Linguistic Reflections of Sexism in Everyday Spoken Discourse (Published)
Language is an essential tool of human communication and human beings are imbued with an innate capacity to use language for communication. There are different personal variables that could be observed in the individual’s use of language most especially in verbal communication. However, one of the potent observable indices in noting differences in human communication is the issue of gender. The concept of culture has been the most popularly recognized issue that can easily affect why, which and how language is used and as such, sex difference is an important factor. Allied with this is the concept of language and power. With an overview of many scholarly works, this work has located some differences observable in the language use of both male and female genders in different discourse patterns. Just as we have sex differences, there are also differences in the patterns of discourse of the sexes because we have been specially created on the bases of sex and gender. This work tries to examine the pattern of discourse between the two sexes with a view to locating the inherent differences in their use of language.
Keywords: language,
Keywords: Discourse, Gender, Language, Power, sex/sexism
Gender Considerations and Power (Re) Negotiation in Angie Cruz’s Dominicana, Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and Ola Rotimi’s Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again (Published)
The gender agenda constitutes an ongoing topical issue in all aspects of life and in literature in particular. This work seeks to examine the manner in which Angie Cruz, Julia Alvarez and Ola Rotimi represent the relationship between power and gender in Dominicana, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again respectively. The question on which the research hinges is: How do Angie Cruz, Julia Alvarez and Ola Rotimi project the link between status and gender in Dominicana, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again respectively? It is hypothesized that gender plays an important role in establishing power structures in the set texts. From a theoretical perspective, Feminist Literary Criticism as articulated by Simone de Beauvoir is used. This work, divided into two sections, concludes that Angie Cruz, Julia Alvarez and Ola Rotimi present power structures as dependent on gender considerations that benefit both men and women. This paper contributes to the ongoing conversation about the relationship between gender and power (re)distribution; and also enhances an understanding of the manner in which power was negotiated and contested along gender lines in the Dominican Republic and Nigeria given the then social, cultural, economic and political contexts.
Keywords: Gender, Power, domination, emancipation, feminist literary criticism
Critical Discourse Analysis: Narratives of Gender-Based Violence Victims in Bamenda-Cameroon (Published)
Gendered roles ascribed to members of society form the basis for their acceptance or rejection in that society. Whether subtle or overt violence, the effects are far-reaching and traumatizing on the victims, be they women, men, or children. This is obvious in discourses revealed in narratives of the violated. The questions asked are; how do the violated express themselves? What are the causes and effects of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and how can it be curbed in society? Since language is a powerful instrument used in communicating feelings and thoughts especially, the language used in narratives surrounding domestic abuse forms the data for this paper. Data was collected from 29 participants between the ages of 25 and 50, using ethnographic approaches, particularly semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The theoretical bases were Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model which dwells on Description, Interpretation, and Explanation and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics with a focus on the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions. The analysis revealed that illiteracy, ignorance, dependency and poverty as some of the causes of GBV. Additionally, the analysis revealed that language patterns in transitivity are used by the victims in their struggle to maintain emotional balance and fight the existing cultural and societal stereotypes concerning how gender and sexuality affect their mental health. This paper, therefore, recommends the creation of safe spaces to enable victims of domestic violence to express their trauma and find healing in the process of narration.
Keywords: CDA, Gender, Inequality, Narratives, SFL, Violence
Negative Depiction of Women in Things Fall Apart (Published)
This study examines Negative Depiction of Women in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. It is a literature piece of work that dully portrays Africa., It was first published in 1958, and was directed to the colonialist as a response in the way they used to represent Africa and Africans in literature. The role of women in pre-colonial Africa is portrayed by Achebe in this work . Hence the position of women in native Nigerian societies at this time is viewed to be that of an assistant. The research utilized the tools of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as a means of analysis in order to reveal the true message of the literary text under study. The study revealed that the patriarchal paradigm that prevailed in the Igbo society then subjected women to a lower position in socio-political and economic hierarchy of Umuofia. Hence, women are depicted negatively
Keywords: CDA, Depiction, Gender, Negative, SFL
Gender in English as a Foreign Language Classroom: A Case Study (Published)
The impact of Gender in EFL classroom has always been an issue of discussion. With the difference of social and cultural background, the role of gender differs from nation to nation. In Bangladesh, gender role is defined based on social, cultural, and traditional beliefs. This study is an attempt to find out whether genders of learners as well as genders of teachers create barriers in EFL learning in Bangladesh. In the study a number of 198 students responded to the questionnaires prepared for a survey to find out the impact of gender of students and teachers in EFL classroom. Adding to this, 20 students and 9 teachers from a university further illustrated this issue by participating in semi-structured open ended interviews. The findings of this mixed method study reveal that the socio-culturally defined gender role of male and female in the society impacts inside English as a foreign language class in Bangladesh. Self-efficacy of teachers and learners may help address the issue. In this regard, emphasis may be put on teacher self-efficacy to raise awareness among the teachers and learner self-efficacy to help learners to consciously avoid gender discrimination in classroom at the tertiary level.
Keywords: Culture, EFL learning, Gender, Self-Efficacy, Teacher, learner
Gender, Class, And Identity in Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood (Published)
The genesis of suffering of Afro-American women has multilayered factors, i.e., race, class, gender, etc. But the struggle of these women is still underrepresented. The present paper looks at the representation of Afro-American women in the fictions of two Afro-American women writers – Alice Walker and Suzan-Lori Parks – to investigate the gender, class, and race dynamics in their works. Their selected works were analyzed from a comparative perspective with a view to highlight the plight of Afro-American women, and to look for possible convergence in the emancipated portrayal of their juxtaposed characters. The thematic stress and characterization of the protagonists in the selected works suggests that oppression of black women can be challenged only if they realize their own strength, in the bonds of sisterhood, for instance, or in the refusal to submission to oppressive conditions. Superficially, the writers have come up with juxtaposed images of black women – Alice Walker’s Celie victimized because of her poverty, race and gender, while Suzan-Lori Parks’ Hester allowing herself to be exploited by men, resorting to filicide in the end. But, at a deeper level both the writers chide black woman for their lack of strength to put a bold face against their oppressors.
Keywords: Afro-American Women's Oppression, Class, Filicide, Gender, race
Gender Vulnerability in Farooqi’s Novel, The Story of A Widow (Published)
This paper will investigate the subtle and sensitive questioning of Women’s condition in Pakistan in Farooqi’s novel, The Story of a Widow. Farooqi’s title is misleading and leads one to think that this book too will portray the subjugated position of women in a patriarchal society but on closer investigation it is seen that Farooqi points towards the hindering and cowardly mindset of women in giving and supporting independence to their own kind. The portrait of the dead husband symbolizes the patriarchal presence. It is important to see that the judgmental attitude of the man is perceived by the wife even when he is no more. This is indicative of how powerfully the society is entrenched in the myth that man is wiser and more capable than the woman and therefore must remain in the driving seat. Despite the complete physical absence of Akbar Ali, Mona’s deceased husband, he continues to figure prominently in her thoughts. What is worth appreciating is the resilience of Mona with which she continues to defy and rise above the looks of rebuke and chastisement that Akbar Ali’s portrait continues to impart. After widowhood, Mona gains money as well as the liberty to make her own decisions yet she is, throughout the novel, cowed down by her sister and her daughters, relations that one would otherwise expect to be supportive and understanding. Through the struggle of Mona, Farooqi highlights the importance of self-growth and self –autonomy which can only be obtained by making ones own decisions, shouldering the burden of error, living through agony and finally coming out not triumphant but stronger and wiser i.e like the men.
Keywords: Gender, Reformation, Self-growth, Vulnerability, liberal, sensitivity
Iranian Lifestyle Reflection in Six adolescent’s Novels (Published)
In most novels for teens in Iran, one or more major or minor characters of the story are adolescents who each have their own speech and behavior. It seems that the authors pay attention to Iranian life style in the novels primarily to draw attention of adolescents to the text and secondary to reflect Iranian life style in their text. In this paper, lifestyle of teenage characters in the text of teenage novels during 2010– 2012 based on the pattern of Iranian lifestyles is analyzed with regard to the four indexes (traditional, leisure, cultural and managerial-care). The findings of the content analysis show that all indexes of Iranian life style are noted in young adult novels, and the most attraction was directed to the traditional index. In addition, the use of indices between girls and boys is different in the novels.
Keywords: Adolescent, Gender, Iran, Lifestyle, children’s literature, novel