How Male And Female Students Use Language Differently By Deborah Tannen

“Analysis of Why Are Female and Male Language Different?” “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. Most men are very “I am mighty,
hear me roar” kind of men. Most men want to be in the center of attention and thrive off the attention. Men want to be the best in the setting that they are in. They are at their best when they feel as though they are being challenged. At one point in her writing Tannen mentions a student, “valued the experience of being attacked and challenged publicly” (Tannen 193). Women are less likely to voice their opinion in a large setting, but would rather tell a smaller group or a best friend how they feel. The classroom setting was the focus of Tannen’s writing. Tannen provided her readers with a breakdown of why we see different behaviors from different genders, Boys want to be seen and heard, while most girls would love not to have the attention on them. Because of the behavioral differences, when a classroom is made up different sexes, teachers have to adjust to such. From Tannen’s writing, teachers would be able to take what they learned about ow females and males uses English differently and be able to come up with a teaching strategy that best fit all students. As mentioned in Tannen’s work there is no way to make a teaching style suitable and equal for all students. “The goal of complete equal opportunity in class may not be attainable, but realizing that one teaching style is not equal is itself a powerful; motivation to find more- diverse methods to serve diverse students and every classroom’s diverse” (Tannen 195).