Conversation exchange: Female to Male conversation
1.Introduction
It
is claimed that when men and women attempt to interact,they do not play
the same role in interaction. This article is not meant to establish
the differences of male and female speech in cross-conversation, but it
rather aims to show how the component of gender manipulate some
techniques of conversation and how in general a conversation undergoes
between the sexes.
2.Opinions about Female and male Interaction
According
to Wardhaugh (1986 : 314-5), women are sometimes required to be silent
in situations in which men may speak. Wardhaugh supports his view by an
example. Among Araucanians of Chile, men are encouraged to talk on
occasions, while ideal women are supposed to remain silent in the
presence of their husbands or in gatherings where men are present.
More important, Zimmer and west (cited in Gumpers 1982 : 197-8) notice that men tend to ignore the comment for their conversational partner. That is they offer no responses or acknowledgement. In contrast, they are more inclined to use more mechanisms for controlling the flow of conversation, including both topic development and the introduction of new topics. In addition to this, Zimmer and west (cited in Wardhangh 1986 : 317) claim that, in cross-sex conversation women ask more questions than men to encourage others to continue speaking. This view converges with that of Hirschman( Cited in Gumpers 1982: 198) which says,
“ Several of the female male conversation fall in to question answer pattern with the females asking the males questions”.
The reason for this, according to Hirschman, is to maintain the routine social interaction and do more to facilitate the flow of conversation.
From what is mentioned above, we notice that all these discussions from silent position through topic controlling to question asking have focused on single aspects and have no regards to the contextual and normative demands in which the interaction takes place. The point upon which Smith (1985 :135-6) builds his view point.
In his approach to male female conversation, Smith distinguishes between the control dimension and the affiliation dimension. The former, mostly associated with male, orders people, situations and episodes in terms of the extent to which they provide the opportunity for exerting active controls over the interaction. Whereas the latter, the affiliation dimension, is associated with female and has a tendency to prompt people situations and episodes to elicit warmth.
What is meant by this is that women in conversation are concerned with the communicative goal of affiliation, and men preoccupied with the aspect of control.
More important, Zimmer and west (cited in Gumpers 1982 : 197-8) notice that men tend to ignore the comment for their conversational partner. That is they offer no responses or acknowledgement. In contrast, they are more inclined to use more mechanisms for controlling the flow of conversation, including both topic development and the introduction of new topics. In addition to this, Zimmer and west (cited in Wardhangh 1986 : 317) claim that, in cross-sex conversation women ask more questions than men to encourage others to continue speaking. This view converges with that of Hirschman( Cited in Gumpers 1982: 198) which says,
“ Several of the female male conversation fall in to question answer pattern with the females asking the males questions”.
The reason for this, according to Hirschman, is to maintain the routine social interaction and do more to facilitate the flow of conversation.
From what is mentioned above, we notice that all these discussions from silent position through topic controlling to question asking have focused on single aspects and have no regards to the contextual and normative demands in which the interaction takes place. The point upon which Smith (1985 :135-6) builds his view point.
In his approach to male female conversation, Smith distinguishes between the control dimension and the affiliation dimension. The former, mostly associated with male, orders people, situations and episodes in terms of the extent to which they provide the opportunity for exerting active controls over the interaction. Whereas the latter, the affiliation dimension, is associated with female and has a tendency to prompt people situations and episodes to elicit warmth.
What is meant by this is that women in conversation are concerned with the communicative goal of affiliation, and men preoccupied with the aspect of control.
3.Conclusion
To
sum up, these studies on male-femal conversation reveal that both sexes
contribute to the process of conversation. However, it is worth
mentioning that women are less quantitatively contributing and less
controlling in the conversation. Hence, the difference between males and
females lies in proportions.
BY: MUSTAPHA KOURBANE
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