Full metadata record
| DC Field | Value | Language |
|---|---|---|
| dc.contributor | Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies | en_US |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Huang, Chu-ren (CBS) | en_US |
| dc.creator | Luo, Xin | - |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/13810 | - |
| dc.language | English | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | en_US |
| dc.rights | All rights reserved | en_US |
| dc.title | Gendered discourse in talk show : a corpus-based comparative study of gendered talk in Mandarin Chinese | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Talk show, as a product of twentieth-century broadcasting, frequently bring issues of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, disability, and age to the forefront, providing a rich context for investigating gendered discourse. According to West and Zimmerman (1987), gender is a product of social interaction rather than an inherent trait. This study explores how gender is constructed through media discourse, particularly within the Chinese context. As Ross (2009) notes, any work which includes 'gender' in the title is inevitably related to power, patriarchy, and culture. This study adopts a corpus-based approach to address these themes, drawing data from the talk show Behind the Headline with Wentao. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 1 examines how language use differs between males and females. By integrating the stance-marking of sentence-final particle (SFP) in Mandarin Chinese with the attitudinal marking function of prosody, this study analyses gendered language and tonal patterns in association with SFPs, focusing on the SFP le. The findings reaffirm previous research, such as Chan (1996), which observed that females use SFPs more frequently than males. In addition, the host was found to use SFP le more often than the guests, indicating his controlling power in the discussion and his function as a facilitator, as SFP le invites interlocutor to participate. Tonal patterns reveal that guests tend to use more assertive tones, while the host's utterances are more tentative. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 2 shifts focus to how males and females are addressed, particularly by the host, who, as established in Study 1, plays a controlling role. Using the T/V distinction model proposed by Brown and Gilman (1960), the study examines the distribution of addressing terms and their reflection of gender bias against women. The analysis reveals that females are more often addressed by their first names (FN), suggesting a sense of friendliness and closeness. In contrast, males are typically addressed by name with titles, emphasising respect, intelligence, and career achievement. Although overt underrepresentation of females was not found, subtle gender bias persists, influenced by traditional Chinese culture and norms. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | Study 3 offers a broader perspective on the tone and rime motifs and their role in differentiating gender. Through the concepts of motifs, this study illustrates how the systematically self-organizing system represented by tone and rime motifs distinguishes gender in discourse. The analysis shows that the host produces more words and more tone and rime motifs than the guests. However, due to the pre-assigned role of the host, his utterance is relatively short, giving more opportunities for the guests to contribute. Consequently, the tone and rime motifs of the host's utterance are also short. Tone and rime motifs are observed to create musical effects that facilitate vivid, fluent communication that also attracts audience attention. In addition, the pitch variation extracted based on the 5-point scale proposed by Chao (1968) reflects more pitch variation in female guest's utterances than their male counterparts. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | The findings from studies above also reveal that women have gained more opportunities to voice their perspectives, reflecting the significant evolution of women's societal roles since Lakoff (1975) first observed gendered language decades ago. Additionally, the host, as a facilitator in the discussion, exhibits different linguistic patterns compared to guests, as evidenced by the accommodation patterns and tone and rime motifs between host and guests. These results contribute to our understanding of how language use both reflects and challenges gender norms and stereotypes. | en_US |
| dcterms.abstract | This dissertation explores how gender - encompassing the constructions of both male and female - manifests in different ways in different conversation types, as well as how genders are treated in the context within Chinese culture. Theoretically, it affirms that by combining the stance-marking function of SFPs and attitudinal marking function of prosody through intersubjectivity, gender differences in conversations can be observed through tonal patterns. Moreover, the application of the T/V binary distinction model proposed by Brown and Ford (1961) highlights the asymmetrical use of addressing terms, strengthening the imbalanced power relation and reflecting the impact of traditional Chinese culture. Through the use of different addressing terms, varying politeness strategies are applied, supporting the 'face' theory and politeness strategies proposed by Gumperz (1972) and Brown and Levinson (1987) having distinct applications in Chinese contexts, as evidenced by data from talk show. Methodologically, the current thesis provides a novel approach to investigate multi-party conversations involving gender. By adopting the gender dynamic approach, it was observed that males employing different roles have different gendered performances in the Chinese context. Practically, the study enhances understanding of gendered language use as well as how genders are treated in the Chinese context, offering valuable insights for further analysis in gender studies in China. | en_US |
| dcterms.extent | xxi, 145 pages : color illustrations | en_US |
| dcterms.isPartOf | PolyU Electronic Theses | en_US |
| dcterms.issued | 2025 | en_US |
| dcterms.educationalLevel | Ph.D. | en_US |
| dcterms.educationalLevel | All Doctorate | en_US |
| dcterms.accessRights | open access | en_US |
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