A Study on Gender and Language: Conventions of Perception and Use in a Graduate Setting.

ABSTRACT This study examined the stereotypes held by American native English-speaking students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) about gender and language: Captions from 14 cartoons in 1993 issues of "The New Yorker" magazine were used to elicit subjects' stereotypes. The issue of whether there would be a difference between male and female subjects with respect to the frequency with which they assigned a particular gender to the speaker of each caption was researched, as well as the reasons they gave for their decision to assign a particular gender to the speakers. Only those cartoons in which there were two adult characters and one line of speech were used. Using a two-way Chi-square, the researchers analyzed feedback from the subjects (n=20) based on a form on which the cartoon captions were listed. The subject responses were also analyzed in terms of the reasons that they gave for assigning a particular gender to each caption. In only one case was a statistically significant difference found for the frequency with which subjects assigned a particular gender to the speaker of a given caption. Some stereotypes held by both men and women about the way different genders use language were unexpected. Appended is the test instrument, chi-square calculations on frequency of gender, choice of speaker, and speaker choices. (Contains 11 references.) (CK)