Edward 1 Ellen Edward Professor Erin Mink Garvey WRD 103 - 415 3rd October 2012

Its a well-known gender based stereotype that girls talk more than boys, but do they really? Social linguists and researches over the years have looked into this topic and found that there a lot more components that fit into this one question, making the answer not so black and white. After reading the research article Women Talk too Much written by linguist Janet Holmes, I took it upon myself to find out if what Holmes claims, that it all depends, is true. With pen and paper in hand, my research was about to begin. Sitting at the Brownstones Caf looking on to person 1 (female) introducing herself to person 2 (male). Like any normal people who are just meeting for the same time, they both awkwardly got the pleasantries out of the way. With person 2 taking the lead, it was clear that he was going to take control of this entire conversation. With the majority of the questions being asked by person 2, person 1 was left comfortably answering all the questions and appreciating the fact that she can freely talk about herself, which shows how comfortable person 2 is clearly making person 1 feel. This is an example of when Holmes states that more talk is associated with higher social status or power, therefore the boy in this situation may be asserting to claim a higher status than girls. Throughout the conversation person 2 is clearly asking more

Edward 2 questions and talking more making person 1 contributing more agreeing and supportive talk, just as Holmes suggests. Like any good researcher I couldnt base my findings on just one observation. The following day I began to observe another encounter. I had person 1 (female) being the controlled variable and got a hold of a new person 2 (male), the dependent variable. Looking on to my subjects I found myself seeing that person 1 is actually the one taking the lead this time round. Person 1 talks about school and subjects that is pertinent to the both of them, using a lot of humor. Person 2 then seems to continue to laugh. I actually witnessed person 2 relax their shoulders as time passed by. This made me realize that body language is in-fact a language of its own, and that you miss so much when youre not from the outside looking in. Holmes explanation that social confidence explains a greater contribution for women could be a factor for why this observation was a complete 180 from observation 1. As you finish reading Holmes social linguistic analysis she tells us that, women do talk more than men and men do talk more than women, it simply all depends. The three main factors you must always have in mind are; social context in which the talk is taking place, the kind of talk involved, and the confidence of the speakers (social roles). I found these factors to be very true in regards to my research. And as someone who fights for truth in the world, I will now tell people that both genders have as much to say as the other.