3 Language and Gender Theories

·       

•   Dominance Theory-   this is a claim that states that in a dialogue between a man and a woman, the man is more likely to interrupt.  This theory arose from a study carried out by Don Zimmerman and Candace West in which they observed 31 conversations between men and women. Their report showed that 11/31 conversations show men interrupting a total of 46 times whilst women only interrupted during 2/31 conversations. However some people argue (Geoffrey Bettie) interruptions doesn’t have to necessarily mean an assertion of dominance but could be seen as a sign of interest and involvement.

·      

•   Deborah Tannen and difference- Professor Tannen summarised in an article related to her book ‘’You Just Don’t Understand’’ the six main differences in men and women’s language:

1)      Status vs. Support - For men conversation is seen as a competition and a way to assert their dominance to prevent others from asserting theirs. Women on the other hand conversation is a way to gain approval and support for their ideas.  The world to man is seen as a way of gaining status, whilst women see it as ‘’a network of connections seeking support and consensus.’’ 

2)      Independence vs. Intimacy - Professor Tannen states that women usually think in terms of in closeness and support, whilst men are more concerned with independence and their status. An example that Tannen gives on this is that a woman would ask her husband if they could have a guest over because she likes telling her friends that she has to check with her husband. The man on the other hand would invite the guest without checking with his wife because to do so would mean losing his status.

3)      Advices vs. Understanding - Men often see complaints as challenge and will strive to find a solution but in this scenario all a woman wants is sympathy.

4)      Information vs. Feelings - Men are more concerned with obtaining and giving information whilst women are more likely to talk about emotions.

5)      Orders vs. Proposal - Women tend to use cloaked imperatives, or use indirect imperatives e.g.  ‘’lets’’ ‘’why don’t we?’’ Men on the other hand prefer to hear/ give direct imperatives.

6)      Conflict vs. Compromise- men are more likely to argue and resist things vocally whilst women often concede but complain or try and find a middle ground. 

• Robin Lakoff- during 1975 published ‘Language and a Woman’s Place’ which contains an account of women’s language. In another similar article she wrote assumptions about what marks a woman’s language from a man’s, some of these claims are:

o   Hedge -  women use phrases such as ‘’sort of’’ ‘’kind of’’ ‘’it seems like’’

o   Use super polite forms - ‘’would you mind’’ ‘’I’d appreciate it if’’

o   Use tag questions – ‘’you’re going to dinner aren’t you?’’

o   Avoid coarse language or expletives

o   Use empty adjective e.g. divine, lovely, adorable, cute

o   Use more intensifiers e.g. ‘’so’’ ‘’very’’

o   Use cloaked imperatives – ‘’it’s a bit cold in here isn’t it? ‘’ 

Source: http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/gend

Analysis of Written Text

Q3) with relevance to Text I and relevant ideas from language, explore how language is used to assert power.

Because Text I is the first page of an Employee Handbook we can assume that it will be in a formal register, with a high frequency use of jargon. The text could also contain lots of imperatives, as well as power in the discourse because it might be written be someone with lots of power and they might want this known so that they take the handbook seriously.

One way the text creates power over its audience is through the use of building the consumer, a technique used by advertisers and identified by Fairclough. Although the handbook is not advert it still uses the technique effectively. Building the consumer includes knowing who your target audience is and therefore creating the perfect image of who they should be/ would like to be. The paragraph opens with a declarative about Waterstone being a ‘’strong brand’’ and how this is due to ‘’commitment and passion everyone in Waterstone’s has for what they do.’’ The abstract nouns ‘’commitment’’ and ‘’passion’’ is used to describe the kind of people the staff should be, and could be seen as positive face. By describing the staff as passionate and committed, it makes them seem hard-working and dedicated. This in turn could make the staff more loyal to the company as it makes them feel valued. On the other hand, if the staffs reading this are not passionate or committed the declarative could then be seen as guideline for the kind of staff they should be. The pronoun ‘’everyone’’ makes all the member of staff feel included, and could be a way of building employees confidence; this assumes that everyone is indeed actually passionate and committed to the company. Although building the consumer is used for advertising, it is effective here because it creates an image that some employees can strive for, or empowers those employees who are already committed and passionate.

Throughout Text I imperatives are used, and coupled with power behind the discourse these are a very effective way of asserting power. An example of an imperative in Text I is ‘’ they have to give the highest levels of customer service.’’ The deontic verb ‘’have’’ creates a sense of importance and makes the audience feel like they are obliged to do as the text says. The superlative ‘’highest’’ could be seen as a way of telling the staff that only the absolute best is accepted by the company. This might show us the amount of power the writer has, because not only are they using an imperative but they are also asking maximum effort from their staff. This imperative is only effective due to the pragmatic understanding the audience would have of the power the writer holds. At the bottom of the page we can see that it is written by ‘’Nick Williams- Operations Director’’ because we are not the intended audience we do not know the amount of power he holds. However we can assume that he holds a lot of power, and this imperative is an example of him using the power his role gives him otherwise known as instrumental power. Another example of an imperative is ‘’please participate fully with your ideas and suggestions.’’  The adverb ‘’please’’ could be seen as way of softening the imperative, or a way of highlighting its importance. The adverb ‘’fully’’ again shows that participating is not enough, and that the staff must ‘’participate’’ to the best of their abilities; further highlighting that the store will only accept those who are willing to work as hard as they can.

Divergence is also another technique that can be used in order to assert one’s power. One way that divergence is achieved in Text I is through the use of low frequency lexis and hypercorrect grammar: ‘’Over a series of meetings, the NCST worked together to draw out the key issues from customer service, their thoughts and ideas, and of their colleagues.’’ The use of the verb ‘’draw’’ in order to describe gathering data is an example of low frequency lexis, and could show that the writer is very knowledgeable and therefore the staff might be more inclined to listen to them. The use of jargon like ‘’NCST’’ also adds to the importance of the message as it shows that the organisations is very official. On the other hand some staff might find the use of overt prestige condescending, making it harder for the writer to achieve its aim. However overt prestige is a way of asserting power, because only dominant speakers who already hold power can diverge away from a group. It is another mean of making sure that people are aware of the power they hold, and because some people might find it condescending only those who aren’t affected by the thoughts of other people because of their status can use overt prestige.

Building the consumer is an advertising technique that makes the target audience feel like the advert is addressed specifically to them, Text I however use this to make the staff reading the page feel like it is only targeted at them and maybe therefore makes them feel special. For example the last paragraph reads: ‘’thank you for your efforts so far. I know you’ll put everything you have into making your branch customer service better than ever.’’  The use of the 3^rd person direct address ‘’you’’ makes the reader fell singled out and special, the repetition highlights this point even further. It might also make the reader think that even though they are just one person they are responsible for the image of the branch, which is an example of positive face as it highlights the importance of each reader. ‘’ I know you’ll put everything you have into making your branch customer service better than ever’’ could be seen as a declarative however if we look deeper into it, it is actually a cloaked imperative, this is because without ‘’ I know’’ the sentence reads as an imperative, and is another way that the writer is asserting his power. The intensifier ‘’than’’ shows us that once again the staff need to push themselves to the best of their abilities in order to achieve the standard of customer service that the writer wants. 

Legal Transcript Analysis

1)      With relevance to the Legal Transcript Text and relevant ideas from language, explore how language is used to assert power.

 

Because the text is set in a courtroom we can predict that during the conversation the Bar has more power over the witness (Mr Neil) this could be due to the Bar’s instrumental power. In this text the Bar also has Political power over the witness and because of this he has the ability to ask questions and be answered, immediately giving him more power, however the judge in this scenario would have the most power and although we do no hear from him we can assume that he is there and has the highest form of instrumental power.

One clear example of the Bar being the more dominant speaker is when he is asking for clarification and states: ‘’ is that because the police have been to see you so many times Mr Neil‘’.  The use of the intensifier ‘’so’’ to modify ‘’many’’ shows that Mr Neil has been trouble with the police before, by doing this the Bar could be achieving his primary purpose of trying to convince the judge that Mr Neil is guilty of the crime he is convicted for.  ‘’so many times’’ can also be seen as ironic and therefore it might show that the Bar is mocking Mr Neil. The use of bald on record strategy and flouting Grice’s Maxim of manner, to assert his power as well as lowering Mr Neil’s own status could be seen as unprofessional. However ‘’so many time’’ is also a common idiom and in this case the Bar might just be using to get his point across. The emphasis on the idiom and Mr Neil’s name makes the implicature seem mocking.  By starting the interrogative with ‘’is that because’’ the Bar has made it harder for Mr Neil to answer the question, the conjunction ‘’because’’ means that Mr Neil can only answer ‘’yes’’ or ‘’no’’ to the question. This means that the Bar isn’t giving Mr Neil much chance to defend himself, this makes the Bar more powerful and it is helping him achieve his primary purpose.

Earlier in the text before the Bar could finish his interrogative, Mr Neil interrupts with a response: ‘’ I don’t think they did no.’’ The overlap could be seen as competitive however because we know that Mr Neil is trying to defend himself we could assume that he is eager in trying to prove his innocence and so interrupts the Bar. Mr Neil could have also thought that the Bar has finished his question; ‘’you can’t remember whether they came to see you’’ could’ve been the end of the question whether ‘’or no’’ was added the intonation would have been the same. Based on this we can assume that Mr Neil was not trying to take power away from the Bar and from this we can say that the overlap might actually be in fact cooperative. The dynamic verb ''think'' shows that Mr Neil is unsure and is trying not to impilicate himself by making such a bold declarative, this makes it less powerful and in doing so Mr Neil is also lessening his power. The determiner  ‘’no’’ emphasizes the main subject of his declarative, which is that to the best of his knowledge the police hasn't been to see him.

 

 

 

Grouping Texts Task

Grouping 1:  

 

Texts A, C and D all have a secondary purpose to inform which helps them achieve their primary purpose to persuade. Text A is a job specification for a waitress in café, in order to persuade people to apply the first piece of information the audience – anyone interested in waitressing of any gender aged 16 and over- receives is the job title : ‘’ Front of House Team (Part-time, weekend)  - Clifton.’’  This might have been done to carefully select the people who are suited for the job from those who aren’t, the use of jargon in '’Part of House Team’’ shows us that the writer wants someone who already has experience in waitressing, we can tell this because anyone who has worked in waitressing before would know what this term means but those who haven’t won't. By saying where the café is located and the number of hours required it further eliminates those who aren’t interested in part time work, or those who live too far away for the job to be suitable to them.  For those who meet the requirements this could be a form of persuasion as it might entice them to apply for the job.  The job advert also contains a small description of the company: ‘’ our mission is to serve simple & well prepared food and drinks made with great ingredients, skill & love.’’ The use of the first person pronoun of ‘’our’’ makes the company seem like a family which is then supported by the abstract noun ‘’love,’’ this gives a welcoming vibe and might persuade the audience to apply.  By stating what the company is about, it also informs the audience what kind of environment they would be working in, as well as provide an idea of what kind of employee the company is looking for. Text C also uses information in order to persuade however unlike the other text, C relies heavily on it. Text C is the back of an Innocent Smoothies bottle; Innocent Smoothies are well known for their healthy drinks that are 100% natural. All packaging contains a list of the ingredients, however to stand out Innocent Smoothies puts the exact amount of ingredients in each bottle: ‘’2 ½ pressed apples, ½ mashed banana, 12 crushed raspberries, ½ freshly squeezed orange etc.’’ By adding adjectives in front of the ingredient it conveys just how much work and effort goes into each bottle, as well as inform the consumer how fresh the produce is. The preciseness of the measurements ensures the consumer that what they are drinking is 100% natural and therefore convinces them to maybe buy the product. Similarly to A, the back of the Innocent bottle also contains information about the company, this makes the consumer trust them more as they are informed on the company and therefore might convince them to stay loyal to the company.Text D is the blurb of a book and has a main target audience of female teenagers. One way we can tell who the book is aimed for is the language it uses:  ‘’but when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Support Group…’’ the use of the adjective ‘’gorgeous’’ suggests to us that the book could be written from Hazel’s point view, showing us that the book might be mainly aimed at girls as they would be able to relate more with the character therefore convincing them to buy it. Through orthography the audience can also be persuaded to buy the book, written in bold and in yellow colouring at the top of the book is ‘’ #1 New York Times Bestseller.’’ This convinces people to buy the book as the New York Times is a well respected magazine, and therefore shows the audience that the book is highly regarded.  The bright yellow colour has positive connotations of happiness and sunshine which might persuade the reader to buy the book. 

Grouping 2:

 

Texts B and E both use rhyming couplets in order to achieve their primary purpose which is to entertain.

Text B is an extract from a popular children’s book The Gruffalo. The vocabulary used in the book are of a simple nature and doesn’t contain more than 3 syllables, because of this the rhymes have a set rhythm. This makes the book easier to and read more enjoyable for the children as they are not caught up on bigger words that they cannot understand. It also makes the book more memorable. An example of the simplistic language and rhyme used is: ‘’ a mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood, a fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.’’ The use of the determiner and indefinite article of ‘’a’’ when referring to the characters depersonalizes them, in doing this the author makes it seem like it could be any fox or any mouse that this story is about making it more exciting for the audience. By only having 10 syllables in each verse also makes the book more memorable. The use of plosives in ‘’deep dark wood’’ makes a heavy sound which makes it easier for the reader to imagine the setting of the story, this then might make it seem like we are walking through the woods with the together making the story more interactive. The next line in the excerpt is ‘’where are you going to little brown mouse?’’ and could be seen as a form of colloquial language. The language used here is similar to that of a child, this clearly shows us who the target audience is and is also an example of accommodation. It also creates a light atmosphere within the whole story as even the speech rhymes.  Text E is a poem by Daniel Gabriel Rosetti known as ‘The Woodspurge’ and although has similar techniques as B it has a different target audience. Like Text B ‘The Woodspurge’ has an AAAA rhyme scheme throughout the whole poem, however in the poem it is used to create a dull and repetitive atmosphere. The rhymes in the poem aren’t quite as simple as the rhymes in B as it occasionally uses half rhymes, however the strengths of the rhyme are the same: ‘’from perfect grief there need not be, wisdom or even memory:’’ The use of oxymoron in ‘’perfect grief’’ conveys to us the powerful sadness that the writer feels, and also creates the monotonous atmosphere that the writer is trying to create. The next line adds to the feeling of hopelessness that the poet feels as it is saying that sometimes grief doesn’t have a point and it’s just there to be felt. The two verses show us that the language used in this poem is more sophisticated than the language used in Text B. This is because it contains disyllabic and polysyllabic words; the use of formal language could be attributed to the fact that it is aimed at an older target audience or the age of the poem.  

Grouping Texts

Texts A, C and E all have the purpose to persuade, however they do it for different reasons; A and C are all trying to make the audience do a task whilst E is trying to get the audience to buy the product.  Text A is a missing’s poster for a lost cat and is asking the audience- any person that may have the cat- to call the owner. A does this through the use of emotive language, when describing the cat, the writer states ‘’ he loves food and will definitely respond to the words ‘dinner time’, ‘’ the use of anthropomorphism makes the cat seem more human and so creates an image of importance which might make people more willing to look for the cat. It also adds light hearted humour in a relatively serious text which allows the writer to persuade the audience to help him/her more as it might make them more likable and so the audience feels more willing to help out.  Text A also uses emotive language to persuade the reader similarly with Text E. However Text E’s use of emotive language isn’t as strong as that of A’s, this could be attributed to the fact that in order to read the back of the bottle the audience would already have interest in the product, which means they don’t require as much persuading as the audience of A’s. Text’s E is the back of a shampoo bottle and therefore contains information about the brand, under the heading ‘’Our Philosophy’’ the bottle reads ‘’ we believe that every woman deserves to look fabulous without spending a fortune.’’  By using the first person plural of ‘’we’’ it makes the company seem like one big group of friends which might make the audience trust them more. The verb ‘’deserves’’ is a form of flattery which in turn is a form persuasion but also it raises the status of the brand as well as the audience. It makes it seem like women should only get the best and the best is this brand of shampoo. The noun ‘fortune’ is informal and in this case is an example of colloquial language, this gives us an idea of who the audience for this shampoo bottle is; average working woman who want the best products but for a reasonable price. ‘’Fortune’’ in this case could be an example of accommodation which is a persuasive technique as subconsciously l it makes us trust the brand because they are similar to us.  Text C could be categorised as a weak inclusion as it doesn’t use emotive language to persuade the audience to quit smoking but uses graphology, facts and imperatives. The main fact that the poster is centred around is ‘’ you are four times more likely to quit with our help than on your own,’’ the use of a different colour on the first half of the sentence highlights the importance of the fact and therefore makes it stay in people’s heads more. Fact is a form of persuasive technique as people are more likely to trust it rather than an opinion, and by putting the NHS logo on the poster it further heightens the importance and reliability of it. Another word highlighted in the text is ‘’free, ’’ ‘’patches,’’ ‘’gum’’ this could be used to convey to people how it can be to quit smoking. It might make more people willing to quit smoking. The main focal point of the poster is ‘’take the next step,’’ this is in bold and in a bigger font than the rest of the other words. The imperative implies that it is up to the person to quit smoking, it also has positive connotations because ‘‘take the next step’’ implies moving forward onto a better and healthier life away from smoking. This is supported by the image of a woman’s shoe stepping on a packet of cigarettes.  

Twitter Trolls; Hiding Behind Affordances

Twitter is a popular social media site that has over 284 million active users every month. It allows users to 'tweet' their views and opinions in no more than 140 characters. Twitter also enables it's users to 'retweet' and 'favourite' tweets that they like, as well as allowing them to follow other people. 

Like many social media site one affordance of Twitter is that it allows people to create an online persona; people can re-invent themselves and make their voices be heard and no-one even has to know who you really are. However people take this affordance one step too far, and use Twitter to troll celebrities and other users. Trolling is an act of anti-social behaviour on the internet with the sole purpose of creating conflict between users. An example of a Twitter troll is '@plasticbieber' who's Twitter account is dedicated to Justin Bieber and sending hate to boy-band One Direction. '@plasticbieber's' many tweets include racism, hatred, bigotry etc. which are all commonly found in trolling. ''@OneDirection can you please put your ugly fans back in their cage? or do i have to call animal control seriously..'' is just one example of her tweets. By including One Direction's user name in her tweet she has made sure that this will appear in their 'notifications' which increase One Direction's chance of seeing it; although this is  another affordance of Twitter this is also an example of how it can be abused. Including user name's in tweets is one convention of Twitter and allows users to talk directly to each other, yet another affordance of the site.

The Princess Phone; A Short History

During 1959 the first compact telephone with a light up dial was introduced by Bell System. It was designed for convenient use in the bedroom and was primarily targeted at women; because of this the Princess Phone came in a range of different colours: pink, red, yellow, moss green, ivory, light blue etc. The phone was primarily advertised with the slogan ‘’it’s little, it’s lovely, it lights.’

The telephone was designed by Henry Dreyfuss Associates along with Bell’s Lab engineers and Indianapolis Model Shop. Before hitting the mass market a prototype of the Princess Phone was underwent a product trial and was given to a focus group to try out. The initial response to the phone was negative many people said the phone was ‘too light’ and ‘moved around a lot.’ Bell Labs however disregarded the feedback and gave Western Electric permission to manufacture the phone. Throughout its lifetime the Princess Phone received more negative feedback and because of this underwent some technological changes: lead weights were added to make them heavier, so as to not move around so much; a single gong ringer replaced the external ringer.After these changes the phone's popularity increased; some even said that the First Lady at the time (Jackie Kennedy) bought one herself.  Despite the problems it had, the Princess Phone still stands as one of today's best loved phone.