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Impact of gender in communication
The difference between male and female communication
Challenges and remindes of gender issues in education
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In the present United States, a mixture of males and females make up a university classroom. In life, males and females have different conversational styles. The ways that they communicate to each other in a conversation, as well as how they communicate with their instructors and peers in the classroom. Although there is a combination of both genders in the classrooms, schools gravitate more towards using learning techniques that are more applicable towards men than women (Tannen 369). When teaching with a mixture of people that learn differently, it is difficult to have a certain technique to use that would help everybody in the same way. Yet it is important that equal opportunities are given to both genders that allows them to do their best and succeed in their academic careers. Educational professionals need to understand the conversational differences in gender and have better teaching strategies that fit both male and female conversational styles.
For example, according to writers Daniel N. Maltz and Ruth A Borker of A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Communication, when people of the opposite gender have a conversation men are more “likely to interrupt the speech of their conversation partner”(170). While females are more likely to, “adopt a strategy of “silent protest” after they have been interrupted” (170). According to Maltz and Borker, men’s dominance in conversation goes along with their dominance in society. In society men, typically, are seen as the more dominant gender over women (170). This also applies to inside the classroom as more men tend to speak out and do more of the talking than women. Most of the time teachers view interaction and participation as a very important part of their student’s ability to succee...
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Instructors of a class need to observe their students to notice which gender type are speaking out more in classroom discussions, and find out if their classroom fits the standards of a male dominated talking classroom. If an instructor finds their classroom fits the mold they should seek a new method that aims at males and females to receive an equal opportunity, or use different methods that some males prefer, and some that females like better. Following advice from Krupnick, “Teachers should learn each student 's name and make sure to use names frequently, so that all students know they are recognized members of the class” (373). Making all students feel comfortable in class leaves the students more relaxed and could leave students feeling comfortable to contribute during classroom discussions.
Tannen points out “a greater percentage of discussion time is taken by men’s voices.” (2) She tells us why this is a disadvantage to the women in the classroom. She then continued to separate the two genders into their given stereotypes. Girls tend to separate themselves from large groups; they talk amongst
Because young boys are more active they often are disciplined, while girls are often quieter and naturally become a teacher’s favorite. This causes problems because classrooms naturally become more attuned to a girl’s style of learning, leaving young boys behind in the classroom from an early age. “Boy Problems” by Ann Hulbert goes into detail over the increasing “gender educational disparity.” Hulbert gives the reader useful information about how and why men are falling behind and the increasing gender differences in education. When fixing a problem one must first realize the problem exists. Now that the problem has come to light, action must be
Women seemed to be more emotionally involved in a conversation than men. Men protected themselves from being pushed around or dominated by women. Tannen talked about the participatory listenership where women were able to complete the sentence of a conversational partner. Men interpreted this practice as an interruption, lack of attention, and intrusion. Tannen explained, “Men take too literally women’s ritual ‘trouble talk,’ just as women mistake men’s ritual challenges for real attack” (Tannen 409). There were reported emotional detachments when it came to men making decisions because they were more critical and factual in their
Deborah Tannen’s case study entitled “Can’t We Talk?” is the most relevant reading that I have ever done for any class. It relates to a problem that every person regardless of age, race or sex, will have to face many times in his or her lifetime. The problem is that men and women communicate differently and these differences can often lead to conflict. This case study is very informative because it helps to clarify the thought process of each sex. That said this reading leaves the reader somewhat unfulfilled because Tannen does not offer a solution to the problem.
Colleges and schools where both females and males are educated together are termed to be “coeducational.” Long previous to our modern day society, segregating male and female in education systems was considered the “norm.” During these traditionally dominant ancient times, coeducation was prevalent in Europe and the idea of integrating such unique groups became such a phenomenon. This widespread of coeducation was eventually developed in American countries and has grown to be a universally accepted mode of education. Not only was this idea “new” and “innovative,” but it also crossed the line of our ancestor’s valued practice of tradition. Although this system went against what tradition honored, this new system of education generated comradery between individuals of the opposite sex and has knowledged them of skills one was unable to exercise in a single-sex educational environment. Coeducation, being the more modern system of education, has caused single-sex systems to become more outdated and inconvenient to society’s evolving standards. Exposure to the opposite sex introduces students life skills vital to a professional workfield thus, it shows males and females the importance of maintaining a symbiotic relationship and how they benefit from one another. Schools worldwide should consider the practice of educating students of both sexes in the same educational institution to allow for opportunity for one to build character in accordance to our evolving society and acquire flexibility in social skills.
There is a large problem when it comes to communication between men and women, whether it is between children, teenagers, or adults; because of a cross gender society. Once both sides understand this “cross-culture communication” problem, so that no gender is blamed, improvement will naturally occur. Deborah Tannen, is an award winning writer and a best selling author for her eccentric essays based on differences of male and female conversations. In the essay, “Sex, Lies and Conversation” she writes on the many distinctions of the style of conversations on both men and women.
Communication between males and females has always been somewhat complicated. Because we are arguing that males and females have different cultures we wanted to take a look at what some of these differences might be. According to our research the inherent differences between male and female culture are the different roles that society holds for them and the ways these roles lead to different communication styles. The stereotypes that men and women grow up with affect the types of ways in which they communicate. We first wanted to take a look at how they specifically differ while men and women are arguing or having normal conversations. We also looked at the different types of networks that men and women share. These networks also differ and as do the reasonings for their formation. Although we do not think that men and women need to change their cultures to effectively communicate, we do think that better communication is possible. One of the researchers we took a look at was Deborah Tannen. According to Tannen the reason that men and women do not communicate well is that men and women use language differently. Women take the attitude that conversation is to explore solutions to common problems while men concern themselves more with getting information and hard data from conversation. Tannen states that what women look for in communication is human connection, while men consider status to be most important. They are looking for independence and are constantly looking for higher accomplishments. Intimacy threatens this independence, so men have a tendency to avoid it. One of the old sayings about women is that they talk more than men. It turns out that it is not necessarily true. Women seem to talk more in private conversations than do men. Women do not generally have a fear of intimacy and therefore are much more open with one another during private conversations. It is more difficult for women to use this type of communication style in the public arena. In that case it is men that do most of the talking. Tannen ultimately argues that men use communication as a weapon. They use long explanations to command attention from who it is they are speaking to. They use it to convey information and to ultimately gain agreement. Tannen suggests that through even simple conversation men are continually protecting their status. She sugg...
She theorized the following based upon the notes she has taken: “Male students are more likely to be comfortable attacking the readings and might find the inclusion of personal anecdotes irrelevant and ‘soft.’ Women are more likely to resist discussion they perceive as hostile, and, indeed, it is women in my class who are most likely to offer personal anecdotes” (Tannen 193). She performs an experiment with her class based on her theory. Ms. Deborah Tannen uses a different teaching tactic to see if her theory can be proven to be true by splitting her students into small groups. “I broke the class into small groups to discussed the issues raised in the readings to analyze their conversational transcripts.
Several weeks ago I observed a woman at the Mall. She and a young man sitting directly across from each other were engaged in what was apparently a mutual flirting. But the younger man seemed much more confident and cocky than did the woman. For one thing, he was more relaxed and calm. The woman, however, kept her arms folded over a bag that she was holding on to very tightly. The woman also had a strong tendency to look down more often than the man. Although her admiration for him was obvious, she seemed to be trying hard to conceal it. Often women seem to be more noticeably shy than men. Non-verbally, their “body language'; seems to communicate their feelings of great uncertainty and self-consciousness.
Lieberman, Simma. “Differences in Male and Female Communication Styles” Simma Lieberman Associates (undated). Retrieved February 25, 2010<
Some people think that single sex schools are good because girls and boys feel free to talk, ask and raise their hands without being made fun of, "The theoretical approach termed 'girl power' argues that girls lag behind boys in some subject in co-ed classrooms." (predit, 2014). However, Single sex schools are very bad because it affects children attitude, they will find difficulty in communicating with their colleagues in college as they were secluded and didn't interact with other sex in school. Boys and girls should know from a young age how to deal with the opposite sex, instead of facing that when they become adults, and don't have experience on what to do. Students in single-sex classrooms will one day live and work side-by-side with members of the opposite sex .Educating students in single-sex schools restrains their chance to work helpfully and cooperate effectively with parts of the inverse sex. "It is not long before the youth of today will be the parents, co-workers and leaders of tomorrow" (strauss, 2012). "Anything we organize along any variable, if we're saying boys he...
Pearson, J. C., Turner, L. H., & West, R. L. (1995). Vocabulary, Questions, and Dominance: Verbal Communication and Gender. Gender & Communication (3rd ed., pp. 145-164). Madison, WI.: Brown & Benchmark.
After reading the different studies and research in the chapter I have a much different view than before. I reflected on my whole life and noticed that when I am in a more private and relaxed setting my wife usually does a lot of the talking. But in more formal settings like when we attend seminars together or when we took a college class together, I am doing more of the talking. This is just one example of how this study actually reflects my everyday life. Another example of how this chapter changed my view is the way male and female speech occurs in my class. I was really taken back from my teaching and I noticed that this is true of my classroom and I didn 't even know this! Many times when a girl answers a question or tries to provide her different insight of the question provided I sense that many feel she is trying to show off. This chapter honestly will helped me get rid of many assumptions I 've always had. I will also try to ensure all my students have the social confidence in my classroom and try to help all students contribute to the
Among the major social determinants of linguistic variation, gender is widely considered to be one of the most significant ones. According to research on a range of linguistic features, gender may even be the dominant factor.
Through out my adolescence and now as a young adult, I have always taken an interest in the discussion of gender and women’s studies. I have always questioned the status quo and for the last couple of days I have embarked to be critically observant to the communication that is influenced by gender around me. As I began this class, I had just returned from a month long visit to Colombia where I spent time with family. As both a feminist and the by-product of two differing cultures, it was interesting to find the ways in which the culture my aunts participated in was more “traditional” than I expected. Both the culture at home and the mass media messages in the country were indicative of a dynamic where a woman is expected to be “polite, neat,