Language and Gender Revision

Robin Lakoff (1975) and the deficit model
The influence of Robin Lakoff's Language and Woman's Place on the study of language and gender is undeniable. In Twenty Years After Language and Woman's Place, the original text's editor Mary Bucholtz offers a reminder that the work was, at the time of publication, ‘met with widespread criticism’. In the introduction to the book, Lakoff admits: ‘It is my impression, though I do not have precise statistical evidence’. This is evidenced in her use of language in the book; there are no statistics but phrases such as ‘many men’, ‘men tend to’. Despite this, Bucholtz argues that ‘it launched a far reaching program of research on language and gender whose effects we still feel today’. What is very clear is that Lakoff's work is still often quoted today and its list of the main features of female speech remains an integral part of language and gender discussion:

1. 1Hedges: Phrases like ‘sort of’, ‘kind of’, ‘it seems like’
2. 2Empty adjectives: ‘divine’, ‘adorable’, ‘gorgeous’
3. 3Super-polite forms: ‘Would you mind …’, ‘Is it Ok if …?’
4. 4Apologise more: ‘I'm sorry, but I think that …’
5. 5Speak less frequently
6. 6Avoid coarse language or expletives
7. 7Tag questions: ‘You don't mind eating this, do you?’
8. 8Hyper-correct grammar and pronunciation: Use of prestige grammar and clear articulation
9. 9Indirect requests: ‘I'm so thirsty.’ – really asking for a drink
10. 10Speak in italics: Use tone to emphasis certain words, e.g., ‘so’, ‘very’, ‘quite’.

Lakoff's research can be seen as representative of the ‘deficit approach’ or ‘deficit model’ to language and gender. The deficit approach is attributed to Otto Jespersen who, in 1922, argued that male language forms were the ‘norm’ and the language of others (including women) were ‘deficient’. Looking at the list of main female features, it is perhaps apparent why Lakoff sees the language of women to be weaker – indirect requests and the use of apologetic forms do suggest women's language to be less powerful than that of males. Perhaps the use of tag questions or intensifiers may not necessarily be seen as a weaker form. However, Lakoff did see female language to be deficient.

Deborah Tannen and the difference model 
Deborah Tannen was originally a student of Robin Lakoff and her book You Just Don't Understandwas published in 1990. She is an advocate of the difference model (the theory that men and women do speak differently): ‘The desire to affirm that women are equal has made some scholars reluctant to show that they are different. There are gender differences in ways of speaking, and we need to identify and understand them.’ Tannen represents male and female language use in a series of six contrasts to show this difference:

• Status vs Support: Men use language to show power and dominance in conversations; women are more likely to use language choices that support and agree with others.
• Independence vs Intimacy: Men will use language to show they do not need to rely on others; women will prefer to use language as a way of connecting with others and maintaining closeness.
• Advice vs Understanding: Men are more likely to offer solutions to a problem through their language choices; women will show empathy and understanding to a given situation.
• Information vs Feelings: Similar to Tannen's Advice vs Understanding concept, men are far more likely to be factual in their language choices; women, in contrast, will use language choices that are less factual and stem from a more emotional viewpoint.
• Orders vs Proposals: In conversations, men are far more likely to be direct in their language using imperatives to command others; women will avoid such a commanding tone and be more suggestive in their language choices (for example, a man may say ‘Close that window it's cold’ whereas the woman is more likely to say ‘Isn't it cold in here?’ suggesting the window needs to be closed).
• Conflict vs Compromise: Men are more likely to use language to argue a point; women will use language to avoid such conflict and are far more likely to negotiate with others to try and find a solution or compromise.

The difference model certainly offers an alternative view to the deficit model discussed earlier. Tannen is not the only advocate of this theory. Others have also researched how men and women use different strategies and language features in their speech. It is different from the dominance approach – language is not used by men to be dominant although it is different (see Table 15G).

Table 15G

The difference model research
Jennifer Coates (1989)	Coates argues that girls and boys tend to belong to same-sex friendship groups when growing up and subsequently develop different styles of speaking. Coates theorises that female language is cooperative in single-sex conversations. She views tag questions and modality as characteristics that help to make women's talk supportive and cooperative.
Jane Pilkington (1992)	Pilkington found that women in same sex conversations were collaborative and used positive politeness strategies. She found that men in same sex talk were a lot less collaborative, less complimentary and less supportive than women.