Genderlect (All theorists)

• Who proposed that women talk a lot in 1922?

  Otto Jespersen
• What is one reason Jespersen claims women use half-finished sentences?


  They speak before thinking about their words
• How does Jespersen describe women's sentence linking?

  They link sentences with 'and' due to emotion
• What adjectives does Jespersen claim women overuse?

  'Pretty' and 'nice'
• What does Jespersen say about women's vocabulary compared to men's?

  Women have a smaller vocabulary than men
• How does Jespersen view women's fluency in speaking?

  Women are more fluent due to their smaller vocabulary
• What does Jespersen claim about novels written by women?

  They are easier to read
• How do women perform in translating difficult texts according to Jespersen?

  Men prove superior in translation tasks
• What does Jespersen suggest about women's expressions in language?

  They lead to a languid and insipid language
• Who criticized Jespersen's work for lacking studies?

  Critics of Jespersen
• What is a key criticism of Jespersen's view of male language?

  Male language is considered the normative standard
• What theory did Robin Lakoff propose in 1975?

  Deficit Theory
• According to Lakoff, how do women show they are listening?

  By using minimal responses like 'mm' and 'yeah'
• What vocal characteristics do women tend to use according to Lakoff?

  Higher pitch range and quieter speech
• What grammatical feature do women overuse according to Lakoff?

  Hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation
• What is a characteristic of women's intonation as per Lakoff?

  They use a greater range of intonation
• How do women use question intonation in statements according to Lakoff?

  They raise their pitch at the end
• What do women tend to overuse in their speech according to Lakoff?

  Qualifiers like "I think that..."
• What type of language do women use more than men according to Lakoff?

  Euphemisms and diminutives
• How do women and men differ in their use of interruptions according to Lakoff?

  Women use direct quotations more often
• What did Dale Spender propose in 1980?

  Men dominate women in language
• What does Spender say about the rules governing behavior?

  They reflect a patriarchal society
• What did Zimmerman and West study in 1975?

  Interruptions in conversations
• How many interruptions did men use in Zimmerman and West's study?

  46 interruptions
• What was the conclusion of Zimmerman and West's study?

  Men interrupt more, indicating dominance
• What is a criticism of Zimmerman and West's study?

  It had a very small sample size
• What did Geoff Beattie argue against Zimmerman and West's findings?

  Interruptions may not reflect dominance
• How many interruptions did Beattie find in his study?

  557 interruptions
• What did Beattie's findings suggest about interruptions?

  Men and women interrupted equally
• What did Janet Holmes explore in her research?

  Tag questions
• What are referential tag questions used for?

  To signal factual uncertainty
• How do women and men differ in their use of affective tag questions?

  Women use them more than men
• What did William O'Barr and Bowman Atkins study?

  Witnesses' speech in courtroom cases
• What did O'Barr and Atkins find about language differences?

  They are based on power, not gender
• What did Pamela Fishman argue about women's conversational roles?

  Women do more conversational work
• How many questions did women ask compared to men in Fishman's 1990s work?

  Three times the number of questions
• What did Deborah Tannen suggest about socialization?

  It starts in childhood for gender roles
• What contrasts did Tannen describe in speech styles?

  Status vs support, independence vs intimacy
• How do men view conversation according to Tannen?

  As competitive for status
• What do women seek in conversation according to Tannen?

  Confirmation and support for ideas