GOOD AFTERNOON!

How does language affect the way we think about gender?

Are men’s languages superior to the women’s?
Who's more formal when talking?
DEFICIT APPROACH
 TABLE OF
CONTENTS

Deficit Approach: Meaning

Deficit Approach: Language &
Gender
Deficit Approach: Support
Deficit Approach: Criticisms
Conclusion
What is DEFICIT?
What is DEFICIT?

Something is seen to
be small or less.
DEFICIT APPROACH

Non-standard dialect = weaker

language skills

Assumes that the standard

variety is the norm and any
deviation from it is a deficit.
 DEFICIT APPROACH:
LANGUAGE & GENDER
Earliest approach within language and gender
research:
Women's language is deficient in
comparison with men's.
Men's language constitutes the social
norm.
 DEFICIT APPROACH:
LANGUAGE & GENDER
Aims to prove differences in the way men and
women use language.

It argues that:
Men’s language: standard and superior
Women’s Language: insufficient and
inferior
DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT

Otto Jepersen believed that men's language

was seen as the standard and normal,
whereas women's language was deficient.

Language: Its Nature, Development and

Origin (1922)
DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT
According to Jespersen, women:
Talk a lot
Simpler words, smaller vocabularies
Use more false starts and unfinished
sentences
Exaggerate more.
Use too many adjectives and adverbs.
Are emotional, not grammatical.
Are more indirect and, therefore, less effective
than men.
DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT

According to Jespersen, men:

Have a larger vocabulary and use more

difficult words.
Are in charge of establishing new words in
the English language.

"there is a danger of the language becoming

languid and insipid if we (men) are to content
ourselves with women's expressions"
DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT
Robin Lakoff, argues that the features of
language used by women are 'weaker' and
more certain than the language used by
men.

She refers to this weaker form of language

as 'women language'

Language and Women's Place (1975)

DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT
Lakoff’s findings regarding women's
language:

Hedging
Polite
Tag Questions
Intensifiers
Empty Adjectives
DEFICIT APPROACH: SUPPORT
However, women use less:

Slang
Swear words
Insults

This implies that women tend to use more

formal language, are more polite, and are
less aggressive than men.
 DEFICIT APPROACH: CRITICISMS
The approach is seen as problematic as it focuses on the
'deficits' in women's language while portraying the
language of men as the 'norm'

A sexist approach?
inequality between genders?
The approach is a little bit old?
DEFICIT APPROACH: CRITICISMS
It fails to consider linguistic diversity within a
community or group.

Overlooks the social and cultural factors that

shape language use.

The language is highly dependent by gender and

that women's language is lacking in multiple ways.

The power imbalance in society is not caused by

women's language alone, but for both genders.
 CONCLUSION
The Deficit Approach to Language and Gender has long been a hot
topic.
Given that it was established in as far as the 1920's, it would make sense
to view this a viable approach since women’s rights and roles in society
were not as recognized as they are today.
Nowadays, this approach would be considered sexist and problematic
as it portrays one sex as dominant and superior compared to the other.
END OF PRESENTATION!