DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF GENDER DISTINCTION OF SEX MARKERS IN MALE AND FEMALE TALK
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF GENDER DISTINCTION OF SEX MARKERS IN MALE AND FEMALE TALK
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Date
2011-05
Authors
ADEJOKE, AJIBOLA MOROHUNKADE
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Abstract
This research is a discourse analysis of gender distinction of sex markers in male and
female talk. Its main purpose is to investigate the extent of the manifestation of
gender markers in everyday male and female discourse, and how these distinctions
inform and shape the society’s perception about the status of the woman. Drawing
insights from Fairclough’s (1995) model of analysis which considers discourse to be a
specific historical product and Greenberg’s (1966) markedness theory which assigns
“marked” and “unmarked” to opposing entities, the study analysed data randomly
gathered from over fifty (50) conversations and broadcast of news items from the
media to demonstrate the linguistic reflection of the discrimination suffered by
women in a male-dominated society. The investigation of the study is anchored on the
assumption that the English Language is deeply rooted in words that have a sexist
connotation. The analysis proved that the use of prefixes such as Dr (Mrs), Pastor
(Mrs), Engr (Mrs), and expressions like “female politicians”, “women police
officers”, “chairman”/chairperson”, “female armed robbers”, ectera by the society in
relation to women are gender-bias, and do not just reflect the chauvinistic attitude of
the male folk, but conditions society’s perception of the identity and ability of the
women especially in relation to the performance of certain positions in the society.
The findings of the study revealed that this negatively-stereotypical image of the
woman can be altered in language. The anaphoric pronouns that evoke gender bias are
replaced with generic pronouns that refer to both male and female
Description
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE
SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) ENGLISH LANGUAGE
MAY 2011
Keywords
DISCOURSE,, ANALYSIS,, GENDER,, DISTINCTION,, SEX MARKERS,, MALE,, FEMALE,, TALK