Deck 31: Genderlect Styles

Question 1

Tannen says that, more than anything else, women seek:

A) control.
B) human understanding.
C) human connection.
D) status.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Tannen says that, more than anything else, men are concerned mainly with:

A) control.
B) human understanding.
C) human connection.
D) status.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In her book Gendered Lives, Julia Wood draws upon research with children to highlight the different rules that girls and boys learn as they grow up. Identify a key rule that boys learn.

A) Use talk to solve problems or develop a strategy.
B) Involve others in conversations and respond to their ideas.
C) Use communication to create and maintain relationships.
D) Show sensitivity to others and to relationships.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In her book Gendered Lives, Julia Wood draws upon research with children to highlight the different rules that girls and boys learn as they grow up. Which of the following is a key rule that girls learn?

A) Communicate to assert their ideas, opinions, and identity.
B) Use communication to create and maintain relationships.
C) Use talk to solve problems or develop a strategy.
D) Speak in a way that attracts attention to themselves.

Question 5

Women listening to a story or explanation tend to:

A) avoid eye contact so as not to embarrass the speaker.
B) offer head nods.
C) avoid putting themselves in a submissive stance.
D) avoid eye contact and offer head nods.

Question 6

In the context of a research study conducted by Deborah Tannen, identify a true statement about cooperative overlap.

A) From a woman's perspective, it is a sign of a competitive ploy to control conversations.
B) From a man's perspective, it is a way of putting himself in a submissive stance.
C) From a woman's perspective, it is a sign of rapport.
D) From a man's perspective, it is a way of annoying women during conversations.

Question 7

Women ask questions to:

A) solicit information.
B) establish a connection with others.
C) change the topic of a conversation.
D) show competence.

Question 8

When studying the interactions between moms and kids during a free-play session, Louise Cherry Wilkinson and her colleague Michael Lewis found that mothers of boys, unlike mothers of girls, ________.

A) talked more
B) used longer sentences
C) were more likely to use directives
D) were more likely to acknowledge their children's comments

Question 9

According to Tannen, the first step in overcoming destructive responses is to:

A) understand each other's style and the motives behind it.
B) learn to talk as the other gender.
C) alter the destructive communication pattern of males.
D) teach women to be more assertive and men to be more sensitive.

Question 10

Carol Gilligan's book In a Different Voice presents a theory of moral development claiming that women tend to think and speak in an ethical voice different from that of men. Gilligan is convinced that:

A) men's moral reasoning is more likely to reflect Martin Buber's call for genuine I-Thou relationships than Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative.
B) men base their ethical decisions on a strong sense of responsibility to prevent pain and alleviate suffering.
C) most men regard their ultimate ethical responsibility as one of "care."
D) most men seek autonomy and think of moral maturity in terms of "justice."

Question 11

Tannen claims that conversations between men and women reflect men's conscious efforts to dominate women.

Question 12

Tannen believes that male-female conversation is inherently cross-cultural communication.

Question 13

According to Julia Wood, girls learn to involve others in conversations while boys learn to use communication to assert their own ideas and draw attention to themselves.

Question 14

Tannen believes that both men and women are primarily interested in human connection.

Question 15

Women value report talk, whereas men value rapport talk.

Question 16

Tannen's research indicates that women talk less than men do in private conversations.

Question 17

Women tell more stories and jokes than men do.

Question 18

Deborah Tannen notes that when women state their opinions, they often tag them with a question at the end of the sentence.

Question 19

According to Tannen, women who verbally share problems with men are looking for the gift of understanding and they do not want advice.

Question 20

"Tag questions" soften the sting of potential disagreements that are likely to drive people apart.

Question 21

________ is defined as a term suggesting that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects.

Question 22

When a woman who is listening starts to speak before the other person is finished, she usually does so to add a word of agreement, to show support, or to finish a sentence with what she thinks the speaker will say. Deborah Tannen labels this ________.

Question 23

A subjective standard ascribing validity to an idea when it resonates with one's personal experience is called ________.

Question 24

Compare and contrast the way men talk with the way women talk. Which is better? Why?

Question 25

Tannen does not believe that there is a male plot to dominate women. Do you agree or disagree with her?

Question 26

Does knowledge of Tannen's theory make us better or worse communicators? Explain briefly.

Question 27

In what way could Tannen's theory become self-fulfilling prophecy? Is this good or bad?

Question 28

What is Tannen's training/discipline? How does that impact her theory?

Question 29

How might Tannen critique Ting-Toomey's face-negotiation theory?

Question 30

Tannen claims that "male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication." If this is so, then the three theories presented in the intercultural section of this textbook should shed light on the ways in which men and women talk to each other. What do you think?

Question 31

If the two genderlects are truly equal, would Tannen favor any form of accommodation or divergence in keeping with Giles' assumptions about the need for inclusion or distinctiveness?

Question 32

Compare Tannen's approach to relational communication with that developed by Baxter and Montgomery.

Question 33

Do you believe that differences in gender has a greater impact on communication than differences in culture do?

Question 34

What might Mead and his followers have to say to Tannen?

Question 35

Do cultural factors complicate Tannen's findings? In other words, how might the interaction of culture with gender potentially challenge some of Tannen's conclusions? If possible, give an example from your experience, literature, or film to support your response.

Question 36

Based on Fisher's standards, does Tannen tell a good story regarding the communicative experiences of men and women?

Question 37

From Deborah Tannen's perspective, the desire for connection is a female trait. If this is the case, what other theories might be characteristically more feminine and what theories, where status is important, might be classified as masculine?