Here are a few ideas for final projects. This
is by no means a final list; if you know of a topic that you would like to
pursue that is not listed here, discuss it with me before starting, as I
will need to OK it, but the main idea with this project is that it be something
you find interesting/puzzling/irritating and involving.
Most of these topics involve data collection and analysis. Your project
should include both some examples of the data and a discussion of your data-gathering
techniques. You may wish to include all of your data as a kind of appendix
to your written version to which the reader can be referred (however, the
appendix is not to be counted as part of the page requirement, nor is the
bibliography). Your project grade will depend greatly on the quality
of your analysis, your interpretation of the data, and on the coherence of
its overall organization.
I will expect a brief description of your methodology, including data sources,
in your project topic description, due February 5. I suggest looking
at the syllabus and the tables of contents of the texts for ideas that might
interest you.
As a
possible avenue of approach to your project:
Collect data for at least two
hours of taped conversations from radio or TV (especially talk shows) or
for one hour of taped conversation from friends or relatives (FROM WHOM YOU
HAVE RECEIVED EXPLICIT PERMISSION TO DO SO).
You should note down in a systematic way the following factors in each situation:
1) sex/gender of speaker and addressee
2) approximate ages of speaker and addressee
3) social identity of speaker and addressee (e.g.,
mother-daughter, brother-sister, friend-friend, student-teacher, newscaster-newscaster,
host-guest, etc.)
4) the setting(s) in which the conversations took
place (at a gathering, on a TV talk show, etc.).
Differences in Conversational Practices
Some possible questions that you could be trying to answer are:
who takes more turns;
who takes longer turns;
who interrupts whom;
who is interrupted most often;
who interrupts most;
who offers more topics and how successful are they;
who uses which intonational patterns (rising, falling, flat, etc.) in which
situations;
what kinds of directives are used and by whom;
who overlaps whom and what is the reaction;
(how) is ethnicity/socioeconomic status/power status/gender/age related to
the usage of the participants
In addition noting the speaker characteristics, the following information
should be noted for each participant in the conversation:
1) number of tokens of each feature (e.g. topic
introduction)
2) average length of each feature (where relevant;
e.g. overlap, pause) in seconds or minutes
3) reaction of the other people to use (e.g., tried
to regain the floor, overrode the topic, lapsed into silence, etc.).
Other possibilities:
Compare real speech with that in the media (books, movies, dramas on TV).
Choose an independent variable or two (ethnicity, class, gender, age, etc.)
and see what kinds of differences there are between scripted and natural
dialogue. What might these differences (or lack thereof) have to say
about cultural expectations?
Contrast the dialogue of female and male/regional/ethnic characters in works
of fiction written by matching/different authors who are of about the same
generation and nationality. A sample of four novels should suffice--two
by female and two by male writers of an equivalent genre (e.g., spy, science
fiction, romance, etc.).
Other Possible Topics
Differences in language used to infants
The images of gender/ethnicity in popular music
How do fairy tales affect childrens' perceptions of society
The influences of Disney movies on children's perceptions of gender in society
'Girl' vs. 'guy'/gay vs. straight/old vs young: an analysis of language
usage
The depiction of sex role (and language usage) in greeting cards
Eye contact and language use
Techniques of address
Terms of address
Interruption patterns on television talk shows
The effects of clothing on terms of address
The gender characteristics of talk-show hosts
Ethnic/gender/class exploitation in the advertising industry
The language used in portrayal of males and females in men's and women's
magazines
The language used in portrayal of groups (pick one) in the media
Women candidates: Their treatment by the press
Sexism in sports coverage
Sexism in TV commercials
Regionalism/racism/sexism in the language of comedy
Gender perception of American English words
An analysis of gendered/ethnic/generational language use in describing attractive
people
Stereotyped regional/ethnic/gendered speech in fictional dialogue
Confidence in a linguistic form
The portrayal of female and male/ethnic characters in Saturday morning cartoons
The generic masculine: Its use and perception by children
A survey of fraternity/sorority word usage
A survey of attitudes towards women retaining their birth names
Assessment of sex role stereotypes with regard to occupations
Differences in conversation face-to-face vs. over the telephone
Perception of gender/ethnicity/dialect as an indicator of personality traits
Intonation and topic (compare daily conversation to talking politics/narrating
stories of emotional experiences)
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