Genderlect Styles Essay

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Genderlect Styles Theory The New York Times Best Seller list for almost four years, including eight months as No.1 in the market and the translation of this book into 29 languages, changed the life of a woman for a one more admired and successfully. The name of this woman is Deborah Tannen who is best known for her book “You Just Don’t Understand,” which was also named in the best seller list of Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, and Hong Kong. Tannen, born in 1945 and with 69 years old, is the author of numerous popular books about the way people in social situations talk to each other. With the investigations that she does about this topic, she attempts to help others to understand themselves so they can get along better in relationships. In addition, she is mainly a linguist, and thus her works have a big relevance to the furthering of a theoretical understanding of talk and social interaction. However, for the communication world one of her most important contribution to this area has been her Theory of Genderlect Styles. This theory investigates the different communication styles of men and women and why they often talk past each other. Tannen also defines diverse communication techniques of men and women as cross-cultural. The most significant part of this theory reveals that men feel that it is crucial to be respected, and it is important to preserve their independence, while women feel that it is more important to be liked, and they are always seeking a human connection. In short words Genderlect is the word used to describe the relationship between a speakers gender and the language that they use. For example, it is stereotypical accepted that women gossip, often discussing personal and domestic issues whereas men communicate at an exposed minimum level only to communicate important topics. This happens also with the sound of voices of different
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