Description

NOTE: This is Communication matters  ONE.  The other one here  is TWO Communication Matters I: He Said / She Said: Women, Men and LanguageThe Modern Scholar14 Audio LecturesTaught by Professor Deborah TannenGeorgetown UniversityWhen I wrote You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation I didn’t know that what everyone would respond to most strongly is the question, “Why don’t men like to stop and ask for directions?” (Before the book was published, no one talked about this gender difference; as a result of the book, it is now the ubiquitous subject of jokes, cartoons, skits, greeting cards, and casual conversations.) The answer to this question will be revealed in the lectures that follow, as it captures the essence of what this course will address: the patterns that tend to distinguish how men and women use language in their everyday lives, and the consequences of these differences (as well as similarities) for conversations and relationships between women and men.My goal in this series, in addition to illuminating the patterns of women’s and men’s uses of language, is to enhance understanding of how language works in everyday life. I am told by students who have taken my courses that this understanding helps them in their everyday lives, as every aspect of our lives involves talking to people of the other sex—in our personal relationships, our families, at work, and in trying to get just about anything done.My research on cross-gender communication grew out of my linguistic research on how people use language in conversation. I was invited to take part in a research project organized by a psychologist, Bruce Dorval that was funded by the Social Science Research Council. We examined videotapes of children talking to their best friends across a range of ages. In looking at Dorval’s videotapes, I noticed a pattern of physical orientation: At every age, girls and women sat face to face and looked directly at each other when they talked, whereas boys and men sat at angles, or parallel, and looked around the room. Seeing this pattern span such a range of ages is what prompted me to think of cross-gender communication as cross-cultural.Throughout this course, I will be developing this metaphor, drawing on my own original research as well as research by others in the fields of linguistics, anthropology, sociology, education, and psychology. Some of the topics I will explore in these lectures include:• Who talks more, men or women?• Who interrupts more, women or men?• What do women and men tend to talk about?• Who is more “indirect” in saying what we mean?• Why would anyone be indirect in saying what we mean?• Where do these differences come from; how early do they start?In answering all these and many other questions, I will describe and exemplify patterns in the ways women and men tend to use language in our everyday lives. I’ll trace these patterns to the way boys and girls use language growing up, and explore, in some detail, the process by which humans express meaning, accomplish tasks, and form and manage relationships through language.about Your ProfessorDeborah Tannen holds the distinguished rank of University Professor at Georgetown University, where she has been on the faculty of the linguistics department since 1979. Her book You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation was on The New York Times best-seller list for nearly four years, including eight months as number one; has sold more than two million copies; and has been translated into 29 languages. It was also on best-seller lists in Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, and Hong Kong. This is the book that brought gender differences in communication style to the forefront of public awareness. Of her other 18 books, Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work was a New York Times business best-seller; The Argument Culture: Stopping America’s War of Words won the Common Ground book award; and I Only Say This Because I Love You: Talking to Your Parents, Partner, Sibs and Kids When You’re All Adults, won a Books for a Better Life award. Her books written for scholarly readers include Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse (Cambridge University Press), Gender & Discourse (Oxford University Press) and Conversational style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends (Ablex Publishing).Professor Tannen is an internationally recognized scholar who has received fellowships and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She is Associate Editor of Language in Society and is on the editorial boards of many other journals. She is also an advisory editor of the book series Oxford Studies in Gender and Language. She has been awarded five honorary doctorates, and has been McGraw Distinguished Lecturer at Princeton University. She was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California following a term in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.Deborah Tannen is a frequent guest on such news and information shows as 20/20, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and ABC World News Tonight as well as such networks as CNN and National Public Radio. She has written for most major magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Time, Newsweek, and The Harvard Business Review.Course SyllabusLecture 1 He Said/She Said: A framework for Understanding Conversations Between Women and MenLecture 2 The Source of Gender Patterns: Children at PlayLecture 3 A Cross-Cultural Approach to GenderTalkLecture 4 The Role of Opposition in Men’s RelationshipsLecture 5 The Role of Talk in Women’s RelationshipsLecture 6 The Interplay of Power and ConnectionLecture 7 Ambiguity and Polysemy: Two Keys to Understanding Language and GenderLecture 8 Indirectness: Not in So Many WordsLecture 9 Talking at Home: Gender in the FamilyLecture 10 Talking at WorkLecture 11 Who Talks More?: Public and Private SpeakingLecture 12 A History of Research on Gender and LanguageLecture 13 Nature/Nurture: The Source of Gender DifferencesLecture 14 Conclusion: What Can You Do?