Gender and Conversational Interaction

by Tannen, Deborah

• ISBN13: 9780195081947
• ISBN10: 0195081943
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-09-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The author of the best-selling You Just Don't Understand , Deborah Tannen, has collected twelve papers about gender-related patterns in conversational interaction. The theoretical thrust of the collection, like that of Tannen's own work, is anthropological and sociolinguistic: female and male styles are approached as different "cultural" practice. Beginning with Tannen's own essay arguing for the relativity of discourse strategies, the volume challenges facile generalizations about gender-based styles and explores the complex relationship between gender and language use. The chapters, some previously unpublished and some classics in the field, address discourse across the lifespan, including preschool, junior high school, and adult interaction. They explore such varied discourse contexts as preschool disputes, romantic and sexual teasing among adolescent girls, cooperative competition in adolescent "girl talk," conversational storytelling, a faculty committee meeting, children in an urban black neighborhood at play, and a legal dispute in a Tenejapan village in Mexico. Two chapters review and evaluate the literature on key areas of gender-related linguistic phenomena: interruption and amount of talk. Gender and Conversational Interaction will interest general readers as well as students and scholars in a variety of disciplines including linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, women's studies, and communications.

Author Biography

Deborah Tannen is University Professor in the Linguistics Department at Georgetown University

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction
Deborah Tannen
Overview of the Chapters	6	(5)
Notes	11	(1)
References	11	(8)
I Talking Among Friends	19	(64)
1. "Go Get Ya a French!": Romantic and Sexual Teasing Among Adolescent Girls	17	(15)
Donna Eder
An Ethnographic and Sociolinguistic Approach	19	(1)
Testing About Romantic and Sexual Behavior	20	(4)
Dealing with Multiple Social Concerns Through Teasing	24	(5)
Discussion	29	(1)
Notes	30	(1)
References	30	(2)
2. Cooperative Competition in Adolescent "Girl Talk,"	32	(30)
Penelope Eckert
Women and Symbolic Capital	33	(2)
Female Symbolic Capital in the High School Setting	35	(3)
The Girl Talk	38	(22)
Talk About Boys	41	(1)
Episode A: Third Parties	41	(8)
Episode B: Asking Boys Out	49	(3)
Episode C: Popular Boys	52	(3)
Episode D: Flaws	55	(5)
Conclusion	60	(1)
Notes	60	(1)
References	61	(1)
3. Community and Contest: Midwestern Men and Women Creating Their Worlds in Conversational Storytelling	62	(21)
Barbara Johnstone
Discourse, Gender, and World	68	(1)
Men's and Women's Narrative Worlds	69	(2)
Language and Storyworld	71	(3)
A Community Story	74	(1)
Discussion	75	(1)
Notes	76	(1)
References	77	(6)
II Conflict Talk	83	(82)
4. Pickle Fights: Gendered Talk in Preschool Disputes	83	(27)
Amy Sheldon
Introduction	83	(1)
Gender Socialization Through Language	83	(4)
Gender Socialization Through Language Socialization	83	(1)
Gender Role Socialization Through Peer Talk and Peer Play	84	(2)
Gender Differences in Dispute Management	86	(1)
Two Models of Gendered Styles in Children's Talk	87	(3)
Affiliative Versus Adversarial Styles	87	(1)
Focus on the Relationship Versus Focus on the Self	88	(1)
Female-Associated Conflict Style: Focus on the Relationship	89	(1)
Male-Associated Conflict Style: Focus on the Self	89	(1)
The Pickle Fights	90	(14)
Method	90	(1)
Differences in the Use of the Pretend Frame by the Girls and the Boys	91	(1)
The Girls' Session: Preliminary Discussion	92	(2)
The Girls' Pickle Fight	94	(3)
The Boys Session: Preliminary Discussion	97	(2)
The Boys' Pickle Fight	99	(5)
Conclusion	104	(2)
Notes	106	(1)
References	106	(4)
5. Tactical Uses of Stories: Participation Frameworks Within Boy's and Girls' Disputes	110	(34)
Marjorie Harness Goodwin
Introduction	110	(1)
Fieldwork and Theoretical Approach	111	(1)
Stories Within Disputes of Boys	112	(7)
Disputes Built Through Reciprocal Counters	112	(2)
Using a Story to Restructure a Dispute	114	(1)
Participant Frameworks Invoked by the Story	115	(1)
Audience Alignment Toward Opponent/Story Character	116	(2)
Building a Multiparty Consensus	118	(1)
Girls' Stories	119	(1)
Structure in Telling and Listening to Instigating Stories	120	(7)
Cited Characters and Current Participants	122	(3)
Recipient Responses	125	(2)
A Comparison of Boys' and Girls' Dispute Stories	127	(3)
Appendix A: The Children	130	(1)
Appendix B: Transcription	130	(1)
Appendix C: Boys' Dispute Story	131	(4)
Appendix D: Girls' Dispute Story	135	(6)
Notes	141	(1)
References	142	(2)
6. Gender, Politeness, and Confrontation in Tenejapa	144	(21)
Penelope Brown
Current Themes in Language and Gender Research	145	(1)
Ethnographic Background	146	(3)
Norms of Interaction	146	(1)
Casual Conversational Style	147	(2)
Arenas for Conflict	149	(1)
A Tenejapan Court Case	149	(7)
Format and Procedures	149	(1)
The Case of the Runaway Daughter-in-Law	150	(2)
Interaction in the Courtroom Context	152	(1)
Speech Event Demarcation	152	(1)
Participants	152	(1)
Turn-Taking Structure	152	(4)
Conclusion	156	(3)
Notes	159	(2)
References	161	(4)
III The Relativity of Discourse Strategies	165	(66)
7. The Relativity of Linguistic Strategies: Rethinking Power and Solidarity in Gender and Dominance	165	(24)
Deborah Tannen
Introduction	165	(1)
Overview of the Chapter	166	(1)
Theoretical Background	166	(7)
Power and Solidarity	166	(1)
The Ambiguity of Linguistic Strategies	167	(1)
The Polysemy of Power and Solidarity	168	(2)
Similarity/Difference	170	(3)
The Relativity of Linguistic Strategies	173	(10)
Indirectness	173	(2)
Interruption	175	(1)
Silence Versus Volubility	176	(2)
Topic Raising	178	(1)
Adversativeness: Conflict and Verbal Aggression	179	(4)
Conclusion	183	(1)
Notes	184	(1)
References	185	(4)
8. Who's Got the Floor?	189	(42)
Carole Edelsky
Introduction	189	(1)
Theoretical Prods for the Study	190	(1)
Initial Procedures	191	(1)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Focus	191	(9)
A New Focus	200	(1)
Turns and Floors in the Literature	200	(7)
One-At-A-Time	200	(1)
Turns	201	(3)
Floor	204	(3)
Partial Answer to the First Research Question: What Is the Floor?	207	(5)
Turn and Floor Defined	207	(5)
Procedure for Analyzing the Data Objectively	212	(3)
Preparing the Data for Analysis	212	(1)
Inducing the Variables	213	(1)
Data Analysis	214	(1)
Counted Results	215	(6)
Differences Between the Two Types of Floors	215	(4)
Gender Differences	219	(2)
Conclusions	221	(1)
Notes	222	(2)
References	224	(7)
IV Critical Reviews of the Literature	231	(82)
9. Women, Men, and Interruptions: A Critical Review	231	(50)
Deborah James
Sandra Clarke
Overview of Research Results: Questions in Need of Answers	231	(6)
The Use of the Term "Interruption" in This Review	237	(1)
The Functions of Interruptions	238	(9)
Interruptions as Supportive and Cooperative Speech Acts	238	(2)
Other Circumstances in Which Interruptions Do Not Violate the Speaking Rights of Others	240	(1)
The Extent to Which Interruptions Are Likely to Be Dominance-Related in Different Types of Interaction	241	(3)
"Successful" Interruptions and Dominance	244	(2)
The Functions of Interruptions: Conclusions	246	(1)
Gender and the Use of Dominance-Associated Interruptions	247	(11)
Semantic Content as a Gauge of Gender Differences With Respect to Dominance-Related Interruptions	248	(1)
Type of Context as a Gauge of Gender Differences with Respect to Dominance-Related Interruptions	249	(1)
"Successful" Interruptions as a Gauge of Gender Differences With Respect to Dominance-Related Interruptions	250	(1)
Dominance Predisposition and Power as Gauges of Gender Differences with Respect to Dominance-Related Interruptions	251	(2)
Discrimination on the Basis of Gender of Interruptee as a Gauge of Gender Differences With Respect to Dominance-Related Interruptions	253	(5)
Gender and Dominance-Associated Interruptions: Conclusions	258	(1)
Gender and Cooperative Interruptions	258	(2)
Other Factors Which May Have Affected Results in the Gender-Related Interruptions Literature	260	(8)
Effects of Subject and Situational Variables	260	(1)
Age	261	(1)
Degree of Intimacy	261	(1)
Personality Factors	262	(1)
Status/Power in the Interaction Resulting From Some Source Other Than Gender	262	(1)
Degree of Conflict Present, and the Extent to Which the Interaction is Task-Oriented	263	(1)
Natural Versus Laboratory Setting	263	(1)
Dyad Versus Group	263	(1)
Topic of Conversation	263	(1)
Change in Gender Behavior Over the Years	264	(1)
Methodological Considerations	265	(3)
Conclusions	268	(1)
Notes	269	(5)
References	274	(7)
10. Understanding Gender Differences in Amount of Talk: A Critical Review of Research	281	(32)
Deborah James
Janice Drakich
The Research Findings on Amount of Talk	281	(3)
The Approach to Understanding the Research Findings	284	(2)
Status Characteristics Theory	286	(1)
The Relevance of Research Activity to Amount of Talk	287	(1)
Amount of Talk in Formal Task Contexts	288	(1)
Understanding the Results	289	(5)
Amount of Talk in Formally Structured but Not Formally Task-Oriented Interaction	294	(2)
Amount of Talk in Informal Task Contexts and Non-Task-Oriented Contexts	296	(1)
Understanding Talk in Informal Contexts	297	(4)
Conclusions	301	(1)
Epilogue: Stereotypes Revisited	302	(1)
Notes	303	(3)
References	306	(7)
Contributors	313	(4)
Index	317