{"id":2085,"date":"2012-05-10T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2012-05-08T09:39:42","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T07:39:42","slug":"language-and-gender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=2085","title":{"rendered":"Language and gender"},"content":{"rendered":"
Language and gender: <\/strong>A reader. <\/strong>2nd edn. <\/strong>Ed. by Jennifer Coates <\/strong>and Pia Pichler. <\/strong>Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Pp. 640. ISBN 9781405191272<\/a>. $51.95.<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Louisa Buckingham<\/a><\/strong>, University of Nizwa<\/em><\/p>\n

This reader comprises forty-three contributions arranged in ten main thematic areas. It includes numerous additional studies published since the original reader\u2019s appearance in 1997. Many of the contributing authors are among the foremost authorities on sociolinguistics. While the articles included primarily study language use in social and institutional settings in countries where English is the dominant language, several studies on other language communities are also included. Each section begins with an introduction to the theme and a brief overview of each paper.<\/p>\n

Part 1 considers how grammar and pronunciation may index gender. The articles primarily look at quantifiable linguistic features, such as phonetic or grammatical variation, and instances of non-standard forms, as used by speakers from particular communities. Most of the articles illustrate a tendency for certain forms to be associated with \u2018female\u2019 language use, while one article (i.e. that on the Australian Yanyuwa language) discusses a gender-exclusive use of language. Articles in Part 2 focus on language functions such as complimenting, apologizing, swearing, and giving directives. The authors examine the communicative and social purposes these functions serve when used by men and women, finding, in some instances, that they may reflect cooperative and competitive ways of talking, and contribute to the construction of gender identities.<\/p>\n

Part 3 focuses on mixed-talk scenarios, in particular, how linguistic strategies such as interruptions, silence, and delayed responses contribute to the establishment of unequal power relations. \u00a0The selected articles in Part 4 look at how gender, social and cultural identity, and, more broadly, social relations are constructed in same-sex talk.<\/p>\n

Part 5 examines gender across a range of work places in the public domain. Being essentially male-dominated social environments, forms of discourse more typical of men predominate, and women\u2019s more cooperative discursive style may be considered ineffective. To be \u2018heard\u2019, women may have to adopt more \u2018masculine\u2019 forms of discourse, which may even be the prevailing strategy in all-female environments functioning within broader male-dominated institutions. The articles in Part 6 investigate the contribution of language to the often fluid construction of gender identity. Linguistic resources are used to index particular gender or sexual identities in a range of social contexts.<\/p>\n

The three parts that follow examine theoretical issues in the study of gender and language. Part 7 discusses values associated with particular ways of talking, such as hedging or particular intonation patterns, which are associated with power or the lack thereof. These values may be cultural rather than essentially gender-related. The theoretical debate in Part 8 concerns the \u2018dominance\u2019 and \u2018difference\u2019 approaches to language and gender and the emergence of the social constructivist perspective, which involves understanding the role of language in the construction of social identities, including gender. The reader ends by placing the debate on language and gender in the twenty-first century, which may be characterized by a fluid, social-constructionist view of gender, where men\u2019s adoption of \u2018female\u2019 forms of communication is increasingly being seen as desirable in certain contexts.<\/p>\n

The thematic organization of the reader provides a superb overview of key developments in the study of language and gender over three decades. Primarily directed toward graduate students and scholars, some articles will also be suitable at undergraduate level, accompanying general introductory course books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Language and gender: A reader. 2nd edn. Ed. by Jennifer Coates and Pia Pichler. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Pp. 640. ISBN 9781405191272. $51.95. Reviewed by Louisa Buckingham, University of Nizwa This reader comprises forty-three contributions arranged in ten main thematic areas. It includes numerous additional studies published since the original reader\u2019s appearance in 1997. Many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2086,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions\/2086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}