Maria Stubbe Taking Language and Gender Research Beyond the Academy

Victoria University of Wellington
School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies
P.O. Box 600
Wellington 6001
NEW ZEALAND
maria.stubbe@vuw.ac.nz

About Maria Stubbe

Stubbe has conducted research on the effects of gender, ethnicity, and linguistic diversity both in casual conversation and in workplace discourse. Her research focuses on identifying the linguistic traits of problematic communication, effective linguistic strategies used to repair such problems, and future implications of this research for training and institutional learning. She is an advocate of combining quantitative and qualitative approaches in the analysis of gender and interaction and promoting active cooperation on research and practice between universities and their local communities.

Abstract

This workshop explores the complexity of the relationship between language, gender and other aspects of social identity. Participants will examine data excerpts drawn from naturallyñoccurring interactions recorded during an action research programme in a New Zealand factory, which was one component of the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project (LWP). (For further information about this research programme, see http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/lwp/.) This data illustrates the contradictions between commonly-held perceptions and stereotypes of gendered language, and how gender is actually constructed as participants interact in a particular community of practice. It also highlights the importance of taking the interactional context into account as we seek to understand how gendered identities are expressed through the medium of spoken discourse in the workplace. A second aim of the workshop is to provide an opportunity to discuss some of the issues which may arise when we try to take the results of research on language and gender outside the academy. The focus of this discussion will be on the reflective and recursive nature of the participatory action research methodology used by the LWP team, and how this has provided a practical vehicle for applying the theoretical insights gained from the analysis of discourse to the evaluation and development of workplace communication.

Workshop Materials

Click here to download Maria Stubbe's workshop handout in .pdf format.



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