Gendered differences in language

Chionh, J. P. F. (2008). A study of gender and language in teenage personal weblogs in Singapore (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://libris.nie.edu.sg/

Background

While past research suggested that gendered differences in conversational behaviour existed, more recent research on online discourse suggested that the use of language was more context-driven than gender dependent.

Aims

This study examined gender differences in how Singapore teenage bloggers used language, discourse features, and structural properties in their weblogs (aka blogs).

Sample

Fourteen Chinese bloggers (male=7; female=7) from a Singapore polytechnic participated in the study. They were aged 17 to 20. A total of 446 blog entries (male=212; female=234) were used for analysis.

Method

Analyses of the blog entries covered the following aspects: (1) structural properties (i.e. the length and frequency of entries), (2) content-type, (3) lexico-grammatical features, (4) profane language, and (5) emotive language.

Findings

The results revealed that the blog entries showed few gender differences and were more context-driven. They were very similar on all aspects except for the use of profane language.

On average, both the length and frequency of blog entries were less determined by gender than by the external environment, such as in exam periods. However, the length of blog entries was more consistent among the female bloggers, whereas that of the male bloggers fluctuated. Visual features of the blogs were also similar between female and male bloggers, although the former posted more photographs.

Contrary to previous findings, no clear-cut gendered difference was found in the blogs’ content type (both groups discussing self-reflection, school, and friendship) and language (specifiers, demonstratives, and quantifiers were not favoured by any gender).

Contrary to previous research that suggested women tended to display more polite language, the female bloggers used profane language more than the male bloggers. The analysis suggested that their usage of profanity would be interpreted positively by their readers as it served as evidence of the trust they had in their friendships.

With regards to emotive language, the female bloggers preferred to use emoticons while the male bloggers preferred to use word-based verbalisations of laughter.

Implications

The author recommended intensifying the use of blogs to help students increase their awareness of the importance of adopting audience-focused writing styles.

Original article retrieved from NIE Digital Repository.