英语语言中的性别差异的对比研究(3)
2.2 Gender, Culture and Communication
Gender, culture and communication are interrelated and they are connected to the whole universe. Since the late 1960s, culture has been considered together with communication. Culture is based on the community of communication. Communication involves people and their environment. Thus culture is an important factor in communication. The term "culture" has numerous meanings for it is one of the most difficult terms to define. An early definition was provided by Taylor (1951), who treated culture as a complex whole of our social traditions and as prerequisite for us to be a member of the society. We may define “culture” as the system of symbols, meanings, and standards, which is transmitted from generation to generation. This definition stresses that culture, as a system, is composed of many variables related to each other. Culture refers not only to sharing a certain language by using a certain symbol system, but also how to use the communicative norms to achieve interpersonal understanding (Wang, 2004). In the 1970s, sociolinguists asserted that within the same society, there existed different speech communities (Jia, 1997:426). Cross-cultural communication (also frequently referred to as intercultural communication, which is also used in a different sense, though) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.
Cross-gender communication is a form of intercultural communication. It is not unusual for men and women to communicate with each other every day. During this process, two different gender groups are formed due to different actions, attitudes, motions, values, beliefs etc. The origin of research on gender-related variables in communication can probably be traced to studies in which researchers included biological sex as a category to determine whether or not it affected the particular area of communication under consideration. Most of these studies treated biological sex as an accidental feature，rather than as the primary area of interest in the study (c.f. Ball, 1958). From my point of view, to understand what gender means and how we should communicate in the cross-gender environment is of great importance. Their different communicative styles often bring about misunderstandings, conflicts or problems in their communication.
3 Differences in Gender Languages
Since ancient times, the differences between men and women’s languages are reflected in some proverbs. Here are some examples:
A woman’s tongue wags like a lamb’s tail. (England)
Foxes are all tail and women are all tongue. (England)
The North Sea will sooner be found wanting in water than a women at a loss for a word. （Jutland）
Language is regarded as the carrier of thought and the most important communicative tool, and it inevitably reflects the speaker’s attitude and idea. Therefore the analysis of gender differences in language can help people understand the social and cultural assumption in the language. As early as the 1920s, English gender differences research had been paid attention during the educational world. Gender differences in language refer to the characteristic differences when male and female using the same language or dialect. Tannen (1990:42) in her book You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Communication, argues that “communications between men and women can be like intercultural communication.” We know that differences between men and women exist in various aspects. The paper will cover the differences in following aspects, including phonology, vocabulary, syntax, topic choice and communication strategy.
3.1 Differences in Phonology
Phonological difference can be a significant sign concerning aspects of gender differences. Compared with men, women are more sensitive to prestige and correct form of pronunciation. What’s more, women are more willing to use rising tone. In the west, linguists have found quite a number of evidences to support this conclusion.
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