Evaluate the notion that male language is superior and more authoritative when compared to female language

How to answer the above question: A Guide

Start with… Dominance

Pamela Fishman:
Division of labour in conversations
•Women keep a conversation going (shitwork)
•Men don’t use such effects (found by Lakoff) as they already perceive themselves as dominant

However, Conducted by Zimmerman & West:
•Men dominant through power of interruption
•Men have conversational power
•Questioned by latest Stanford University Research, suggesting everybody perceives interruptions differently (See wider reading)

Move on to counter with… Deficit

Furthermore Robin Lakoff:
•Women’s speech deficient
•Supports above argument
•Women’s use of; Hedges, tag questions, empty adjectives signs of deficiency in conversational power

However:
•Lakoff’s study
•Is Generalised
•Is Outdated (1970s)
•Utilised a relatively small data set

Then bring in… Difference

Fronted by Deborah Tannen:
•Women Support, Men Status
•Women Intimate, Men Independent
•Women Cooperative, Men Competitive

The Latter of which was supported by Jane Pilkington:
•Collaboration among women in same sex conversations which wasn’t found in male same sex conversations
•Didn't study mixed sex conversations

Similarly, Jennifer Coates
•Same sex friendship groups converse differently
•Women Overlap: Men take turns (Could link to Dominance)

Furthermore, Jenny Cheshire
•Boys use more non-standard forms than girls and thus have difficulty communication in mixed sex conversation

However:
•Jenny found that this could be down to more than just gender factors…

This is where Dynamic roles so nicely in…

Janet Hyde
•Compared several hundred existing studies into male and female language use going back decades, taking a mathematical approach but not actually coming to a conclusion.

Deborah Tannen
•She utilised Janet Hyde’s research in order to back her hypothesis
•She Suggests there are more differences within genders rather than between them 

However some disagree suggesting gender must be at least a minor contributing factor

Then Conclude:
In conclusion, time has led to changes in either; the language of men and women, or our understanding of it. It is, however, true that currently we live in a patriarchal society which provides authoritative power to men, regardless of their language use. Hence male language can be argued superior and more authoritative.

Sources: All wider reading can be found here: http://timsenglinshlanguageblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/wider-reading.html

Other sources:
https://prezi.com/bitphlh9yssv/jennifer-coates-and-deborah-jones/ https://quizlet.com/28164794/gender-theories-flash-cards/