Gender communication
Two Cultures Model of Gender Differences in Language Use
Language and Gender - An Introduction to the Two-Cultures Theory
Although the study of how gender is manifest in language is a recent branch of linguistics, it has developed into a wide field with a considerable number of studies since the first publications of research findings in the early 1960s. While the first studies in the field focused on differences between the ways men and women talk on a "phonological, morphological, syntactic or lexical level" (Coates 1998: 7), later studies concentrated on findings based on conversational analysis. A number of differences between the ways women and men talk were formally discovered and recorded. Most studies found similar differences; however, concerning the question of why and how these differences had come into being, interpretations vary.
Roughly speaking there are two approaches: the dominance theory and the two-cultures theory. The former claims that many of the so-called typical features of "women's language" are in fact features of "powerless language". O'Barr and Atkins, who were the first to raise this claim, maintain that the term "powerless language" is "more descriptive of the social status of those who speak in this manner, and [it is a term] which does not link [the manner of speaking] unnecessarily to the sex of the speaker" ([1980] 1998: 385). On the other hand, the two-cultures theory, which has been first proposed by Maltz and Borker, explains differences in conversational style by arguing that men and women are part of different sub-cultures and therefore conversation between women and men can be likened to interethnic communication ([1982] 1998: 421). There do not seem to be conclusive arguments to favour either approach.
I feel that both theories have their merits and limitations; however, it is impossible to elaborate on both of them within the constraints of this article. I am currently most interested in issues occurring within
Language and Gender - An Introduction to the Two-Cultures Theory
Although the study of how gender is manifest in language is a recent branch of linguistics, it has developed into a wide field with a considerable number of studies since the first publications of research findings in the early 1960s. While the first studies in the field focused on differences between the ways men and women talk on a "phonological, morphological, syntactic or lexical level" (Coates 1998: 7), later studies concentrated on findings based on conversational analysis. A number of differences between the ways women and men talk were formally discovered and recorded. Most studies found similar differences; however, concerning the question of why and how these differences had come into being, interpretations vary.
Roughly speaking there are two approaches: the dominance theory and the two-cultures theory. The former claims that many of the so-called typical features of "women's language" are in fact features of "powerless language". O'Barr and Atkins, who were the first to raise this claim, maintain that the term "powerless language" is "more descriptive of the social status of those who speak in this manner, and [it is a term] which does not link [the manner of speaking] unnecessarily to the sex of the speaker" ([1980] 1998: 385). On the other hand, the two-cultures theory, which has been first proposed by Maltz and Borker, explains differences in conversational style by arguing that men and women are part of different sub-cultures and therefore conversation between women and men can be likened to interethnic communication ([1982] 1998: 421). There do not seem to be conclusive arguments to favour either approach.
I feel that both theories have their merits and limitations; however, it is impossible to elaborate on both of them within the constraints of this article. I am currently most interested in issues occurring within