Conversational Dominance and the Asymmetric Distribution of Roles in Cross-Sex Conversations
Gang Zhou1,Xiaochun Niu2
Citation :Gang Zhou,Xiaochun Niu, Conversational Dominance and the Asymmetric Distribution of Roles in Cross-Sex Conversations International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature 2017,5(9) : 1-10
This paper aims to study the different roles both men and women play when they communicate in friendly cross-sex conversations. It also attempts to explain if men and women's daily interactions can testify those persistent stereotypes of women and men as language users. The five stretches of conversational segments analyzed in the paper were multi-party cross-sex casual conversations. These extracts were videorecorded in the sitting-room of our flat. The three interactants as international students in Wales, come from China. They are two boys and one girl. The findings show that women display a greater tendency to ask questions; women are more likely to adopt a strategy of "silent protest" after they have been interrupted or have received a delayed minimal response. And men are more likely to interrupt the speech of their conversational partners.