Discussion questions on
Language and Gender (Speech variation)
Are
there sex-based linguistic differentiation? Compare Bak (1983), Tannen (1992),
and Ochsl (1992). Are there differences in men's speech
and women's speech in English and Korean?
Do people perceive different ways men and women speak?
Ochs (1992): pitch has a social meaning
Cases of linguistic sex differentiation (sex-based dialects) (Trudgill):
The West Hindies: different vocabulary used betwee men and women
Carib: tabooed words
Zulu: tabooed names and sound
Chiquyito: different kin terms used according to the gender of the speaker (cf. Korean)
Koaasati (Muskogean), Yana, Sioux, Darkhat Mongolian, Chukchi (Siberia): women's speech is more conservative
Lakhota
Korean:
Bak characterizes women's speech in English and Korean with two behavioral
notions. What are they, and how are those notions manifested in language?
What does he attribute women's speech being more polite to?
Tannen
(1992) discusses different conversational styles between men and women.
* What is conversational style?
*Why do conversational styles of different people vary?
*What is a general tendency of classroom discussion Tannen finds in
terms of gender difference?
Why?
*What is "ritual opposition" (or "adversativeness" or "agonism")?
Ochs (1992) views the gender-based linguistic differentiation from a so-called
'language socialization'. What is 'language socialization'?
The key concept in language socialization is indexicality of language/speech.
What does it mean?
Unlike
many other analyses of gender-based linguistic differentiation, Ochs does
not consider features of language to directly and exclusively index gender.
What does she mean by that? What is her view on the ways gender is indexed
through language?
Ochs discusses
characteristics of indexing gender through language. What are they?