Dominance Theory

Dominance Theory - Schulz and Lakoff

Dominance theories examine language use in respect to men being more dominant. Schulz and Lakoff conducted research into the terms in which women and men are referred to.

Suffix '-ess'

They looked at terms which are marked in a way to identify them as different.
The research details that the ‘-ess’ suffix marks out a feminine equivalent.
- For example, actress to mark a female actor.

Semantic derogation

They also looked at semantic derogation. This is where words have gained negative connotations as time has progressed.
- For example, 'masters' female equivalent is ‘mistress’ which has connotations of prostitution.

Dominance Theory - Janet Holmes and Stanley

Dominance theories examine language use in respect to men being more dominant.

Janet Holmes

Janet Holmes’ research looked into the way in which women are referred to in affectionate nominatives (names).
She noted that the nominates used for women were predominately from the semantic fields of food and animals.
- For example, you may notice women being called ‘sugar’, ‘honey’, ‘bitch’ and ‘cow’.

Stanley

Stanley’s research from the 1970s examined the number of insults for women against men.
She found that there were 220 insults to describe a promiscuous woman vs 20 for a promiscuous male.
In 2015, Tyger Drew-Honey asked people in the streets how they would describe a woman who had slept with 30 men and how they would describe a man who had slept with 30 women.
Both men and women described the woman as a 'slag' and 'slut', whereas the man was labelled as a 'lad'.

Dominance Theory - Dale Spender

Dominance theories examine language use in respect to men being more dominant. Perhaps the most prominent dominance theorist is Dale Spender.

'Male as norm'

Dale Spender believes that there is a culture of ‘male as norm’ in which men are the dominant models and women are add-ons.
- For example, the fact that men are almost always introduced first (Lord and Lady, Mr and Mrs) and when women are not introduced first, it is symbolic of their lesser role (mothers and fathers – puts women in a maternal role).
In addition, words like ‘mankind’ add to the idea that men are the norm.

Gender-neutral words

There has been a recent backlash against the term ‘history’ (his story) as an attempt to try to claim that history is the story of men.
All of this has caused a reshuffling and reclaiming of words for more gender-neutral words.
- For example, ‘headteacher’ instead of headmaster and headmistress.

Germaine Greer - c*nt

Australian author Germaine Greer has tried to linguistically reclaim the term ‘c*nt’ in an attempt to remove the negative connotations attached to the female genitals.

1Language Levels

1.1Assessment Objectives

1.1.1Assessment Objectives

1.2Lexis

1.2.1Introduction

1.2.2Common, Proper, Abstract & Concrete Nouns

1.2.3Collective Nouns

1.2.4Adjectives

1.2.5Main, Auxiliary & Copular Verbs

1.2.6Dynamic & Stative Verbs

1.2.7Transitive, Intransitive, Active & Passive Verbs

1.2.8Mood of Verbs

1.2.9Adverbs

1.2.10Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns

1.2.11Relative & Demonstrative Pronouns

1.2.12Determiners

1.2.13Conjunctions

1.2.14Synonyms, Antonyms & Phonological Features

1.2.15End of Topic Test - Lexis

1.3Grammar

1.3.1Morphology

1.3.2Clauses

1.3.3Phrases

1.3.4Present Tense

1.3.5Past Tense

1.3.6Future Tense

1.3.7End of Topic Test - Grammar

1.4Semantics & Pragmatics

1.4.1Semantics

1.4.2Pragmatics

1.5Discourse Structure, Graphology & Orthography

1.5.1Discourse Structure

1.5.2Graphology & Orthography

1.5.3End of Topic Test - Semantics, Graphology etc.

2Language, The Individual & Society

2.1Children’s Language Development

2.1.1The Exam

2.1.2Phonemes, Vocal Tract & Articulation

2.1.3Writing About Phonemes

2.1.4Phonological Simplification

2.1.5A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition

2.1.6Beginning Stages of Language

2.1.7Lexical Development

2.1.8Stages of Development

2.1.9End of Topic Test - Child Language Development

2.2Children's Language Development - Theories

2.2.1Behaviourism

2.2.2Interactionism

2.2.3Challenging Interactionism

2.2.4Nativism

2.2.5Nativism - Exam Answer

2.2.6Cognitivism

2.2.7Social Constructionism

2.2.8Writing About Spoken Acquisition

2.2.9End of Topic Test - Development Theories

2.3Literacy Development: Reading

2.3.1Introduction

2.3.2Phonics vs Whole Word

2.3.3Debates in Reading

2.3.4Modelling Reading Acquisition

2.3.5Other Reading Theories

2.3.6End of Topic Test - Reading

2.4Literacy Development: Writing

2.4.1Orthography

2.4.2Kroll's Theory

2.4.3Barclay's Theory

2.4.4Creativity vs Accuracy

2.4.5Other Writing Theories

2.4.6The Exam

2.4.7End of Topic Test - Writing

3Language Diversity & Change

3.1The Importance of Gendered Language

3.1.1Writing About Gender

3.1.2Dominance Theory

3.1.3Interruptions - Zimmerman & West

3.1.4Deficit Theory

3.1.5Difference Model

3.1.6Difference Model - Men

3.1.7Diversity Model

3.1.8End of Topic Test - Gendered Language

3.2Social Groups

3.2.1Writing About Social Groups

3.2.2Social Class

3.2.3Social Class 2

3.2.4Age

3.2.5Age - Teen Speak

3.2.6Milroy’s Belfast Study

3.2.7Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study

3.2.8End of Topic Test - Social Groups

3.3Occupational Groups

3.3.1Writing About Occupational Groups

3.3.2Jargon

3.3.3Conversations

3.3.4Hierarchy & Power

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Occupational Groups

3.4Accents & Dialects

3.4.1Writing About Accent & Dialect

3.4.2Introduction to Accents & Dialects

3.4.3Accents - Matched Guide Experiment

3.4.4Accents - Received Pronunciation & Brummie

3.4.5Dialects - Dialectal Variations

3.4.6Accent & Dialect Case Study - London

3.4.7End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects

3.5Language Change

3.5.1Writing About Language Change

3.5.2Modelling Change

3.5.3Modelling Change 2

3.5.4Lexical Change

3.5.5Semantic Change

3.5.6End of Topic Test - Language Change

3.6History of English

3.6.1Old English

3.6.2Old English 2

3.6.3Middle English

3.6.4Middle English 2

3.6.5Early Modern English

3.6.6Late Modern English

3.6.7Present Day English

3.6.8Global English

3.6.9American English

3.6.10Modelling Global English

3.6.11End of Topic Test - History of English

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