Asian Research Thesis Index

Abstract

Language, Communication and Gender Relations in Pakistan Society This qualitative-quantitative study explores the role of gender in female-male conversational styles in the local context of Pakistani society. The sociolinguistic approach to the study of language, communication and gender helps in analysing the differences in conversational styles across gender and tracing out their causes. For this purpose, different feminist ideologies and theories articulating the same voice of gender's role in communication and differences in conversational styles across gender are also used in order to understand the existing views. Thus, the main premise of this empirical research is how the awareness about differences in conversational styles across gender could help to minimize the disputes caused by misunderstanding each other's conversational styles. Tannen believes that women and men belong to two different cultures and her Theory of Genderlect Styles (1990) proposes that communication across gender is cross cultural communication. Furthermore, Tannen assumes that women seek 'intimacy' and men look for 'status' while communicating and thus misunderstand each other. In order to improve the social relations, Tannen focuses on understanding each other's conversational styles instead of assuming each other superior or inferior. In order to see if genderlect styles cause the same problems in communication process as they are observed in American society, Tannen's postulations regarding female and male conversational styles are examined in the local social and cultural aspect of Pakistani society. After confirming the existence of differences in conversational styles of women and men, this research provides an insight to the communication problems caused by these differences. Intimacy is meant to be achieved but that is not the only purpose of communication. Women's desire for 'identity' and men's attempt to maintain their `power' seems to complicate their communication process. This study is an attempt to familiarize people about these differences so that their social relations in all spheres of life could be improved for the wholesome development of the Pakistani society.

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