This chapter discusses research on gender and language use. It begins with an introduction that outlines the history and focus of studies in this area. The chapter contents are then reviewed, which will examine aspects of language and gender as related to sociolinguistic issues. The methods used in studies of gender and language are discussed historically, progressing from studies of distinctive female and male language forms to more contextualized interactional analyses. Section 7.2 reviews traditional views of "women's language" and "men's language" but notes these imply homogeneity, while more recent research emphasizes diversity within gender groups. Section 7.3 will quantify gender differences through sociolinguistic interviews and examine relationships between gender, social class, lifestyle, interaction patterns

1. Chapter 7:
GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
Contents
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Women’s and Men’s Languages
7.3 Variationist Studies(Presented by Hong Van)
7.4 Gender in Interaction
7.5 Gender and Politeness (Presented by Ngoc Bich)
7.6 Contextualised Approaches
7.7 Conclusion (Presented by Tran Thu)

2. Chapter 7: GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
7.1 INTRODUCTION
* The history of researching gender and
language use
* The studies’ emphases
* Gender and language use area
* The chapter’s content
* Method of the chapter

3. 1. History of gender and language use
- The term “ folklinguistics” –sets of popular beliefs about
language
- Many interesting early studies in terms of systematic empirical
investigation
- At the beginning of the 1970s, language and gender became a
major research area.
2. The studies’ emphases :
- Past : generalized gender differences
- Recent: context  to provide a more contextualised
 nuanced account of how speakers may draw
on language to negotiate gender,
along with other aspects of identity

4. - This research area has
been characterised by
interdisciplinarity with
valuable contributions
from
• anthropology
• discourse analysis
• education
• literary theory
• media studies
• social psychology
• sociology
• women’s studies
• lesbian and gay studies
• more narrowly defined sociolinguistics
- Most contributors - feminists
- Both the development of theory and more practical concerns
- The importance of this interesting topic is just because of what
gender and language use can add to our understanding of
language and how it works, and to the sociolinguistic study of
language.
3. Gender and language use area

5. 4. The chapter’s content
- Considering aspects of language and gender – most
closely related to sociolinguistic issues identified in
previous chapter.
- Focusing on social psychological studies about the
content of spoken interaction, relating the expression of
people’s beliefs and attitudes to the social construction of
gender.
5. Method of the chapter
-Historical approach
( Studies of distinctive female and male forms in certain
languages  variationist studies  interactional studies
 examples of more “ contextualised” studies )


6. Chapter 7: GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
• 7.2 Women’s and Men’s Languages
. -Language may have a direct
relationship with gender, but
language forms (for instance with
status and power) generally have
a range of associations which may
in turn be related to gender.

7.  Findings from studies of Native American languages
- The following table will show “ Female and male verb forms in Koasati” :
Female form Male form Meaning
lakawcˇîn lakawcˇî.s don’t lift it!
lakawwîl lakawwís I am lifting it
lakáwwilit lakáwwilicˇ I lifted it
(Haas 1944: 143–4)
Early commentators

Linguistics distinctions 
indexical of social practices and
beliefs. Language  social
mirror reflects important social
distinctions

Furfey (1944)

The existence of different
female and male forms of
language  Speakers
were conscious of women
and men as different
categories of human
beings.

8. Chapter 7: GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
7.2 Women’s and Men’s Languages
- A related point: research on gender
and language use has traditionally
been concerned with differences
between female and male speakers,
but also with issues of power and
dominance. There has sometimes been
a tension between ‘difference’ and
‘dominance’ positions in research.

9. Chapter 7: GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
• 7.2 Women’s and Men’s Languages
- Terms such as ‘women’s language’ and
‘men’s language’ imply homogeneity
among women and men; more recently,
however, researchers have emphasised
diversity between women, and between
men, as social groups.

10. 7.3 Variationist Studies: Quantifying gender
• Gender and Social Stratification
• Sampling: women, men and social
class
• The sociolinguistic interview
• Interpreting gender differences
• Gender and Lifestyle/ Patterns of
Interaction
• Gender and Acts of Identity

11. Chapter 7: GENDER AND LANGUAGE USE
• 7.3 Variationist Studies: Quantifying gender
Gender and social Stratification

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