Language and Gender Literature Review
states that interruption is a sign of social comfort in conversation. In this case, interruption does not only refer to a negative act, but also a positive one. In relation
to language and gender, the occurrence of interruption is found more often in men’s
speech rather than women’s in mixed-sex conversation Zimmerman and West, 1975:
116.
b. Switching pause
The process of conversation occurs when there is a speech exchange of the speakers Sacks et al in Zimmerman and West, 1975: 107. It means that the speaker
should follow a rule that only one person speaks at a time and another speaker becomes the hearer. The process between one exchange and the next is marked by a
switching pause. In relation to language and gender, Poynton 1989: 89 states that this style is commonly
found in white male’s speech rather than white female’s in mixed-sex dyads. On the contrary, Zimmerman and West 1975: 118 argue that the
pause is found more in female conversational segment in the mixed-sex conversation rather than men.
c. Topic choice
As fulfilling different social roles, in conversation men and women might have different interest to talk about. According to Moore in Bischoping 1993: 1
men and women are different in terms of topic choices. Women are commonly talking about the persons of the opposite sex, or about clothes, building and interior
decoration in the same-sex conversation. On the other hand, the topic of money, business or amusement occurs in men
’s conversation.
Similarly, Poynton 1989: 71-73 proposes an argument that in discourse stratum men tend to reject women’s topic choices. Therefore in a conversation men
are noticed as more assertive because they talk important and prestigious subjects such as sport and competition compared to women who talk more about home and
family. d.
Back-channel choice An indication of a smooth conversation is a feedback or response from the
listener to the speaker. This feedback becomes an important element to show the continuation of turn-taking system. According to Wardaugh 2006: 302, this kind of
feedback is classified as back-channel. There are many signals which indicate the back-channel process, such as the nods of approval and the using of expressions of
mmhm and yes. Wardaugh 2006: 326 also states that women use more back-channel signals to encourage others to continue speaking rather than men.
e. Speech act choice
Speech act is defined as the actions that are performed via utterances Yule, 1996: 47. These acts include some actions such as apology, compliment, invitation,
promise, command and request. Related to this, Poynton 1989: 89 mentions that men use more command form rather than women which functions as imperative.
Lakoff 1973: 56 also adds that men and women use different forms of command. Men tend to use direct order while women tend to use tag question. She explains
further that these different forms occur because men and women pursue different
objectives in using language. Men, in this case, want to show their power by using a direct command while women use tag question to show politeness.
f. Initiation of conversation
In conversation, the dominant is usually the one who initiates or raises the topic. James and Clarke 1993: 232 support this statement by stating that controlling
a turn and a topic of conversation shows domination and power. In addition, Poynton 1989: 89 claims that women try to initiate a conversation more often than men do.
However, women succeed less in initiating conversations because of lack of men cooperation.