Language and Gender (Published)
The differences between men and women in using language have been studied long time before. This paper is an attempt to investigate variations in gender language use. In addition, it highlights the definitions of some gender-linguistic terms. On the basis of these differences and changes, the paper also tries to make some explanation to these differences and changes. Issues such as the following have been covered in this paper: Differences in men’s and women’s speech, Women talk more/less than men, Women break the ‘rules’ of turn-taking less than men, Women use more standard forms than men, and Women’s speech is less direct/assertive than men’s. Moreover, it discusses matters such as: the differences from the aspects of pronunciation, intonation, vocabulary, syntax, manners, attitudes, and non-verbal differences in using language between men and women.
Keywords: Gender, assertive, standard forms, turn-taking
Genderlect and Thanking (Published)
Thanking is one of the best ways to maintain harmony between people. As face is so fragile, thanking is of the effective ways to saves face of the interlocutors. This being said, thanking is an indispensable part of language. This study deals, not only with thanking as it is, it studies another topic and that is ‘gender’. Some studies showed that some linguistic items are used in different percentages among speakers when it comes to gender; say, females are more polite to some extent. Iraqi EFL learners are the sample of this study. This type of study, i.e. to know the differences between males and females concerning a specific area in linguistics is new and exciting. The aims of this study are the following:
- Finding out the strategies Iraqi EFL learners use concerning the speech act of thanking.
- Concluding whether female learners thank more than the males overall.
To fulfill these aims, it is hypothesized that:
- Iraqi EFL learners use the direct (or explicit) strategies to thank more than the indirect (or implicit) ones.
- Female learners use more thanking strategies than the male ones.
After presenting the literature, the researcher conducts a test to a random sample of Iraqi EFL fourth year students at the Department of English/ College of Education for Human Sciences.
University of Babylon (2016-2017) The results of the test are analysed as well. After applying the test to the sample, he researcher concluded that the students used the direct strategies to thank almost all the time and they even left some of the strategies (especially the indirect one) unused. This emphasized the first hypothesis of this study. As for gender; females used thanking strategies a bit less than the males and this conclusion rejects the second hypothesis of the study.
Keywords: EFL Learners’, Gender, Implicit, Speech Acts., Strategies., explicit, felicity conditions, thanking
Bangladeshi College Students’ Attitude towards English Language Learning (Published)
This paper is an exploration of Bangladeshi college students’ attitude towards English language learning. Learners’ attitude towards any language can be either positive or negative. Students with positive attitudes put more efforts into the job of learning a foreign language and therefore learn it better, faster and easier than those with negative attitudes towards the same language. Therewith, gender could be one of the factors influencing students’ attitudes towards ESL / EFL learning. The present piece of research was undertaken on 50 Bangladeshi college (higher secondary) students with a view to finding their behavioral and emotional attitudes towards English language learning and the study came up with a finding that the students hold positive attitude and there is no statistically significant difference in attitudes between males and females. In this research a questionnaire survey on participants’ behavioral and emotional attitudes was carried out and the colleted data were put in SPSS and thereafter the statistical results were interpreted. A Mann-Whitney U Test was performed to get the result of the difference of attitude on the basis of gender. The findings are expected to add significance to the body of research done in the relevant area and help teachers and syllabus designers re-set the pedagogical principles of English language learning and teaching at college level in Bangladesh in particular.
Keywords: EFL Learner., ESL/ EFL learning, Gender, attitude
Gender-Based Phonological Analysis in Non- Native Selected Tennis Players’ Speeches (Published)
This study is a phonological analysis of a kind of spoken discourse. It sheds light on English speeches of tennis players who are from different nationalities, but they speak English as their second or third language. This speech event is important in that a speech is given in a formal setting for a huge number of audience and it is characterized as being unplanned. Immediately after the final game, the two players; the winner of the match and his opponent, are to deliver a short speech. The study aims to examine, phonologically, the speeches of those nonnative players against the BBC accent. It focuses on whether male and female speeches are different or not and to what extent. It is hypothesized that the mismatch lies mainly in allophonic variations, let alone accent and intonation. It analyzes two spoken texts given on the court in the final game. The data are videos taken from “You tube” and they include the final part of championships when the trophies are presented to both players. They deliver a speech to express their feelings and viewpoints. This study is of interest to those interested in second language phonology, gender-based phonological differences and spoken discourse analysts.
Keywords: English Speech, Gender, Language, Phonological, Tennis Player
THE ROLE OF GENDER IN INFLUENCING PUBLIC SPEAKING ANXIETY (Published)
This study investigates the role of gender in influencing public speaking anxiety. Questionnaire survey was administered to the samples of the study. Technique of correlation and descriptive analysis will be further applied to the data collected to determine the relationship between gender and public speaking anxiety. This study could serve as a guide to identify the effects of gender differences on public speaking anxiety and provide necessary advice on how to design a way of coping with or overcoming public speaking anxiety.
Keywords: Across Culture., English Language Competence, Gender, Speaking Anxiety, communication