Preview

Gender Differences in Pragmatic Awareness

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
795 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gender Differences in Pragmatic Awareness
LIN 486 Annotated Bibliography
Gender Differences in Second Language Pragmatics
University of Toronto Mississauga

Gender Differences in Second Language Pragmatics
It goes without saying, that learning a second language is not just black and white. Besides a large amount of exposure and learning experience, many other interrelated factors, such as age, personality, culture, and gender also affect ones talent to attain native-like proficiency of a second language. T he least known of all these factors may perhaps be one of the most subtle explanations possible. Kasper and Rose (1982) surfaced this possible factor in one of their many intriguing questions–“Do sex and gender play a role [in second language pragmatics]?”
Gender is defined as a cultural and societal construct and is identified as the difference between masculine and feminine identities (Gender, Oxford Dictionary). These gender differences account for language style variation for both first language and second language use.1Even though, sex-based differences in language are both naturally inherit (le vs. la) and socially constructed (miss vs. mister.), this particular report shifts away from the linguistic properties of language and investigates more on the pragmatic differences of language and gender. Salient differences indicate men and women do not speak or communicate the same, which pragmalingists also account for by measuring speech act distinctions. This paper posits that universal gender differences exist and differ depending on cultural norms. This essay also addresses the questions: Do women use more polite strategies using compliments and requests? Do men and women have the same pragmatic awareness? And, does first language pragmatics transfer over to second language pragmatics? Three cross-cultural studies were selected to identify possible answers to these questions. The first article by Bulut (2007) selected a gender-stratified educational system



Bibliography: “Pragmatic Awareness of a Foreign Language in a Gender-Segregated Society” (Bulut, 2007)

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Deborah Tannen once said, “Conversation between women and men is cross-cultural communication.” By this, she is trying to explain that both men and women speak in different manners. The same exact thing applies to age, ethnicity, gender, race, geography, subculture, language, and occupation. The way one perceives their words is distinguished by their past along with various other reasoning’s. It’s also part of our human nature to adapt to certain communication styles based on the ways we were brought up as children and the environments we stayed in throughout life. Beside communication, miscommunication also occurs with these differences in language.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Linguistic Battle of the Sexes” describes how men and woman act different in public places. She states, “American men tend to talk more than women in public situations, they often talk less at home.” This pattern she describes is wreaking confusion and imbalance in their interests. When it comes to relationships men and woman have many communication problems starting from childhood.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article, “But What Do You Mean?”, author Deborah Tannen discusses what she has observed to be differences in ways that women and men communicate. She concludes by stating that neither communication style in incorrect, however, to alleviate miscommunication women and men should use language that is understood by both parties. While I don’t disagree with Tannen’s observations I find some flaws with her solution. Women and men are not significantly different, as recent brain studies have shown, I believe that the differing socialization of women and men as children breeds the stylistic communication differences Tannen describes. So while limiting one’s speech to common language may work in a pinch, there is a long term solution that could…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deborah Tannen

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Deborah Tannen’s essay How male and female students use language differently explained’ she describes the difference in the way men and women communicate in class. Ms. Tannen has years of experience in the classroom, and has inked several books on language. Deborah Tannen can be considered and specialist on this subject. In this essay she tries to convey the message to her readers that women and men communicate in differently inside the classroom by sharing her experience during an experiment that she had conducted in her own class.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    William O Barr Atkins

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “The findings indicate that future research on gender difference in language usage should move from the documentation of sex differences towards an examination of underlying social and situational factors.”…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Boys will be boys” (Tannen 193) is a statement is said quite frequently. Boys can sometimes be more outspoken in any kind of group setting, whereas girls are more than likely to keep their opinion to themselves. In How Male and Female Students Use Language differently, written by Deborah Tannen, we are giving a look into how because boys and girls behave differently there is a reflection of that in the classrooms. Through an experiment in a classroom setting Tannen was able to gather how differently male and female students were. In her writing, Tannen tells her readers how boys are more likely to voice their opinions than members of the opposite world.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Through language, bias has proliferated in our culture against both women and men. Language expresses aspects of culture both explicitly and implicitly. Gender expectations, behaviors, and cultural norms, are determined through language. A divide between the sexes has developed which includes language usages, intention, and understandings. This has created obstructions to communication between the genders.…

    • 3301 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gender Roles

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Eckert, Penelope and McConnell-Ginet, Sally (1997) Language and Gender. Second Edition. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved From: http://www.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/Chap1.pdf…

    • 1101 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Haas, A. (1979). Male and Female Spoken Language Differences: Stereotypes and Evidence. In Psychological Bulletin (3rd ed., Vol. 86). New York City.…

    • 1640 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, I have realized how many variations of English that are actually used today. When I am writing a essay, or speaking in front for a audience, I try to sound very formal. I use words I normally don’t. But more importantly, I structure the way I write or speak differently. Most of the time, I don’t focus on the words I put in my sentences, or how I structure them, I just say it. Like Tan, I speak differently with my family compared to when I am speaking to my boss. With my family, I don’t filter what I say, or how I say it as much. On the other hand, with my boss, I tend to tread carefully with what I say and how I say it. For example, when I see my family, I might greet them by saying “how's it going?”…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to cross-cultural differences between genders such as gender role association, observational learning and operant conditioning men and women communicate differently. Because of communication differences between genders they…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    English language analysis

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Robin Lakoff was one of the researches who identified features which characterised women’s language in 1975. She believed that women used indirect speech, because they had a lack of confidence and assertiveness. Meanwhile, Deborah Tehhan could argue that men and women are just different; therefore they have a different approach to the language use. According to her, women tent to use super polite forms using modals “would”, “may” and etc, meanwhile men use direct imperatives.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Deborah Tannen, whose book, You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation, was on the New York Times Best Seller list for nearly four years and brought gender differences in communication style to the general public. Tannen contends that differences between the communication styles of women and men are the result of more than culture and socialization, but are inherent in the basic make up of each gender. (Tannen, 1990)…

    • 2139 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    language pragmatics whose mission is to scrutinize how non 2native speakers do things with words with L 2. This paper reported that 4 NPT 2related aspects have been heavily document 2 ed in the current literature :1 ) L 1 negative pragmatic transfers at the speech2act level;2 ) the distinction between negative pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic transfers ;3 ) conditions of negative pragmatic transfers ; and 4) native speakerz] attitudes towards L 1 negative pragmat 2 s ic transfers . Consequently , issues for future studies are also raised. Key words: negative pragmatic transfer ; interlanguage pragmatics ; speech acts [ �d �1 �� ]H09,� ,� [�� �p�J �� �2 ]A ,� ,� ,� [�� �� �T �� ]100126597 (2002 ) 0120034212 �� ��…

    • 7392 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The explanation of the differences between women’s and men’s speech behavior which refer only to the status or power dimension are likely unsatisfactory. The social distance dimension is at least as influential.…

    • 1689 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays