• What did Podesva study regarding language use?

  Language used by an out gay man
• What did Podesva find about Heath's use of falsetto?

  He used it to construct his gay identity
• What did Butler claim about drag queen performances?

  They expose the performative nature of femininity
• What did Judith Baxter research about language and leadership?

  Women can maintain dominance through language
• elicit


  evoke or draw out (a reaction, answer, or fact) from someone
• Women's Language 


  Using indirect language showing deference , avoiding taking credit and using humour to construct and maintain power in the conversation.