Conference on Perception and Realization in Language and Gender Research

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

The National Science Foundation supports the Conference on Perception and Realization in Language and Gender Research. This conference will held during the intersession of the 2003 Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute at Michigan State University. The conference will combine invited papers, panel discussions, poster sessions, and workshops. The goal is to increase awareness of international perspectives on the rapidly expanding linguistic subfield of language and gender and to forge ties between researchers in the U.S. and other countries by providing multiple opportunities for focus on a single question: How is the relationship between language and gender perceived and realized, both by speakers and by researchers themselves? This theme recognizes growing attention to the question of the empirical validity of any relationship between language and gender. Until recently, such a relationship was thought to be more or less fixed in gender difference and to obtain across many contexts of language use. Language and gender research emphasized this relationship by documenting specific gender differences in language use and developing explanations based on culture or power. In the past 15 years, researchers have focused less on differences and more on the role of context in the study of female and male speakers. This reframing of the field has produced a new set of research questions regarding perceived associations between gender and particular linguistic features as well as the realization of such associations in specific contexts of language use. These questions include: How can one be sure that a linguistic phenomenon is associated with gender? How and when are gender identities salient? To what extent do perceptions of gendered language use correspond to linguistic manifestations of gender identity? The project will lead to scientific advancement in language and gender research by bringing together representatives of various theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary perspectives to address newly central issues in the field. In addition, the conference provides a rare opportunity to bring current concerns in language and gender to the linguistics community at large, and to provide education and training to graduate students at the early stages of their graduate careers. The conference will also support the education of undergraduates and the application of language and gender research findings to real-world problems, such as issues of gender and language in institutional contexts like the law, medicine, and education. Results of the conference will made available electronically as working papers as well as in traditional published form. To make conference results accessible and inexpensive for the widest possible audience, online publication will be especially promoted.