Comparing the Descriptive Language of Men and Women - Article Example

Language Interventions Comparing the descriptive language of men and women Comparing the descriptive language of men and women Over the decades, many researchers have investigated whether there are gender differences in language use. Results have been varying, but the majority of conclusions noted some gender disparities when it came to language use. Language remains an important factor which extricates human beings from animals. Human beings choice of words for particular things, emotions, expressions and many more is like a perfect art or work. Every language has its definite construction of words. When studying language, it is quite fascinating that one can be able to determine the category a word belongs to, even though, the person is clueless of the word’s meaning. As time passes by the society is always evolving which has significantly altered language use. There has been the addition of new vocabularies and replacement of old-fashioned words in our tongue. A language is a real reflection of the society, and thus language can be discussed in the sociolinguistic perspective. Some regard the subject of gender and language to be a feministic approach. The submissive role of women is clearly depicted through language as those who hold this perspective believe. Another plausible reason that shows language differences between men and women is that they come from different cultures.1 When studying about language its common to come across the following word expressions “male language” and “female language”. As a society evolves, language use has to evolve since language reflects the society. Hence, are these differences in language as a result of gender or they related to status and power? This article’s goal is to elucidate on whether there exist differences between male’s and female’s language use. In addition, it describes if there exists language difference between different age groups of the same gender. Variations in Language An analysis of past historical literature and texts gives clear answers to the gender differences in language use. Some may tend to argue that relying on previous researches of other researchers may tend to lead to prejudice and preconception hence inaccurate information. Such claims are just unfounded comments of lay people. The subordinate role women play in the society started many years ago. From the history, literacy among women in the nineteenth century; women were limited to only being able to write and read, and they were denied opportunities to get higher education although others disputed this. Individuals have different ways of speech which is determined by their age, ethnic group, social class and gender. Regardless of the gender, man or woman it’s prudent to assert that the person adjusts him or herself so as to ‘blend in’. It is the belief to some that the noted differences in languages have no relation to the sex of the speaker. It is due to the lack of an agreeable analysis method of language use. However, others are entirely convinced of differences that exist between the speech of men and women. A lot of researches tend to associate women with words revolving around topics of psychological and social processes while men to impersonal topics and object properties. Men’s speech is always centered on direct figurative statements e.g. let’s go shopping. On the other hand, women tend to use polite questions such as does anyone want to go shopping? Men are usually short and precise in speech while women are lengthy and wordier. Many studies show that women use hedges i.e. ‘it seems like’ and tag questions ‘…will you’ in their conversations. These phrases used by women tend to communicate uncertainty i.e. ‘I wonder if’. This use of hedge expressions by women is somehow associated with their nature of being reluctant to impose their ideas on others. A study of the actual words an individual uses also reveals the gender differences. Women are prone to use more conjunctions i.e. commonly but, more intensive adverbs, and more modal auxiliary verbs i.e. could which tend to raise a question mark on an expressed statement. They also use more of social words, negations, psychological references, and references to the home.2 On the other hand, men are associated with the act of swearing more, using more articles, using longer words and more use of location references. Men also are associated with the discussion of current issues in the society. There are conflicting findings on the use of emotion words despite the well-known stereotype. Some depict women to be the higher users of emotion words than men while other researches dispute this. However, research conducted by Mehl and Pennbaker (2003) reconciles these two groups: Women are more associated with positive emotions whereas men refer more to anger. In order to learn about people’s emotions, underlying thoughts and motives researches suggest the need to categorize and count the words the use to communicate. This approach employs the use of “function words” such as prepositions, auxiliary verbs, pronouns, articles, and conjunctions. People use function words differently, and these depict how they think of and relate to the world. Hence, analysis of function words use would elucidate on valuable information regarding the psychology of men and women.3 The article presents systematic differences though small the varying ways language is used by men and women, both in regards to what they say and how they chose to say it. These differences are in terms of the vocabulary used, the linguistic form of the communication styles such as directness and politeness. The women are stereotyped as fickle, stupid, inferior and overly talkative. Hence, gender differences seem to be influenced by these stereotypes rather than actual differences.4 Conclusion An analysis of the vast resources of research data shows differences exist under four main categories namely, phrases, sentences words, and overall messages. Considering that language helps us understand other human beings: The presented contents of this article on communication style difference may tend to uphold the existence gender stereotypes, and may propagate the notion of a “kernel of truth” beneath those stereotypes. However, it is crucial to note that this article handles the issue of how gender differences in language are portrayed and not why the differences exist. According to the article and previous researches women are characterized by the use of correct grammar and well-structured sentences, polite in speech, and tend to foster and facilitate a conversation. It is their nature also to ask more questions, frequently hedge, and speak more in a personal and emotional manner. On the other hand, men’s speech involves a more colloquial language, its more factual and direct, and centers mostly on themselves. The differences also seem to be associated with the gender stereotypes in the society whereby women hold a subordinate role to that of men. References Haas, Adelaide. (1979). Male and Female Spoken Language Differences: Stereotypes and Evidence.Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 616-626. Mehl, M. R., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2003). The sounds of social life: A psychometric analysis of students daily social environments and natural conversations. Journal of Personality&Social Psychology, 84, 857-870. Newman, M.L., Groom, C.J., Handelman, L.D., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2008). Gender Differences in Language Use: An Analysis of 14,000 Text Samples. Discourse Processes, 45, 211-236. Doi:10.1080/01638530802073712 Romaine, Suzanne. (2011, December 4). Language and gender. Retrieved March 2015, from Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: http://www.eolss.net/Eolss-sampleAllChapter.aspx Read More