Gender Differences in Using Language: A Case Study of Libyan TV Program

Authors

  • Arwa Al-Ferjani Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, Alasmarya Islamic University, Zliten, Libya.
  • Seham Abohelfaya Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, Alasmarya Islamic University, Zliten, Libya.
  • Shaima Al-Turkey Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, Alasmarya Islamic University, Zliten, Libya.
  • Nisrin Hamed Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts, Alasmarya Islamic University, Zliten, Libya.

Keywords:

Amount of talk, Episode, Gender, Interruption, Sociolinguistics, Tag question

Abstract

Interaction between language and gender has always been one of the overheated subjects in sociolinguistics. This study is an attempt to shed light on the gender differences in the language use. It aims to examine three aspects of linguistic differences between men and women: interruption, tag questions, and the amount of talk. It also aims to suggest possible reasons behind this variation of language. To achieve these aims, the researchers used three episodes of a Libyan social program as a source of data. These episodes were chosen randomly. The sample was five presenters in each episode from Libyan society. The outcome of this research showed that there were slight differences between men and women in using language. Furthermore, the results of the study revealed that men interrupted more in conversation and they were more talkative, while women used tag questions more than men. In other words, the gender factor can play an important role in linguistic differences.

References

Bell, C. M., McCarthy, P. M., & McNamara, D. S. (2006). Variations in language use across gender: Biological versus sociological theories. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. 28(28), 1009-1013. ‏

Bonvillian, N. (2000). Language, Culture, and Communication: The meaning of messages. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Boudersa, N. (2020). A Theoretical Account of the Differences in Men and Women’s Language Use. The Journal of Studies in Language, Culture and Society (JSLCS). 1(1), 177-187.

Broadbridge, J. (2003). An investigation into differences between women’s and men’s speech. The University of Birmi-ngham Centre for English Language Studies, 1-26.‏

Brown, P. (1980). How and why women more polite: Some evidence from a Mayan community In: S. McConnell-Ginet, R. Borker, & N. Furman (Eds.), Women and language in literature and society. New York, NY: Praeger.‏

Cameron, D. (2007). The Myth of Mars and Venus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cheshire, J. (1982) Variation in an English Dialect: A Sociolinguistic Study. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chouchane, A. M. (2016). Gender language differences do men and women really speak differently. Global English-Oriented Research Journal (GEORJ), 2(2), 182-200.‏

Coates, J. (2015). Women, men and language: A sociolinguistic account of gender differences in language. 3rd ed. London: Routledge.

Fishman, J. A. (1980). Ethnic Community Mother Tongue Schools in the U.S.A: Dynamics and Distributions. International Migration Review, 14(2), 235-247.

Gomm, I. (1981). A study of the inferior image of the female use of the English language as compared to that of the male. Bachelor’s degree thesis. Edge Hill College, Ormskirk, UK.‏

Goodwin, M. H. (1980). Directive-response speech sequences in girls’ and boys’ task activities. In: S. McConnell-Ginet, R. Borker, & N. Furman (Eds.), Women and language in literature and society. New York, NY: Praeger.

Goodwin, M. H. (1988). Cooperation and competition across girls’ play activities. In: A. D. Todd & S. Fisher (Eds.), Gender and discourse: the power of talk. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Goodwin, M. H. (1990). He-Said-She-Said: talk as social organization among black children. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Hanafiyeh, M., & Afghari, A. (2014). Gender Differences in the Use of Hedges, Tag Questions, Intensifiers, Empty Adjectives, and Adverbs: A comparative study in the speech of men and women. Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, 4(4), 1168-1177.‏

James, D., & Clarke S. (1993). Women, Men and Interruptions: A Critical Review. In: D. Tannen (Ed.), Gender and Conversational Interaction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jespersen, O. (2013). Language: Its nature, development, and origin. London: Routledge.‏

Jovanović, V. Ž., & Pavlović, V. (2014). The Use of Question Tags with Male and Female Speakers of English and Serbian. Jezici i kulture u vremenu i prostoru III (Languages and Cultures in Time and Space III), 491-504.

Karlsson, S. (2007). Gender-related differences in language use. ‏Luleå University of Technology: Sweden.

Kennedy, C. W., & Camden, C. (1983). A New Look at Interruptions. Western Journal of Speech Communication. 47, 45-58.

Lakoff, R. (1975). Language and Women’s Place. New York: Harper & Row.

Leet-Pellegrini, H. (1980). Conversational Dominance as a function of Gender and Expertise. In: G. Robinson, W. Peters, & S. Philip (Eds.), Language: Social Psychological Perspectives. Oxford: Pergaman Press

Li, J. (2014). A sociolinguistic study of language and gender in Desperate Housewives. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(1), 52-57.‏

Mehl, M. R., Vazire, S., Ramírez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Are women really more talkative than men?. Science, 317(5834), 82.‏

Milroy, L. and Margrain, S. (1980). Vernacular Language Loyalty and Social Network. Language in Society, 9, 43-70.

Murray, S. & Covelli, L. (1988). Women and Men Speaking at the Same Time. Pragmatics, 12, 103-111.

Newman, T. (2018). Sex and Gender: What is the difference? Medical News Today, 7.‏

Ning, H., Dai, X., & Zhang, F. (2010). On gender difference in English language and its causes. Asian Social Science, 6(2), 126-130. ‏

Rahmi, R. (2015). Gender and Language Use. Intelektualita, 3(1), 79- 93. ‏

Romaine, S. (2000). Language in Society. New York: Oxford University Press.

Shuy, R. W. (1969). Sociolinguistic research at the Center for Applied Linguistics: the correlation of language and sex. Giornata internazionali di sociolinguistica. Rome: Palazzo Baldassini.

Spender, D. (1980). Man made language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Sunderland, J. (2006). Language and gender: An advanced resource book. Routledge.‏

Tannen, D. (1990). You Just Don’t Understand Women and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine.

Tartory, R. (2019). Interruptions of Men and Women in Selected Debates of Al-Jazeera Arabic Channel: A Pragmatic Analysis of the Opposite Direction. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(2), 273-282.

Wardhaugh, R. (2002) An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

West, C., & Zimmerman, D. (1983). Small Insults: A Study of Interruptions in Cross-Sex Conversations between Unacquainted Persons. In: B. Thorne, C. Kramarae, & N. Henley (Eds.), Language, Gender and Society. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Zhao, F. (2011). An Analysis of Gender Differences in Interruption based on the American TV series Friends. Master Thesis, Kristianstad University.

Zimmerman, D., & West, C. (1975). Sex roles, interruptions and silences in conversation. In: Thorne, B. and Henley, N. (Eds.). Language and sex: Difference and dominance. Rowley: Newbury House.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-28

How to Cite

Al-Ferjani, A., Abohelfaya, S., Al-Turkey, S., & Hamed, N. (2023). Gender Differences in Using Language: A Case Study of Libyan TV Program. المؤتمر العلمي السنوي لطلاب المرحلة الجامعية والدراسات العليا بالجامعة, 1, 4.108–129. Retrieved from https://conf.asmarya.edu.ly/index.php/scupgs/article/view/565

Conference Proceedings Volume

Vol. 1 (2023)

Section

المحور الرابع: العلوم الإنسانية

License

Copyright (c) 2023 أروي الفرجاني، سهام أبوحلفاية، شيماء التريكي، نسرين حامد

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.