Gender Language Acquisition And Language Use Psychology Essay

sexuality delivery Acquisition And Language Use Psychology EssayINTRODUCTIONOver the last cardinal years in that location has been a sharp increase of interrogation on the differences amidst work force and wo custody, in bumpicular the extent to which men and women utilize intercommunicate communication otherwise.The purpose of this project is to identify the differences between young-begetting(prenominal) and pi motionlessate linguistic communication and how baseball clubs attitude towards gender has an collision on voice communication learnedness and voice communication usage.Firstly this project will introduce the subject of sociolinguistics with a focus on stereotyping, linguistic process acquisition and the general differences in speech between manfuls and females. Secondly, current opinions and attitudes will be discussed along with recent question that has been carried out examining if gender stereotyping exists and whether it has an impact on language a cquisition and the counselling language is usanced. Lastly it will analyse findings from my own research of wring terms apply by a sample of 10 children.Sociolinguistics is the bring of the relationship between language and society, and how society influences or affects the mode in which language is used by individuals or groups (Crystal, 2008). Gender Difference is a branch of sociolinguistics that focuses on how males and females communicate and what differences there argon between the two sexes. Over the last 20 years research has been conducted to try and exercise much(prenominal) questions as Do women really talk more than(prenominal)(prenominal) than than men? Do men swear more than women? and Do women gossip more than men.The main differences identified between the way men and women communicate are mens language is more dominant, aggressive, assertive, confident and forceful and womens language is manageable, cooperative, emotional and heartfelt (Pearson, 1985 ).Research has been carried out to examine whether these differences are repayable to biological or social factors.LITERATURE REVIEWEarly research examining the relationship between gender and language was first carried out by Lakoff in 1975 and create in her book Language and Womans Place. Lakoff identified several factors that make womans language different to mens. Womens language contains more Hedge phrases sort of, it seems like civilized forms would you mind Tag questions you are coming to dinner, arent you? Standard English and break away to avoid using expletives. Lakoff stated that women are reluctant to force their views on an separate person which explains the use of hedge phrases. This view was supported by McMillan et al (1977).In relation to tag questions, Mulac Lundell (1986) institute similar results with their research however studies by Dubois Crouch (1975) contradicts this as they effectuate that men were more likely to use tag questions than women. Holmes (1984) overly disagreed with Lakoffs suggestions of tag question and found that in most cases women used them to give the person creation spoken to an opportunity to speak.Lakoffs research besides found that women notice more point in time than men causing women to be more perceptive they notice things much(prenominal)(prenominal) as tone of voice, facial expression, and body language. She noted that women use a greater descriptor of descriptions when describing vividnesss, (violet instead of purple or crimson quite a than red.Glass (1992) carried out research to identify biological differences and found that in males the right hemisphere of the brain matures faster than the left where as the pivotal occurs in females with the left hemisphere of the brain developing first. Therefore men are more adept at right hemisphere tasks such as solving mathematical problems trance women are better with left hemisphere tasks such as developing language and vocabulary.Differences th at arise due to social factors could be due to the fact that there is an element of sexism in language which instils gender stereotyping. Words that represent women or refer to women move to have prejudicious connotations (Romaine, 2008). If we look at the words that call a single male (bachelor) and a single female (spinster), for many passel the word bachelor would imply a young, single, professional male with prospects where as the word spinster would suggest a lonely, old female, yet they twain mean the same for severally gender.Nilsen (1977) carried out research using viosterol dictionary words which had either male or female connotations. 385 were found to have male connotations compared to plainly 132 with female connotations. Nilsen looked at the words for negative connotations and found that the number of words with negative female connotations outweighed the number of male ones by 25%.There has been a lot of research examining whether the impact of gender stereotyp ing at an early age has had an influence in the use of language. Eisenberg et al (1985) found that parents will more often than not look at romances that are associated with their childs gender. Caldera (1989) looked at the type of shirks children play with and the role they have in language development. He found that sons toys such as cars and trains have natural depression levels of t for each oneing and questioning and require little or no fundamental moveion with a parent. Boys will often mimic the sounds related to the toy (e.g. upchuck beep for a car or choo choo for a train) but the toy requires no conversition. In contrast, girls toys such as dolls and prams require a definite amount of role play that elicits constant verbal interaction with the toy with the child giving a step by step beak of what will happen next (e.g. it is now time for your nap), which often leads to a parent becoming more involved making comments and questioning (Caldera, 1989).By the end of a childs first year gender differences are already evident in the way they play and dress and the way adults interact and communicate with them. Parents will typically choose to dress a male child in blueness or a girl in criticise because that is what gender stereotyping dictates. Pearson Davilla (2001) found that baby boys are often described as strong, solid and independent where as baby girls are described as loving, cute and sweet thus reinforcing gender stereotypes.This type of gender stereotyping has also been found to occur in school textbooks with language often emphasising the ideas of males and females (Cameron, 2007). The use of terms like he, him and his, and men when referring to a person or battalion reinforces gender language with females made to look inferior to males. Males and females are typically represented in traditional gender roles with women as mothers and housewives, and men as professional breadwinners. Again women are portrayed in more submissive and inferior roles. This was more noticeable with reading schemes from the 1960s and 1970s. Males are also seen as having more opportunities than females as they are portrayed as being more adventurous and physically stronger than women. Females seem more caring and are seen as more interested in domestic matters taking a submissive role to allow male dominance.However Bradley (1981) and Weatherall (2002) have argued that there are no pregnant differences between male and female speech. methodologyIn order to obtain comparable data I essential to ask a sample of children to look at a visit and give the name of each falsify of a specific mark within the picture. As this research was to be conducted during the Christmas season I used a sample of children who were attending a Christmas party.I devised a questionnaire which contained a people of colorful Christmas themed picture of Santa flying his sleigh along with five questions petition to name the food colouring of different obj ects within the picture (Appendix 1). The picture chosen had different completes of colour in order to allow a variety of manages for a particular object.The research was carried out on a small scale using a mixture of interpretive and positivistic methods. A sample size of 10 children was used ranging from age 4 to 9 with an equal number of males and females to allow a more spotless comparison of data relating to gender.The children sampled were enjoying themselves at a Christmas party. Each child was sat down individually at a quiet table and asked to describe the colour of the various objects in each question. They were also asked their age. The time productionn to answer the questions was an average of 4 minutes per child.FINDINGSI have analysed the findings for each question individually in order to compare the differences between genders.Q.1. What colour is Santas hat?In the picture, Santas hat is a standard red colour wherefore it is not surprising that red was the an swer habituated by 100% of the children.Q.2. What colour is the sky?The sky is a pure tone of blue which could be described as a light blue or sky blue. 80% of the boys gave the answer blue where as this answer was only given by 20% of the girls. Sky blue was the most favorite answer which was given by 60% of the girls. Light blue was given by 20% of girls and 20% of boys.Q.3 What colour is Rudolph?Rudolph is a brown colour that could be described in a number of ways. 80% of boys answered brown compared to 40% of girls. Interestingly one girl (20%) gave the answer nutmeg while a second girl (20%) answered fawn and a third girl (20%) answering light brown. kotow brown was also given by 20% of boys.Q.4. What colour is Rudolphs scarf?Rudolphs scarf is a dark shade of green. cat valium was the answer given by 80% of boys and 80% of girls. moreover two other shades were given moss green (20% boys) and sage (20% of girls).Q.5. What colour is Santas sleigh?Santas sleigh is red but it is a much darker shade of colour than his hat. Of the boys sampled, 80% gave the answer red with only one boy (20%) giving a different answer of burgundy. None of the girls gave the simple answer of red. 60% distinguished that is was a much darker red than Santas hat and because described it as dark red. One girl (20%) gave the answer forsake and another girl (20%) gave the answer burgundy.The table below shows the results along with each sisters gender and ageResponse to QuestionsChildGenderAgeQ.1Q.2Q.3Q.4Q.5AM8 reddenedLight grimyFawn embrownMoss GreenBurgundyBM8 cherryBlue brownnessGreen rednessCM9RedBlue dark-brownGreenRedDM4RedBlue dark-brownGreenRedEM7RedBlueBrownGreenRedFF6RedSky BlueNutmegSage desolateGF7RedLight BlueFawnGreenBurgundyHF5RedBlueBrownGreenDark RedIF6RedSky BlueLight BrownGreenDark RedJF6RedSky BlueBrownGreenDark RedDISCUSSION/ANALYSISThe results show that females take more notice of details than males as the female children were more perceptive when look ing at the picture and therefore gave a greater variety of colour descriptions. These results agree with Lakoffs research of Language and Womens Place.Lakoffs research was published more than thirty years ago and her specific claims about the way language is used by woman have been overturned as more recent research does not support them as the research was ground on intuition. (Cameron, 2007). However, Lakoffs arguments that language-use, gender and power are all connected is still supported (Cameron, 2007).Individual differences may identify for some of the variations in the results. Child A, a male child, gave colour terms of Red, Light Blue, Fawn Brown, Moss Green and Burgundy which suggests that other social factors besides gender stereotyping may have an influence.The way people use language is affected by the context of the stance they are in and to whom they are engaging in conversation with (Cameron, 2007). Holmes (1984) uses the doctrine of analogy of a tightrope to exp lainWomen are obliged to walk a tightrope of view management, continually demonstrating their professional competence while also making receptive that they have not lost their femininity that they are not, for example, aggressive or uncaring (Cameron, 2007).Factors such as socio economic background, parent influence and other interests may have a direct effect on language acquisition and needs to be researched further.CONCLUSIONThe differences between males and females can be attributed to biological and social factors. Research by Glass (1992) shows that the brain develops differently in males and females which results in the two genders having a preference for tasks that are associated with that part of their brain that matures faster. affable factors such as gender stereotyping has a significant influence on language use as it helps to reinforce the roles that society dictates men and women should have. Gender stereotyping occurs from birthFemales use language as a way to deve lop personal relationships where as men use language to assert independence and status.People adapt their language to different contexts therefore gender differences is a difficult area to study. Gender alone cannot account for differences in language use and as such other factors such as socio economic background, education and individual differences should be taken in to account.Much of the research carried out has identified what the differences are between male and female speech but with little suggestions as to why these differences occur. reservoir LISTBradley, P. H. (1981) The Folk Linguistics of Womens Speech An Empirical Examination. Communication Monographs. 48, pp73-90Caldera, Y.M. (1989) Social interactions and play patterns of parents and toddlers with feminine, masculine and neutral toys. Child Development, 60, pp70-76.Cameron, D. (2007) The Myth of Mars and Venus. clean York Oxford University PressCrystal, David. (2003) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Langu age. Second Edition. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, p.298Dubois, B. L., Crouch, I. (1975) The question of tag questions in womens speech They dont really use more of them, do they? Language in Society, 4(3), pp.289-294.Eisenberg, A.R. et al (1985) Childrens Talk Learning to use Language. New York Norton.Glass, L. (1992) He Says, She Says. stopping point the Communication Gap Between the Sexes. New York G.P. Putnams Sons.Holmes, J. (1984) Hedging Your Bets and Sitting on the Fence Some Evidence for Tag Questions as Support Structures. Te Reo, 27, pp.47-62.Lakoff, R. (1975) Language and Womans Place. New York Harper Colophon Books.McMillan, J. R. et al (1977) Womens language Uncertainty or interpersonal sensitivity and emotionality? Sex Roles, 3, pp.545-559.Mulac, A., Lundell, T. L. (1986) Linguistic contributors to the gender-linked language effect. journal of Language Social Psychology, 5, pp.81-101.Nilsen, A. et al (1977)Sexism and language. Illinois National Council of Teachers of English, pp.161-179.Pearson, J. C. (1985) Gender and Communication. Iowa W.N.C. Brown Publishers.Pearson, J. C., Davilla, R. (2001) The Gender Construct Understanding Why work force and Women Communicate Differently. In Borisoff, D. Women and Men Communicating. Illinois Waveland Press.Weatherall, A. (2002) Gender, Language and Discourse. London Routledge