Deficit Theory

Deficit Theory - Origins from Otto Jespersen

The deficit theory essentially states that women’s language is weak or contains weak traits. The theory originates from Otto Jespersen’s book published in 1922.

Otto Jespersen

Jespersen investigated non-fluency features such as fillers and pauses.
Jespersen’s research details that women speak without thinking and so use more non-fluency features (features which disrupt the fluency of speech).
Jespersen’s research relies on evidence from literature and travellers. This means it is speculative and is often dismissed as folk linguistics.
On the next slide, you will see how these sentences form a level 5 answer.

Moving up assessment bands (AO2)

Level 3 - showing detailed knowledge:
- “Jespersen investigated non-fluency features such as fillers and pauses.”
Level 4 - challenging this:
- “Jespersen’s research is disputed by Onnela who found that with masters students, there was a very similar MLU ( mean length of utterance - the average time span of a piece of speech).”
Level 5 - evaluation:
- “Jespersen’s research relies on evidence from literature and travellers and thus is speculative and is often dismissed as folklinguistics.”

Onnela

Onnela disputes Jespersen’s research.
Onnela found that with masters students, there was a very similar MLU (mean length of utterance - the average time span of a piece of speech).

Deficit Theory - Robin Lakoff

The deficit model was popularised by Robin Lakoff in 1975. Robin Lakoff's research details a list of features of spoken language that make women’s language ‘weak’. These include:

A hypercorrect grammar

Over-apologising

Empty adjectives

E.g. 'lovely', 'brilliant', 'luscious'.

Tag questions

Adding something onto the end of a declarative sentence to make it interrogative – e.g. you’re going out tonight, aren’t you?

Overuse of intensifiers

E.g. ‘so’.

Special lexicon

Special lexicon for certain things, like colour.

Less swearing

Lacking a sense of humour

Deficit Theory - Robin Lakoff

The deficit theory essentially states that women’s language is weak or contains weak traits. The deficit model was popularised by Robin Lakoff in 1975.

Robin Lakoff findings

Lakoff states that women have a hypercorrect grammar. An example of this is women avoiding double negatives.
Lakoff also says that women lack a sense of humour.

Supporting study - Kira Hall

Lakoff’s research has been built on by linguist Kira Hall, who found that phone sex workers often made use of Lakoff’s features to appear more feminine.

Challenge - O'Barr and Atkins

Lakoff’s work has been challenged by O’Barr and Atkins, who looked at a courtroom and found that lower class men use Lakoff’s language features in court.
O’Barr and Atkins' research implies that it is potentially not to do with gender, but to do with power.
This is denoted as ‘powerless language’.
In addition, Lakoff’s research is based purely on her own observations and not any linguistically rigorous testing.

Further challenge

In 2017, research published by ‘Economic and Social Research Council’ discovered that there had been a 500% increase in the use of ‘fuck’ by women since the 1990s.

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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