Abstract:
Differences in conversational styles between men and women usually turn out to
disadvantage women. Language perpetuates male dominance and determines the
way we view the world around us. It is not clear however; whether men are actually
superior to women. The main objective in this study is to establish whether
participants on Mulembe FM call-in programmes use different conversational styles
in mitigating their face needs and how notions of power and powerlessness tend to
manifest as a factor of their socio-cultural background.iv
A mixed method approach on the case study of Mulembe FM radio station call-in
programmes is used to collect and analyse both quantitative and qualitative
discourse data. Three theories are adopted for this study: the Community of Practice
(CoP), Conversational Analysis (CA) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). CoP
proponents Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (1999) look at conversational styles in
relation to language and gender research, as a move away from reliance on binary
oppositions and global statements about the behaviour of all men and women, to
more nuanced and mitigated statements about certain groups of men and women in
particular circumstances. CA focuses distinctly on the organization and use of
language while CDA on the other hand focuses on communicative features that play
a role in the production of dominance by one group over another. It views language
as a form of social practice that focuses on the ways social and political domination
are reproduced by text and talk.
The current study reveals that in as much as there are differences in the speech
patterns and behaviour of men and women who speak Luhya language, other factors
including age, status, economic prowess other than gender can determine the way
one speaks on Mulembe FM call-in programmes and in general conversation. It is
concluded that men are dominance oriented, more assertive and competitive in their
speech while women were found supportive and cooperative but this is dependent on
the context. It is recommended that future studies in language and gender must take
into account the variety of contexts and other external factors. More studies need to
be done in different contexts to examine gender behaviour on the discourse level.
Such studies can include informal interactions between husbands and wives, casual
conversations among same or cross sex friends, and forth.
