How do I analyse a text to highlight and discuss issues of language and gender?

Students may discuss how men and women use language 'differently', by analysing a text in a number of ways. Students may examine differences in the following areas of language: lexis and semantics (the vocabulary and meaning of English); grammar and morphology (the 'structure'/'rules' of English sentences, clauses, phrases and words); pragmatics (the contextual aspects of language); and elements of discourse (the genres, modes and contexts of communication).

Differences in the interactive features of speech (for example, turn-taking and interruptions) may be particularly interesting. Grice's maxims may be a good means of comparison also. Students may then discuss whether their findings support or challenge the work of relevant theorists. For example, Robin Lakoff (1975) suggested that women speak less; use more intensifiers, fillers, tag questions and indirect requests and use fewer expletives than men. Lakoff argued that these features present women as inferior and weak. Finally, students may want to discuss the broader implications of these theories. Do they enforce or challenge stereotypes? What do they say about our society? And so on.