Interest in the way women and men talk has grown astronomically since the mid-1970’s, and sociolinguistic research carried out in many different cultures means that we now know far more than we did about the ways in which women and men interact and about the ways in which their patterns of talk differ. We also know that in all known societies it is the way men speak that is held in high esteem, while women’s ways of talking are compared unfavourably with men’s. These cultural beliefs are collectively known as ‘folklinguistics.’ There is now convincing evidence that many of our folklinguistic beliefs are false. For example, the notion that women are chatterboxes has not survived scrutiny: research in a range of programmes, in electronic discussion via computer, for example – has revealed that in mixed groups male speakers talk more than female speakers.
—Jennifer Coates, Language and Gender: A Reader (2)
Does This Sound Familiar?
Female: “Please…talk to me.” Male: “All right. What do you want to talk about?” Female: “Anything! You never talk to me!” Male: “My mind’s a blank. I’m sorry. Tell me what you want to talk about and I’ll be happy to oblige.” Female: “Oh, never mind! Just never mind!” Male: “Whatever you say.”
Male: “Did you do the laundry?” Female: “YOU KNOW I had to take the kids to the dentist!!” Male: “What did I say to deserve that?” —Suzette Haden Elgin, Ph.D, Genderspeak (Preface xiii-xiv)
Required Readings
- Talbot, “Gender Stereotypes: Reproduction and Challenge” (468-486), in Holmes’ and Meyerhoff The Handbook of Language and Gender
- Tannen, You Just Don’t Understand [Course Reserves and Moodle2]
- Elgin, Genderspeak [Course Reserves and Moodle2]
- Freed, “We Understand Perfectly: A Critique of Tannen’s view of cross-sex communication” [Moodle2]
- Native Tongue: Chapters 3-5 (34-71)
Optional Readings
- Crawford, Ch. 4: “Two Sexes, Two Cultures” [Moodle2]
- Henley, Nancy M, and Cheris Kramerae, “Gender, Power, and Miscommunication,” 385-406, in Roman, Camille, et al., The Women and Language Debate: A Sourcebook [Moodle2]
Additional Resources
Other Works by These Authors
- Elgin, Suzette Haden
Language In Emergency Medicine
How to Turn the Other Cheek and Still Survive in Today’s World
Mastering the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense
Guide to Transformational Grammar; History, Theory, Practice
Businessspeak : Using the Gentle Art of Verbal Persuasion to Get What You Want at Work
The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense
More on the gentle art of verbal self-defense
What Is Linguistics?
A Primer of Transformational Grammar for Rank Beginners
Quâe es la lingèuâistica? - Tannen, Deborah
That’s Not What I Meant : How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships
Talking from 9 to 5 : Women and Men in the Workplace : Language, Sex, and Power
The Argument Culture : Stopping America’s War of Words
Gender and Discourse
Framing in Discourse
Talking Voices : Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse
Gender and Conversational Interaction (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics)
The Argument Culture : Moving from Debate to Dialogue
Lilika Nakos
Spoken and Written Language, Exploring Orality and Literacy : Exploring Orality and Literacy (Vol 9)
Coherence in Spoken and Written Discourse
Spoken and Written Language (Advances in Discourse Processes , Vol 9)
Conversational Style : Analyzing Talk Among Friends
Perspectives on Silence
Due This Week
Weekly journal entry including main points from readings, major points about language treated by Elgin in Native Tongue, and observations about language from daily life. Include as well your notes on the Tannen/Elgin assignment below.