the effects of gender in speaking and using language of elesp students in

THE EFFECTS OF GENDER IN SPEAKING AND USING

LANGUAGE OF ELESP STUDENTS IN

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITYBy :

Prabarini Dwi Pangestu 091214065

Literature Review

Introduction

Methodology

Result and Discussion

Conclusion

Appendices

Introduction

Cameron (1996, in Eckert and McConnel,2003) stated that women and men categorically said to be different.

It is now widely accepted that women and men talk differently, women and men make differential use of the linguistic resources available to them (Thorne and Henley, 1975, in Mills 1995).

Cont.

• Language is a medium of expressing and reflecting gender identity (Talbot, 1998, in Eckert and McConnel, 2003).

According to Ige and de Kadt (2002, in Boakye, 2007) women’s and men’s language serve as an important factor in the construction of their identities and is used to maintain relation of power.

Cont.

Aim To analyze whether gender still affects a person to speak in daily conversation or not

• Research question How does gender affect ELESP (English Language Education Study Program) students semester 6 of Sanata Dharma University in speaking in daily conversation?

Literature Review

• The forming of gender (West and Zimmerman, 1987, in Eckert and McConnel, 2003)

• The special vocabulary of women (Lakoff, 1973) • The paradox theory about standard grammar for

women (Labov, 1991, 2001, Eckert and McConnel, 2003)• Nonstandard grammar for men (Peter Trudgill, 1972, in

Eckert and McConnel, 2003)• The theory why women use standard language and men

use non standard language (Bourhis 1975, J. Edwards 1982, in Bergval, Bing, and Freed, 1996).

Cont.

• The theory of women’s powerlessness (Tannen,1990 and Holmes, 1995 in Kuntjara, 2003)

• Theory of politeness which focuses on informal context (Brown and Levinson, 1987, in Boakye, 2005)

• Theories on gender and language suggest that females use language that is passive, indicating shyness and lower self-confidence (Lakoff's ,1973, in Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 2003).

Methodology

1. Subject • The 6th semester students of ELESP, Sanata

Dharma University • There are 12 students : 6 males and 6

females 2. Types of Research • Qualitative Questionnaire • Library study

Cont.

3. Setting • Place: Sanata Dharma University • Time : May 2012

4. Data Gathering • Questionnaire Close-ended questions with

scaled response

Result and Discussion

• What is gender? Gender is not something we are born with, and not something we have but something we do (West and Zimmerman, 1987, in Eckert and McConnel, 2003).

• Empty Adjectives (Lakoff, 1973) - Avoidance of strong swear words - Hypercorrect grammar - Super polite form - Empty adjective - Question tag

Question 1 : When you are angry you tend to use word Damn Showing anger • Avoidance of strong swear words

Male Female0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

Strongly AgreeAgreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree

Women are more likely said as powerless because they always use more standard language rather than men. Brown and Levinson (1987, in Boakye, 2007) stated women’s use of language as a face-saving device (Politeness strategy) is a result of their powerlessness

Question 2 : When you are happy you prefer to show your happiness by saying “I am very happy!” Showing Happiness

Male Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%


Question 3 : When you are sad, you always complain by saying “Oh God. How could this happen to me?” Expressing sadness

Male Female0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


Question 4 : Even though with your friends, to request something you’ll still say “Could you open the window for me please?” Requesting• Hypercorrect grammar

According to Labov (1991, 2001, in Eckert and McConnel 2003) women’s grammar is more standard then men. On the other hand, Trudgill (1972, in Eckert and McConnel, 2003), men are more likely use non standard language because of their association with working-class masculinity

Male Female0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%


Cont. Leech (1983, in Kuntjara, 2003) stated that indirect

request is more polite than direct one

Blum Kulka (1987, in Kuntjara, 2003) disagreed with Leech’s statement.

According to him, politeness in asking request cannot be guaranteed by direct or indirect request, because he thought that indirect request is ambiguous and

not clear, it makes less polite.

Question 5 : When someone makes mistake and asks for apology, you easily forgive him/her by saying “Never mind. It’s okay” Giving apology

Male Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%


Question 6 : When you ask for apology, you tend to beg to be forgiven and say word “Sorry” for many times Asking for apology

Male Female0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%


By saying sorry, sometimes it’s always considered as powerless, Tannen (1990, in Kuntjara, 2003) and Holmes (1995, in Kuntjara, 2003) stated that someone who says sorry can take a one-down position and also it can be concluded as admission of powerless

Question 7 : To interrupt 2 friends who are arguing, you tend to say “Excuse me, may I interrupt you two?” before interrupting Interrupting

• Super polite form Brown and Levinson (1987, in Boakye, 2007) stated that women show their politeness in order to show their deference. The theory has stated that women are more polite and do not use swearing words.

Male Female0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%


Question 8 : In order to give compliment to someone else, you use lively words such as lovely, adorable, cute, or fantastic Giving compliment• Empty adjective

According to Lakoff (1973), women have their own vocabulary when they speak. He claimed that women tend to use empty adjectives such as, adorable, charming, divine, lovely, etc to show their feeling rather than men .

Male Female0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


Question 9 : To respond a compliment from someone else you just say thank you Responding compliment

Male Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%


Question 10 : When you are uncertain about something, you tend to use question tag, for example “Next week, we are going to have Structure test, aren’t we?” Showing uncertainty

• Question tag

Male Female0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%


Conclusion

• Men and women speak differently • Time has changed but the gender’s term for

speaking does not • Gender does affect someone when he or she

speaks in daily conversation

Appendices

• Questionnaire • Result

References

• Bergvall, Victoria L. (Ed.), Janet M. Bing, Alice F. Fred. Rethinking Language and Gender : Research Theory and Practice. (1996). London and New York : Longman

• Boakye, Naomi Adjoa. (2007). Gender Aspects of Vague Language Use : Formal and Informal Context. University of South Africa

• Eckert, Penelope & Sally McConnell-Ginet. (2003). Language and Gender. UK : Cambridge University Press.

• Kuntjara, Esther. (2003). Gender : Bahasa dan Kekuasaan. Jakarta : Gunung Mulia.

• Lakoff, Robin. 1973. Language and Woman’s place. Source from : Language in Society, Vol 2, pp 45-80. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved April 13th, 2012, from: http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist156/Lakoff_1973.pdf

• Wardaugh, Ronald. (1986). An Introduction of Sociolinguistics. Oxford and New York : Blackwell Publisher, Ltd. Pp 312-325

the effects of gender in speaking and using language of elesp students in

Education

use of language

language of elesp students

standard language bourhis

male female

research question

women labov

effects of gender

differential use