Language and gender research task

John Grey's popular book 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus':

• It is a proposition that men and women differ fundamentally in the way they use language to communicate.
• Men's goals in using language tend to be about getting things done, whereas women's tend to be about making connections to other people. Men talk more about things and facts, whereas women talk more about people, relationships and feelings.
• Language and communication matter more to women than to men; women talk more than men.
• Women are more verbally skilled than men.
• Men's way of using language is competitive, reflecting their general interest in acquiring and maintaining status; women's use of language is cooperative, reflecting their preference for equality and harmony.
• These differences routinely lead to "miscommunication" between the sexes, with each sex misinterpreting the other's intentions. This causes problems in contexts where men and women regularly interact, and especially in heterosexual relationships.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/01/gender.books

 Mary Beard's ideas about women's voices not being valued

• Historian Mary Beard believes that female broadcasters must lower their voices to sound like men if they want to be successful.
• Professor Beard also believes broadcasters must address the position of women across TV, not just on panel shows, in order to make their voices more valued.
• It’s not a coincidence that even on radio, the successful women presenters tend to have unusually deep (ie male) voices.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2572722/Women-need-sound-like-men-succeed-broadcasting-says-Mary-Beard.html

O'Barr and Atkins's challenge to deficit theory

• William O’Barr and Bowman Atkins are known for developing the idea that language differences are situation-specific, relying on who has the authority and power in a conversation, rather than the gender of the people involved.
• This challenged the theory that Lakoff had presented, that variants in speech were due to gender. A simple example to explain their theory may be that in an interview situation, if a man were interviewing a woman, then perhaps the man would seem more assertive in the conversation, not due to his gender, but simply because he has more authority in that circumstance.
• The theorists studied courtroom cases for 30 months, observing a broad spectrum of witnesses, and examining them for the ten basic speech differences between men and women that Lakoff proposed. These differences or “women’s language” components consisted of; hedges, empty adjectives,  super-polite forms, apologising more, speaking less frequently, avoiding coarse language or expletives, tag questions, hyper-correct grammar and punctuation, indirect requests and using tone to emphasise certain words.
• O’Barr and Atkins discovered that Lakoff’s proposed differences were not necessarily the result of being a woman, but of being powerless. They used three men and three women to prove this. The first man and first woman both spoke with a high frequency of “women’s language” components. The woman was a 68-year-old housewife and the man drove an ambulance, suggesting stereotypically that power and control would perhaps be lacking from their lives. Pair number 3, a doctor and policeman respectively, both testified as expert witnesses, suggesting that the power they experienced in their jobs and lives meant that they had less components of “women’s language”. Man and woman number 2 fell between the first two pairs in the frequency of hedges and tag questions in their speech, ie. “Women’s language” component.
• From this study, O’Barr and Atkins concluded that the quoted speech patterns were “neither characteristic of all women, nor limited to only women”. According to the researchers, the women who used the lowest frequency of women’s language traits had an unusually high status

Source: https://aggslanguage.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/obarr-atkins/

The effect of written and computer-mediated forms on gendered language

• This experiment examined what situational and dispositional features moderate the effects of linguistic gender cues on gender stereotyping in anonymous, text-based computer-mediated communication.
•  Participants played a trivia game with an ostensible partner via computer, whose comments represented either masculine or feminine language styles. Consistent with the social identity model of deindividuation effects, those who did not exchange brief personal profiles with their partner (i.e., depersonalization) were more likely to tell their partner’s gender from the language used, than those who did.
• Depersonalization, however, facilitated stereotype-consistent conformity behaviors only among gender-typed individuals; that is, participants conformed more to their masculine- than feminine-comment partners, and men were less conforming than were women, only when they were both gender-typed and depersonalized.

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00310.x/abstract;jsessionid=98590259854FEDB479210F5C28997C27.f01t01?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage

Beattie's challenge to Zimmerman and West - evaluating data

"The problem with this is that you might simply have one very voluble man in the study which has a disproportionate effect on the total."

• Beattie also questions the meaning of interruptions: : "Why do interruptions necessarily reflect dominance? Can interruptions not arise from other sources? Do some interruptions not reflect interest and involvement?
• Beattie’s own study:

He recorded some 10 hours of tutorial discussion and some 557 interruptions (compared with 55 recorded by Zimmerman and West). Beattie found that women and men interrupted with more or less equal frequency (men 34.1, women 33.8) - so men did interrupt more, but by a margin so slight as not to be statistically significant.                                                                                                                        

Source: The student room- powerpoint presentation

 

Accent abuse
by Daria Jakubisiak for 'Young linguistics' magazine

Three quarters of people in the UK think they hear a lot more accents in every day life than they used to and almost 80% enjoys hearing a variety of accents. What about the remaining 20% of the nation? Does the diversity of accents bothers them?

Teachers from St. Bernard's High School in Ealing, London carried out the survey where they asked a group of teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds about how they feel towards their accents. The results were absolutely shocking. 42 out of 50 students admitted to converge their accents in order to fit into the community. Even harder to believe is that the only reason for it was to avoid the issues which could be caused by other student's negative attitudes towards accents. This is truly outrageous. Being forced to hide the sense of your personal identity just so you don't get discriminated.

Accent stereotyping is one of the main issues which have always existed. People make assumptions about others based on where they come from. 'Can you hear that received pronunciation? She must be very arrogant as she is definitely from London.' However, not everyone realises that sounding 'posh' does not make you arrogant. It makes you sound intelligent, which presents your high status. To be able to speak with the received pronunciation you don't need to come from London. You can come from any part of the world, because it is about the way you were brought up. You don't like someone's accent? That is completely understandable as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But remember not to make any wrong assumptions towards others based on their accents as you can offend them.                                                            

We are judged by the way we speak on a daily basics, friends may laugh at us just because our accent might sound 'funny' to them as well as many employers may turn down our chances of employment due to their dislike towards our accent.. but is this the right thing to do? Being discriminated just because of the accent might cause mental breakdowns for many of us as well as other health issues which link to it. It can also make us feel isolated and disliked by others.No form of discrimination is acceptable so why would accent discrimination be right?

Analysing the NHS parking notice

The car park notice is mainly aimed at people parking at the hospital car park who may be visitors, patients and staff working at the hospital. Some people may not pay attention to the sign, however some may feel 'forced' to read it because they may want to avoid the parking fine.
The primary purpose of the parking notice is to inform the reader about the terms and conditions of hospital car park. The name of the NHS health organisation is written at the very top of the notice to inform the reader about the text producer. NHS being a national health organisation is much more official than any other private organisations, due to its high status. Therefore it also holds influential power as it has influence over the nation by providing advice and support as well as persuading individuals to act in certain, acceptable ways. This power and strength of the NHS makes drivers think that the notice is actually very important therefore they should read it. The graphology of this parking notice consists of variety of different fonts and sizes as well as colourful images.'Terms and conditions' sign is written in capital letters, using bold type of font in order to make it stand out. The use of this type of font, will make the text very clear for readers of all ages. It will also catch everyone's attention, even those who may have their car parked further away from the sign. Underneath, the 'Terms and conditions' sign there also is an important notice written in capital letters and its context written in slightly smaller font. As the capital letters will catch reader's attention, they will be more likely to also read the rest of the notice as it will already make them interested in its context. ''Do not park in this car park unless you agree to the Terms and Conditions in full''. The contraction 'don't' is replaced with 'do not' in order to make the piece more formal. This important notice is almost like a warning to all drivers, as a mean to avoid the disappointment which could be caused by the misuse of the car park.

The secondary purpose of the notice is to make the reader aware of the possible consequences which can be caused by parking beyond the permissible period of time. The notice is split into four little paragraphs followed by a picture provided for each of them. This layout of the text allows the producer to include everything that is necessary and make the reader aware of all the information that they need to know about. Instead of writing the terms and conditions in one big paragraph, the text producer decided to split it up into several sections which also helps to make the notice more interesting and easier to read. The sentences are either simple or compound, in order to keep the context very brief yet informal and easy to understand. The lack of complex and minor sentences suggests that the use of them would not be as effective and would not make the reader hook into the context of this informative text. Throughout the context, the verb 'notice' is being used very frequently. ''Vehicles must not park in a time controlled zone beyond the permissible period'' The verb determinates driver's behaviour by adapting it to the command that they were given. It also makes them feel more obedient and act in the way they are told to in order to avoid the penalty.
Despite the use of strong, informative lexis there are also more soft and polite phrases. ''..Please be aware that you may receive a Parking Charge Notice..'' The mitigated imperative 'please be aware' makes the sentence sound more polite and makes it come across more as a request not a command. The use of mitigated imperatives is important because it makes the reader feel more respected and it also creates the synthetic personalisation, between the reader and the writer.
The receivers expect the text to be formal and informative therefore they will not be surprise after reading it all.

Re-drafting the paragraph

In the transcript proper nouns are used a great number of times especially when the barrister is speaking. The barrister refers to other participants by their names for instance ''..according to you Mr Neil(.) this ill feeling(.)this grudge on Mr Peterson's..''. The use of proper nouns rather than pronouns make the barrister seem more formal and intimidating which presents that he is the powerful participant, as he is holding the power over the conversation. The Barrister also repeats the proper nouns several times, constantly referring to Mr Neil by his name adding tension and making Mr Neil feel under more pressure.''Police have been to see you so many times Mr Neil that you can't remember''. Some people may interpret it as a humorous part, which was used to keep the audience interested whereas some may find it more sarcastic. However it perfectly reflects the unequal encounter which was a part of the courtroom conversation. The role of the instrumental power which barrister holds, is to make Mr Neil feel stressed and uncomfortable which will make him feel forced to tell the truth.

''Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?''- Jennifer Lawrence

What are the important contextual features of this text?

The context of the text is Jennifer Lawrence responding to the leaked news by expressing her opinion after the Sony incident when she found out she earned significantly less than her male co-star workers. At the beginning, Lawrence presents her uncertainty on the topic of feminism: ''When it comes to the subject of feminism, I've reminded ever so-slightly quiet.'' According to her she does not like when the topic is 'trending' which is the reason she did not speak about feminism before. However after the incident, she finally decided to share her opinion with everyone and stand up for herself as well as other women who may not have equal job opportunities or those who may be treated unfairly. ''I don't think I'm the only woman with this issue. Are we socially conditioned to behave this way?'' The rhetorical question and personal appeal, makes the readers think that due to the stereotypes women are being treated less favourably than men. Therefore Lawrence wants to make everyone aware that they have equal rights and should be treated and respected equally.

Comment on the 'male' and 'female' language features in this text. What is their effect on the reader?

Throughout the text I can detect the mixture of trends of male and female language which are part of Lakoff's ideas of the deficit model. Jennifer Lawrence used several swear words such as f**k and a**hole to express her anger on this issue. However these words may simply belong to her every day speech and be a part of her idiolect. The use of swear words might make some readers think that Lawrence has a lack of politeness and it could result in people starting to dislike her since the way she speaks is not ladylike. According to Lakoff's theory, males swear more than females yet in this case it is very arguable as Lawrence clearly contradicted it. Lawrence did not express any sense of humour whatsoever, which supports Lakoff's idea on the female language. However this could have been done on purpose, because she wanted to get her point across and make it easy to understand for every reader. Therefore this can cause a slight confusion for us readers, as we don't exactly know whether the lack of humour was intended. Lawrence did not use any tag questions, empty adjectives or hedges which presents that she did not entirely followed Lakoff's ideas of female language. This might make readers think that this text was against Lakoff's theory as most of the features were not supported by it. I completely agree with this assumption as most of the Lakoff's female theories have not been covered in this piece.

Do you agree with her conclusion?

I do agree with Lawrence's conclusion, because she stood up for herself and shared her honest opinion with the entire world. ''I'm over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion and still be likeable! f**k that.''  Lawrence presented her bravery and power by saying that all she wants is to get her point across even if this would mean loosing fans. She also expressed her regret and disappointment with her previous actions.''I'm sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share''. Rather than being angry at the studio for paying her less, she was angry at herself for not being a tough enough negotiator. The reason why Lawrence used this tough and manly language throughout the text, was to present her anger on treating women unfairly and possibly show her personal change, which is 'fighting' for what she deserves.

Change in accents and dialects

Change in British accents and dialects

The United Kingdom consists of a number of dialects shaped by thousands of years of history and change in generation which had influence the language we speak nowadays. English language which is spoken in Britain is divided into different dialects such as Received Pronunciation, Cockney and Midlands English. Received pronunciation is what foreigners may classify as a standard British accent due to the stereotypes of it being posh. In the past, the received pronunciation was only used by people of a higher status, who wanted to emerge and show the power that they have. Margaret Thatcher transformed from a Lincolnshire accent to sounding like the Duchess of Devonshire, to present her power which she had as the prime minister. This also pertains to other famous people such as David Beckham who has changed his cockney dialect into received pronunciation. The reason for this action could have been influenced by the status of his popularity and importance which has increased over the years. The example of David Beckham shows that nowadays people do change their accent to the received pronunciation whenever they want to sound 'posh' or show others that they come from a higher social class.
Possibly the second most famous British accent is cockney which originates in the East End of London. This accent has a number of features which characterises it and makes it recognisable for people living in other parts of England. One of those features is Th-Fronting: The th in words like think or this is pronounced with a more forward consonant depending on the word: thing becomes “fing,” this becomes “dis,” and mother becomes “muhvah.” The cockney dialect also has its own slang- a type of slang in which words are replaced by other words or phrases they rhyme with, for instance apple and pears- stairs. According to one of the BBC articles and a research which found that a new form of accent is replacing the traditional Cockney in some parts of East End. "The majority of young people of school age are of Bangladeshi origin and this has had tremendous impact on the dialect spoken in the area," said Sue Fox, a research fellow at Queen Mary College, University of London. Accents are influenced by the society, as the society changes the accents change too. Midlands English can be divided into East Midlands and West Midlands, however the most famous of these dialects is Brummie which is Birmingham English. The main feature of Midlands English is
a variety of unusual vocabulary where some East Midlands dialects still feature a variant of the word “thou!”. The dialect changes over the years, as there are new words being introduced however some traditional words and phrases are still in use such as Ay up mi duck- hello there.

Why do dialects change?

Many factors influence different dialects and change the way they are. The main factor is age, because as we grow up we adapt our dialect to suit our age. The difference between generations is an evidence of language change. New words are being created and particular dialects are starting to be recognised by them. Young people play a massive role in dialect development and change, as they share those dialects with others, allowing people to learn something new and perhaps make it their idiolect. People moving all around the country or even abroad, they spread their dialect. However some may also try to fit in by changing their dialect in order to make it more similar to the one used in the particular area/country.

Bibliography:
http://dialectblog.com/british-accents/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22183566
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4171644.stm

The barrister transcript

The genre of this text is a transcript which is a part of a cross-examination in a Scottish court. The use of language and its different techniques makes the transcript more powerful as it allows the receiver understand what the conversation was like in real life, and the relationship which each of the participants shared with one another. The use of proper nouns which are 'Mr. Peterson' and 'Mr. Neil' present that the barrister refers to the participants by their surnames. Referring by the surnames shows the profession of his role and the respect which is shown towards the individuals. Perhaps, they could also be used to clarify who the barrister is talking about and avoid any confusion. There are parts of the dialogue which seem to be prepared and practised beforehand, for instance the majority of barrister's speeches. There is a time limit for the trail to be run. Therefore knowing the speeches helps to fit in the time frame and it also seems as if the barrister is well-prepared. The spontaneous parts of the dialogue are those which were said by Mr. Neil.''Er I accidentally (.) bumped it slightly with er the rear of my car'' is an example of the spontaneous speech. The use of 'er' indicates the long-thinking process which Mr Neil has experienced quite frequently throughout the trail. It could also mean that he was unprepared or unsure of what he was going to say. The brief pauses may suggest the beginning of the new sentence or a short break to take the breath back. The spontaneousness of Mr Neil may make other participants think that not everything that is being said is the truth. ''I was prosecuted (0.5) possibly a week or so later I believe'' This doesn't give us a straight forward answer, as the participant took a longer time to think and the answer which he provided didn't specify the date in which he was prosecuted. Therefore this may suggest that Mr Neil was unprepared as no adequate answer was provided. Barrister seems to be the most powerful participant in the dialogue as he has the control over the dialogue and he is the person who keeps it going. ‘’You can’t remember whether they came to see you or not?’’ is a repetition of a question which was previously asked. The use of repetition may suggest that Mr Neil was lying due to the hesitation whilst replying, therefore the barrister has asked him again. Barrister uses complex questions and sentences, to find out as much as he can about the event that has happened, however Mr Neil’s replies are short and blunt often consisting of ‘no’. This also suggests that the barrister has the most power, as he is the one asking questions and making the dialogue flow. One of barrister’s speeches sounds very interesting just as if he was attempting to introduce a bit of humour into the conversation. ‘’Is that because the police have been to see you so many times Mr Neil that you can’t remember what they were up to see you about one incident (.) as compared to another incident?’’ The emphasis on ‘’so many times Mr Neil’’ might make the receiver think that Mr Neil had been in a similar situation previously.