Gender Differences In Conversation Among Undergraduates In China

Gender differences in language have been studied in many fields by scholars all over the world. This research dates back to ancient Greek but the systematic and thorough study began with women's liberation in 1960s. Recently, With the flourishing of inter-disciplinary approach, the orientation of gender studies has changed from intra-linguistic to inter-linguistic perspectives, which involves scholars from various fields such as sociology, women's study, anthropology, pedagogy etc. to probe this topic from different angels and put forward different theories to explore the origin. Gender language research is on the whole a new branch of learning in China, beginning at the end of 1970s. Although developed into an inter-linguistic subject and applied with theories from different fields, this study in China is still at the starting line and most scholars only focus on introducing Western theories and relevant research. The application of Western theories and findings to the actual conditions in China is rare and unsystematic. This dissertation attempts to make a systematic analysis of gender differences in conversation among undergraduates in China. The subject of this thesis has been given a detailed description and actual analysis based on both theory and investigation. The research has made use of data and messages by means of observation, questionnaires, interviews etc. The aim of the study is two fold: to provide insights into gender differences among undergraduates; and to explore the reasons that cause the differences and its results.To achieve understanding of both of these aims, it seems practical and effective here to divide this study into three parts. Part one is Chapter I- a brief review of gender language research in Western countries and in China, research methods and data in this thesis, and the definition of gender. Part Two, which encompassesChapterII to Chapter IV, is the main body of the thesis and deals with gender differences in conversation from three aspects: class, daily life, computer-mediated communication. Chapter Two discusses gender differences in conversation in class. Teacher-student (teacher-initiated and student-initiated) interaction and student-student interaction are the major parts. Both class observation and questionnaires reveal that boys initiate more interaction with teachers and dominate student-teacher interaction. Teachers tend to treat boys and girls differently either in the quantity of questions or quality of questions. In student-student interaction, girls as a group are less active and have fewer opportunities to express their ideas. Chapter III concerns gender differences in conversation in the undergraduates' daily life. Boys as a group are competitive, independent, active, and aggressive while girls tend to be cooperative, supportive, polite, non-aggressive and try to keep the conversation going. Chapter IV deals with gender differences in computer-mediated communication. By collecting and analyzing data from synchronous and asynchronous communication online, conclusion is drawn that computerized medium is proved to be the medium in which gender differences still apply and even become more contrastive. Gender styles in Internet emerge as assertive, strong authoritative of boys and appreciated, conciliated styles of girls. Part Two concludes that there are noticeable differences in boys' and girls' speech styles whether in class, in daily life or in computerized environment. In the final part causes and results of gender differences in conversation are discussed. Social factors (family, school, peer pressure, mass media), cultural factors and psychological factors are the major factors to bring about such differences. Gender differences in conversation cause miscommunication and girls at a disadvantage in class.The author also provides some perspectives in this study. It is the author's hope that this thesis will be of some help to sociolingusitic studies and language teaching.