성별에 따른 영어사용상의 차이·차별에 대한 연구

Abstract

A Study of Gender Differences and Discriminations in Use of EnglishChoi, Yong-sonThe purpose of this study is to help Korean learners of English to use non-sexist English by raising their consciousness about gender differences and discriminations in use of English. An investigation is made of the gender differences and discriminations in use of English from the following perspectives. There is a widespread belief that women talk more than men, yet research findings consistently contradict this. Men have been shown to talk more than women in such settings as staff meetings and television panel discussions. The myth of the talkative woman prevails mainly in a male- dominant society: while men have the right to talk, women are expected to remain silent, as an English proverb says that "silence is the best ornament of a woman." Men and women have different interactional styles. Men tend to dominate conversation by interrupting women's turn to talk while women are more supportive by inserting minimal responses. This conversational management is one way in which power relations may be worked out. The last is gender differences in conversational styles. These differences come mostly from differences of socio-psychological traits between men and women. Men's concern with power and independence produces men's competitive style of discourse while women's emphasis on intimacy and connection produces cooperative style of discourse. The potential miscommunication can arise directly from the different overall styles of men's and women's conversations. In order to prevent a breakdown in communication caused by different conversational styles between men and women, some solutions are suggested in this study.