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Gender Differences in Language Pre-Reading and Vocab 2

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Salah Mugharbel
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13 views

Gender Differences in Language Pre-Reading and Vocab 2

Uploaded by

Salah Mugharbel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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VOCABULARY

D Read the description of a college course in linguistics, the scientific study of language and
the use of language in societies. Pay attention to the boldfaced words.

LINGUISTICS 120

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LANGUAGE


In this course, we will study how men and women use
language differently. We will answer the following
questions:
1. Gender is a basic part of identity. When we think about
who we are, we begin by thinking of ourselves as male or
female. How do we use language to communicate who
we are and which things are IIJOSt valued in our lives?
2. There are differences in the way that males and females
use language. Is it true that men are more assertive than
women and communicate more directly? Is it a myth
that women use language more politely than men? Since
the 1990s, it has become more acceptable for women to
use profanity, but people still feel uncomfortable when
this happens in mixed gender groups. Why?
3. Our home culture strongly affects our behavior. In our home culture, we learn how
to act as males and females. We also learn how much talking is acceptable to others
and how much is considered excessive. One way to understand a culture is to look at
its proverbs, including those about language and gender. What do proverbs show us
about a culture's way of thinking about males and females?
4. ls it possible to know the gender of a speaker just by listening to his or her speech�
What about the idea that females are more talkative than males? Is this true or do
males dominate more conversations and discussions at work and school?
:S; All human beings want to be respected by others. They want others to admire them,
and they want to feel important. What about sexism, the unfair treatment of women
based on the belief that they are inferior to males? How does this affect our thinking
about language and gender?

NorthStar 3 Reading & Writing


&I Match the boldfaced words on the left with the definitions on the right.
_e_ 1. assertive a. unfair treatment of women or men because of their gender

2. dominate b. honored and respected


3. excessive c. weaker or less important
4. inferior d. talking a lot
5. myth

6. profanity f. to exercise control over

7. proverb g. a belief that is untrue

8. sexism h. very rude or disrespectful language

9. talkative i. too much

10. valued j. a traditional saying

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