John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 3. Empirical evidence for subtle gender biases in language
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Yulia Esaulova
Abstract
This chapter presents empirical evidence from social psychological and psycholinguistic studies to provide an insight on mechanisms underlying gender inequality represented and maintained through language. The reviewed phenomena cover linguistic manifestations of gender and gender stereotypes that range from relatively superficial word semantics to gender asymmetries ingrained deeply in grammatical language systems, such as the category of verbs and the case system. The existing studies on biases in language suggest that even linguistic phenomena seemingly unrelated to gender (e.g. negations or thematic structure) may function as mechanisms supporting gender stereotypical beliefs. Such biases present a special challenge when it comes to identifying them; however, revealing their mechanisms has important implications for initiatives aiming at neutralizing their negative social consequences.
Abstract
This chapter presents empirical evidence from social psychological and psycholinguistic studies to provide an insight on mechanisms underlying gender inequality represented and maintained through language. The reviewed phenomena cover linguistic manifestations of gender and gender stereotypes that range from relatively superficial word semantics to gender asymmetries ingrained deeply in grammatical language systems, such as the category of verbs and the case system. The existing studies on biases in language suggest that even linguistic phenomena seemingly unrelated to gender (e.g. negations or thematic structure) may function as mechanisms supporting gender stereotypical beliefs. Such biases present a special challenge when it comes to identifying them; however, revealing their mechanisms has important implications for initiatives aiming at neutralizing their negative social consequences.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
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Part I. Review chapters
- Chapter 2. Gender assignment in mixed noun phrases 13
- Chapter 3. Empirical evidence for subtle gender biases in language 49
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of grammatical gender in child and adult heritage speakers of Spanish 71
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Part II. Child, adult and heritage speakers
- Chapter 5. The second language acquisition of grammatical gender and number in Italian 97
- Chapter 6. Grammatical gender and article use in beginning learners of German 127
- Chapter 7. The non-default gender category in additional-language French 157
- Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical gender agreement in Spanish 183
- Chapter 9. Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual grammars 209
- Chapter 10. Prediction on the basis of gender and number in Mandarin-Italian bilingual children 243
- Language index 273
- Name index 275
- Subject index 281
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Review chapters
- Chapter 2. Gender assignment in mixed noun phrases 13
- Chapter 3. Empirical evidence for subtle gender biases in language 49
- Chapter 4. The acquisition of grammatical gender in child and adult heritage speakers of Spanish 71
-
Part II. Child, adult and heritage speakers
- Chapter 5. The second language acquisition of grammatical gender and number in Italian 97
- Chapter 6. Grammatical gender and article use in beginning learners of German 127
- Chapter 7. The non-default gender category in additional-language French 157
- Chapter 8. Investigating grammatical gender agreement in Spanish 183
- Chapter 9. Cross-linguistic influence in bilingual grammars 209
- Chapter 10. Prediction on the basis of gender and number in Mandarin-Italian bilingual children 243
- Language index 273
- Name index 275
- Subject index 281
