ED32320 - LANGUAGE AND GENDER

Module Identifier	ED32320
Module Title	LANGUAGE AND GENDER
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Professor Marilyn Martin-Jones
Semester	Semester 2
Course delivery	Lecture	10 Hours 10 x 2 hours (workshop format combined with formal teaching)
Assessment	Course work	The coursework will consist of an essay totalling 2,500 words (or a project which constitutes a reasonable equivalent)	50%
	Exam	3 Hours	50%
	Resit assessment	All failed or missing elements of assessment to be re-taken or made good.
Further details	http://users.aber.ac.uk/mqm/language&genderwebpage.html

Brief description

This module will focus on three distinct phases in the study of language and gender: (1) the early research on gender `differences' in the speech of women and men, carried out in the mid to late 1970s; (2) the Anglo-American research on asymmetries in conversational interactions, developed in the early to mid 1980s; and, (3) recent work (in the late 1980s and 1990s) on discourse and the construction of gendered identities (masculinities and femininities). Illustrative studies, from both institutional and lifeworld settings, will be selected. Particular attention will be given to studies of interaction in educational settings and to studies of different types of media texts (print and broadcast media). In addition, time will be set aside for consideration of current debates about language, gender and equal opportunities.

Aims

To introduce three distinct phases in the study of language and gender
To examine gendered discourse practices in different institutional contexts, focusing especially on education and on the media
To consider examples of local debates about `sexist? language and to assess the consequences of attempting to create conditions for `inclusive? use of language

Syllabus

The lectures will be based on the following topics:

Talking `proper?: unpacking the linguistic stereotypes

Women?s language: an early deficit model

Sexist wordings of the social world: `man-made? language

Women and men in conversation: dominance and a division of labour?

Women and men in conversation: two cultures and miscommunication?

Girls, boys and language at school

Difference, dominance and beyond: discourse and the construction of gendered identities

Media discourse, consumerism, masculinity and femininity

Reclaiming the language: modes of intervention and outcomes

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:

Demonstrate an ability to place their own experience of gendered language use within a wider research and policy context

Show a critical understanding of different approaches to the study of language and gender

Be able to articulate and justify their own stance on public debates about language, gender and equal opportunities

Reading Lists

Books
Graddol, D. and Swann, J.. (1989) Gender Voices. Oxford: Blackwell
Swann, J. 1992. (1992) Girls, Boys and Language. Oxford: Blackwell
Talbot, M.. (1998) Language and Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press