3.1.3

Interruptions - Zimmerman & West

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Interruptions - Zimmerman and West

One area of gendered language that linguists continue to debate is the topic of interruptions. This section will show you how to write a level 5 answer for AO2:

Level 3 - showing detailed knowledge

Level 3 - showing detailed knowledge

  • Zimmerman and West (1975) studied interruptions in conversations between men and women. They found that men interrupted 96%-100% more of the time.
Level 4 - challenging this

Level 4 - challenging this

  • Beattie’s research considered over ten times the corpus of Zimmerman and West (1975) and discovered that there was pretty much an equal number of interruptions by men and women alike.
Level 5 - evaluating this

Level 5 - evaluating this

  • Zimmerman and West (1975) examined a small number of subjects, all of whom were white, middle-class men under the age of 35.
  • This is not a representative sample. This means their research is flawed and not necessarily investigating what they think they are investigating.
  • It is entirely possible that the research shows traits typical of middle-class conversations, but this may be atypical of all other conversations.
Level 5 (cont.)

Level 5 (cont.)

  • As Beattie’s research is based on a much larger and representative corpus, it is likely to be more accurate than Zimmerman and West’s study.
Additional study - __Pamela Fishman__

Additional study - Pamela Fishman

  • Pamela Fishman’s research discovered that conversations between men and women often fail because of how men act.
  • She details that men use a third of the number of questions as women and gave minimal responses.
  • This leads to, as Fishman describes, women doing the ‘conversational shitwork’.
Jump to other topics
1

Language Levels

1.1

Assessment Objectives

1.1.1Assessment Objectives
1.2

Lexis

1.2.1Introduction1.2.2Common, Proper, Abstract & Concrete Nouns1.2.3Collective Nouns1.2.4Adjectives1.2.5Main, Auxiliary & Copular Verbs1.2.6Dynamic & Stative Verbs1.2.7Transitive, Intransitive, Active & Passive Verbs1.2.8Mood of Verbs1.2.9Adverbs1.2.10Personal, Possessive & Reflexive Pronouns1.2.11Relative & Demonstrative Pronouns1.2.12Determiners1.2.13Conjunctions1.2.14Synonyms, Antonyms & Phonological Features1.2.15End of Topic Test - Lexis
1.3

Grammar

1.3.1Morphology1.3.2Clauses1.3.3Phrases1.3.4Present Tense1.3.5Past Tense1.3.6Future Tense1.3.7End of Topic Test - Grammar
1.4

Semantics & Pragmatics

1.4.1Semantics1.4.2Pragmatics
1.5

Discourse Structure, Graphology & Orthography

1.5.1Discourse Structure1.5.2Graphology & Orthography1.5.3End of Topic Test - Semantics, Graphology etc.
2

Language, The Individual & Society

2.1

Children’s Language Development

2.1.1The Exam2.1.2Phonemes, Vocal Tract & Articulation2.1.3Writing About Phonemes2.1.4Phonological Simplification2.1.5A Child's First Year & Consonant Acquisition2.1.6Beginning Stages of Language2.1.7Lexical Development2.1.8Stages of Development2.1.9End of Topic Test - Child Language Development
2.2

Children's Language Development - Theories

2.2.1Behaviourism2.2.2Interactionism2.2.3Challenging Interactionism2.2.4Nativism2.2.5Nativism - Exam Answer2.2.6Cognitivism2.2.7Social Constructionism2.2.8Writing About Spoken Acquisition2.2.9End of Topic Test - Development Theories
2.3

Literacy Development: Reading

2.3.1Introduction2.3.2Phonics vs Whole Word2.3.3Debates in Reading2.3.4Modelling Reading Acquisition2.3.5Other Reading Theories2.3.6End of Topic Test - Reading
2.4

Literacy Development: Writing

2.4.1Orthography2.4.2Kroll's Theory2.4.3Barclay's Theory2.4.4Creativity vs Accuracy2.4.5Other Writing Theories2.4.6The Exam2.4.7End of Topic Test - Writing
3

Language Diversity & Change

3.1

The Importance of Gendered Language

3.1.1Writing About Gender3.1.2Dominance Theory3.1.3Interruptions - Zimmerman & West3.1.4Deficit Theory3.1.5Difference Model3.1.6Difference Model - Men3.1.7Diversity Model3.1.8End of Topic Test - Gendered Language
3.2

Social Groups

3.2.1Writing About Social Groups3.2.2Social Class3.2.3Social Class 23.2.4Age3.2.5Age - Teen Speak3.2.6Milroy’s Belfast Study3.2.7Labov’s Martha’s Vineyard Study3.2.8End of Topic Test - Social Groups
3.3

Occupational Groups

3.3.1Writing About Occupational Groups3.3.2Jargon3.3.3Conversations3.3.4Hierarchy & Power3.3.5End of Topic Test - Occupational Groups
3.4

Accents & Dialects

3.4.1Writing About Accent & Dialect3.4.2Introduction to Accents & Dialects3.4.3Accents - Matched Guide Experiment3.4.4Accents - Received Pronunciation & Brummie3.4.5Dialects - Dialectal Variations3.4.6Accent & Dialect Case Study - London3.4.7End of Topic Test - Accents & Dialects
3.5

Language Change

3.5.1Writing About Language Change3.5.2Modelling Change3.5.3Modelling Change 23.5.4Lexical Change3.5.5Semantic Change3.5.6End of Topic Test - Language Change
3.6

History of English

3.6.1Old English3.6.2Old English 23.6.3Middle English3.6.4Middle English 23.6.5Early Modern English3.6.6Late Modern English3.6.7Present Day English3.6.8Global English3.6.9American English3.6.10Modelling Global English3.6.11End of Topic Test - History of English

Practice questions on Interruptions - Zimmerman & West

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    How much more likely are men to interrupt in mixed-sex conversations according to __Zimmerman and West (1975)__?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Participants in __Zimmerman and West (1975)__:True / false
  3. 3
    Why does the unrepresentative sample of participants in __Zimmerman and West's__ study matter?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    __Pamela Fishman__ findings:True / false
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Dominance Theory

Deficit Theory