Language, gender and society
Created | Updated Oct 3, 2012
VERSION 2.1
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
All human children learn a language (defined as a means of communication, not necessarily verbal) in normal circumstances, although some may learn more slowly than others.
Communication is a prerequisite for the formation of any society. Although there is great disagreement about the exact mechanism of language learning, all children learn in the same sequence. This includes the learning of sign - which takes place in exactly the same sequence- one word, two word phrases etc.(Lenneberg, cited in Hetherington and Parke, 1979).
Hetherington & Parke state that language has seven functions for children in whom it is developing. These are:
* Instrumental - (I want.)
* Regulatory - (Do that)
* Interpersonal - (Me and you)
* Personal - (Who I am)
* Heuristic - (Tell me why)
* Imaginative - (Let's pretend).
* Informative - (I've got something to tell you.)
Language in deaf people is another issue. There are many different forms of sign language. Many in the deaf community resist learning speech because signing is a part of deaf culture and serves to differentiate their society from that of hearing people.
Communication is the function of language and so sociologists have studied conversation in depth. Conversation may be used to study gender, class and ethnic interactions. Language is an important part of the study of gender interactions and dominance. The study of language differences in gender can shade into the study of cultural, regional and class differences.
The classic example of gender-mandated language differences is in the Lesser Antilles where it was thought that men and women spoke different languages. It was discovered that there are many societies over a wide geographical range where women and men are required to use different lexical and grammatical items. Dialect studies have shown that men and women differ in their usage even in western societies (probably unconsciously).
GENDERED LANGUAGE AND GENDER AS AN ISSUE
Gender is an issue in western (developed, industrial) societies as well, and especially in English, where the use of inclusive or exclusive language can cause great bad feeling. As Sara Maitland states in her book on women and Christianity, there are words missing in English: Homo in Latin and anthropos in Greek, both mean a 'human being', whereas vir and aner respectively, mean a male human being, and this is what they mean. In English, we have a situation where one word is required to do the duty of the two which exist in these Classical tongues. There is a tendency for the exclusively male use of the word (man)to end up subsuming the generic usage.
Inclusive language is a real issue for men and women - and for our children as we teach them. Many men have not as great an understanding of this, because of their life experience. In my time, I have seen the introduction of terms such as firefighter, flight attendant, Ms, and police officer replacing fireman, and air hostess, the waitress of the skies... and that can only be a good thing, for flight attendants who now can have their professionalism and skills recognised with a change to a more objective job title! The ubiquitity of the word 'person' is not perhaps as great as supposed.
However, 'Language and society are interlinked and society could not function without language' Giddens,1997. Even the study of non-human language such as that of the so-called 'Ameslan chimps' or or invented languages such as Esperanto or Klingon (Star Trek) can be of interest.
References: Giddens,Anthony Sociology (3rd ed) 1997 Cambridge Polity Press
Hetherington,EM and Parke,Ross Child Psychology 1979 McGraw-Hill
Maitland, Sara A Map of the New Country: Women in Christianity 1983
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics 1979 Penguin
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
All human children learn a language (defined as a means of communication, not necessarily verbal) in normal circumstances, although some may learn more slowly than others.
Communication is a prerequisite for the formation of any society. Although there is great disagreement about the exact mechanism of language learning, all children learn in the same sequence. This includes the learning of sign - which takes place in exactly the same sequence- one word, two word phrases etc.(Lenneberg, cited in Hetherington and Parke, 1979).
Hetherington & Parke state that language has seven functions for children in whom it is developing. These are:
* Instrumental - (I want.)
* Regulatory - (Do that)
* Interpersonal - (Me and you)
* Personal - (Who I am)
* Heuristic - (Tell me why)
* Imaginative - (Let's pretend).
* Informative - (I've got something to tell you.)
Language in deaf people is another issue. There are many different forms of sign language. Many in the deaf community resist learning speech because signing is a part of deaf culture and serves to differentiate their society from that of hearing people.
Communication is the function of language and so sociologists have studied conversation in depth. Conversation may be used to study gender, class and ethnic interactions. Language is an important part of the study of gender interactions and dominance. The study of language differences in gender can shade into the study of cultural, regional and class differences.
The classic example of gender-mandated language differences is in the Lesser Antilles where it was thought that men and women spoke different languages. It was discovered that there are many societies over a wide geographical range where women and men are required to use different lexical and grammatical items. Dialect studies have shown that men and women differ in their usage even in western societies (probably unconsciously).
GENDERED LANGUAGE AND GENDER AS AN ISSUE
Gender is an issue in western (developed, industrial) societies as well, and especially in English, where the use of inclusive or exclusive language can cause great bad feeling. As Sara Maitland states in her book on women and Christianity, there are words missing in English: Homo in Latin and anthropos in Greek, both mean a 'human being', whereas vir and aner respectively, mean a male human being, and this is what they mean. In English, we have a situation where one word is required to do the duty of the two which exist in these Classical tongues. There is a tendency for the exclusively male use of the word (man)to end up subsuming the generic usage.
Inclusive language is a real issue for men and women - and for our children as we teach them. Many men have not as great an understanding of this, because of their life experience. In my time, I have seen the introduction of terms such as firefighter, flight attendant, Ms, and police officer replacing fireman, and air hostess, the waitress of the skies... and that can only be a good thing, for flight attendants who now can have their professionalism and skills recognised with a change to a more objective job title! The ubiquitity of the word 'person' is not perhaps as great as supposed.
However, 'Language and society are interlinked and society could not function without language' Giddens,1997. Even the study of non-human language such as that of the so-called 'Ameslan chimps' or or invented languages such as Esperanto or Klingon (Star Trek) can be of interest.
References: Giddens,Anthony Sociology (3rd ed) 1997 Cambridge Polity Press
Hetherington,EM and Parke,Ross Child Psychology 1979 McGraw-Hill
Maitland, Sara A Map of the New Country: Women in Christianity 1983
Trudgill, Peter Sociolinguistics 1979 Penguin
