| Conflict talk refers to the verbal interaction,such as quarrel,dispute,argument,squabble,and the like;specifically,it implies that interlocutors occupy alternative positions.(Grimshaw,1990)How male and female behave in conflict talk has been a hot topic of conversation analysis research.This research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis,using 63 scenes of cross-gender conflict talks from American TV series the Newsroom.Two research questions are put forward.(1)What are the gender differences and similarities in cross-gender conflict talk regarding the use of swear words,intensifiers and question intonation?(2)What are the gender differences and similarities on the turn-taking structure in cross-gender conflict talk?This research is an empirical research,in which the linguistic devices and turn-taking structures have been studied,and the findings are as follow:(1)Regarding to the use of linguistic devices:A.Women actually use more swear words than men do,and this result contradicts the stereotype that women don’t swear.Women use swear words more often just as a way of expressing,not directing to others.The results indicate that women also use abusive swear words as a way to accuse the male interlocutors and achieve status denied to them.B.There is no significant difference between men and women in the use of intensifiers.Both men and women use them to make judgment,avoid confrontation,emphasize something or show different degrees of approval.The results indicate that compared with men,women are more inclined to use them to exaggerate and make judgment;however,men prefer to express their disagreement with intensifiers.C.In case of question intonation in statements,women apply them more than men do but there is no significant difference.This linguistic device still has more functions than being polite or showing uncertainty.Women are more likely to challenge male interlocutors’ view point,while men gather information.(2)As for the turn-taking structure:A.Both male and female use nomination,self-selection and complete self-selection as methods to yield turns.The results show no much difference between them.The “A-B-A-B-A-B” structure is still the main structure in conflict talk.B.The turn-claiming methods employed by both men and women are insertion,interruption and overlap.The results show that women overlap with and interrupt men more often in conflict talk.The conclusions are contradicted to the stereotype that women overlap with men to show cooperation and involvement,and the stereotype that men interrupt women mostly to take control.(3)In conflict talk happened in workplace,women may not assimilate with the stereotype but respond in a way opposite to it.The results in this thesis are not in accordance with the gender stereotypes.Women are more likely choose to make confrontation and become not that cooperative as presupposed.Based on the findings above,four implications are proposed.First,the influence of gender stereotype should be downplayed,and the dichotomy method may not be appropriate for real communication.Second,a non-biased attitude shall be emphasized in order to treat the gender issue objectively.Third,the communicative functions of the linguistic devices should be paid attention to.And last,this research combines the analysis of linguistic devices with turn-taking mechanism.This new methodology may provide a new angle for future research. |
