Review Journal 1

Title               : Gender Differences in Using Language

Authors          : Xiufang Xia

Journal           : Theory and Practice in Language Studies

Publication    : Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. 1485-1489, August 2013

Abstract         :

The differences between men and women in using language have been studied long time before. this paper mainly discussed the differences from the aspects of pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, syntax, manners, attitudes, and non-verbal differences in using language between men and women. Besides the differences in various aspects, the paper tries to record the changes of these differences. On the basis of these differences and changes, the paper also tries to make some explanation to these differences and changes.

Goals :

To find out the differences from the aspects of pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, syntax, manners, attitudes, and non-verbal differences in using language between men and women.

Problems :

Many differences in using language between the two genders and some changes through time.  

Theories :

1. Shuy (1969) made a study in this field and he found that 62.2% of men pronounced "-ing" in a wrong way, but only 28.9% of women didn't pronounce right.
2. Lkoff (1975) says that women usually answer a question with rising intonation pattern rather that falling intonation.
3. In 1992, Jespersen found that women use more so than men do, such as, "it was so interesting" is often uttered by a woman.

Methods :

"The women's movement of the late 1960's tried to show how women's difference from men was in many ways due to the artificial behavioral stereotypes that come with gender conditioning. since these stereotypes were artificial, they could be minimized" (Flotow, 2004, p.8). Language has a great connection with society, so if change in society occurs, change in language too. With the development of productive forces and civilization, the strict rules that the society prescribes for men and women are changing. Many territories not only belong to men any more. Women are not the on-lookers; instead they begin to take a more assertive role in what goes on. For example, in a study of how the inhabitants of Obserwart are shifting from a pattern of stable bilingualism in German and Hungarian to the use of only German, the young girls are especially in the forefront of the language change there. Women are eager to change their social statues, and they want to be equal with men in every field. nowadays, more and more women walk out their homes; and even more and more of them are in the high positions in  the governments. Their ability tells people that the jobs can be also done well by women. With the changes in their social status, women become more confident and assertive than before. Why should they use more euphemisms? Why should they use reverse accent even they are sure about what they say? Why should they keep silent when men are talking? They have the confidence to say what they want to say directly now, they also have the courage to interrupt men's talk. They are brave enough to lecture to men, not only being lectured by men. When we learn Japanese, we notice that in modern Japanese, the rules are not that strict as they were before. This is the result of modern civilization and this is also the result women strive for. People is linguistic behavior is not only connected with social status, but also connected with their profession, education, etc. In modern society, more and more people receive high education, so we can see that more and more men begin to behave themselves when they talk. Usually,  they seldom break into others conversation abruptly. Instead they are patient enough to wait others to finish their talks. They use less rigid impressive sentences. We can hardly hear them using swear words or taboos. They become polite and gentlemen-like. The interesting thing is that they also begin to use tag questions.

Findings :

The study of gender is important to the study of language and the first step to study gender is to explore the difference between men and women. It is quite clear that men and women have a lot of differences in many fields. Generally speaking, females have more fat and less muscle physically; women are not as strong as men and they mature more rapidly and usually have a longer life span. Females and males often show different advantages and skills in doing their work. Social factors may account for some of the differences. Such as, women may live longer than men because of the different roles they play in society and the different jobs they tend to do. Men usually have to undertake more pressure than women in life. The differences in job skills may be explained in great part through differences in the ways by which they are raised. It certainly affect men and women in using the language.