Yuh-Huey Lin Females as More Considerate Conversationalists - Evidence from EFL Speakers

Chung Hua University
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
No. 707, Sec. 2, WuFu Rd.
Hsinchu, TAIWAN 300
yhl@chu.edu.tw

Abstract

This paper reports on research findings from two experimental studies depicting gender differences in EFL (English as a Foreign) communication. The first study investigated EFL choice of the two cluster reduction strategies vowel epenthesis and consonant deletion. The second study explores EFL responses in a Q-&-A (Question and Answer) setting. Participants in both studies were 40 EFL college students in Taiwan (20 males and 20 females), respectively. Results from the first experiment, which was conducted to elicit adult Chinese EFL learners' production of English bi-consonantal onsets in five styles, showed that female speakers yielded higher epenthesis/ deletion (epenthesis to deletion) ratios than their male counterparts (p less than .05), especially in the conversation style. Besides, significantly higher epenthesis/deletion ratios were obtained from the female speakers' conversation with their NNS (Non-native Speaker) classmate than from the conversation with the NS (Native Speaker) teacher (p less than .05). No statistically significant difference was found between the male participants' choice of the simplification strategies with the two types of interlocutor (p greater than .05). Since epenthesis preserves more of the underlying forms than the "destructive" or the "communicatively harmful" deletion (Abrahamsson, 2001, 2003; Lin, 2001, 2003; Weinberger, 1994) and thus promotes intelligibility (Jenkins, 2000, 2002), the female speakers' high epenthesis/deletion may be deemed as their consideration for their interlocutors. As for the second study, examination of the participants' answers to the questions showed that females were considerably more likely to provide further explanations for their answers to yes-no-questions than males, who were more apt to answer the questions in simple sentences. This difference between the two groups of speakers was also statistically significant (p less than .05). The results of both the two experiments contribute to the growing belief in the literature of language and gender that women are more considerate and involved interlocutors than male speakers (e.g., Coates, 1993, 1995; Holmes, 1989, 1991, 1995; Maltz & Borker, 1982; Tannen, 1992). It is interesting that gender, which is an important factor determining L1 variability, also plays a significant role in constraining learners' choice of simplification strategies and responses in EFL communication.

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