'Research focusing on mixed talk in a variety of social contexts has revealed asymmetrical patterns, with men's greater usage

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Student Name: Richard Paul

Roll Number:  10087536 – 1

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‘Research focusing on mixed talk in a variety of social contexts has revealed asymmetrical patterns, with men’s greater usage of certain strategies being associated with dominance in conversation.’ Coates, J (1998) Language and Gender: A. Reader. London. Routledge.

With reference to at least two linguistic strategies, discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement.

        Since the 1970’s there has been a huge increase in interest regarding the sociological significances of male and female use of language.  Various studies have suggested that male usage of certain linguistic strategies can be interpreted as imposing dominance onto mixed sex conversations.  Male use of; interruptions, overlaps, delayed or non-existent minimal responses and greater verbosity than women could all be interpreted as methods of enforcing conversational dominance.  Two main interpretations can be placed on these findings.  The first interpretation is the dominance theory which sees women as an oppressed group.  This suggests that linguistic differences between women and men are a reflection and enforcement of men’s dominance and women’s subordination in society.  The second interpretation is the difference theory. This suggests that men and women are the product of different sub-cultures, which is reflected in conversation.  Even if variations in speech do result from social differences, do they display male dominance?

        One of the most important general features of conversation is that speakers take turns at speaking, interjecting at appropriate points and not interrupting at inappropriate times.  One person speaking at a time can be a feature of a smooth conversation.  Predicting when a speaker has finished and it is an appropriate time for another speaker to begin can be difficult as the gap between speaking turns can sometimes be only a fraction of a second.  An interruption can be defined as a speaker interrupting another speaker at a point which would not be the first speaker’s last word.  The forms and functions of interruptions’ are central points of discussion, particularly in the area of language and gender, perhaps brought to prominence because of increased interest into the research of conversational dominance.  

        In spite of the obvious difficulties in turn prediction, interruptions have been looked upon not as a sign of conversational incompetence but as a potentially conversation controlling device.  A study which is often referred to, undertaken by Don Zimmerman and Candace West sought to show that interruptions are a tool of power to impose dominance on a conversation.  Interruptions can be used by a speaker as a means of stopping the other speaker finishing a point, forcing a different perspective or even changing the subject.  Zimmerman and West’s 1975 study interpreted interruptions as violations of the turn taking rules of conversation and a sign of conversational dominance.  In 1975 Zimmerman and West recorded turn taking irregularities in same and mixed sex pairs.1 Their initial study involved recording brief two person conversations between male speakers, female speakers and mixed sex pairs.  In single sex pairs interruptions were rare and shared between both speakers fairly evenly.  In mixed sex conversations interruptions were much more frequent and almost always carried out by the male speaker.

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        A follow up study in 1983 by Zimmerman and West altered the research techniques.  The 1975 study involved speakers that were already acquainted with each other.  The purpose of the 1983 study was to investigate whether the same results would be arrived at when the sample speakers were randomly chosen and unknown to each other.  Once again their results showed a marked tendency for men to interrupt more than women, with an average of men interrupting 75% of the time, to women’s 25%.

        Zimmerman and West’s initial study’s in the field of mixed sex conversations created an interest in the ...

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