A Study of Cross-Gender Conversational Styles Reflected in Love Actually

Choi, Yongson

Article

Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media 2015;16(1):1-21.
Published online March 30, 2015.

A Study of Cross-Gender Conversational Styles Reflected in Love Actually

Abstract

The aim of this study is to help learners to be aware of cross-gender conversational style differences and ultimately to assist them to have better communication by looking into dialogues in a movie. Evidence is revealed from the movie Love Actually (Curtis, 2003) to establish that the conversational style of women and men differs, and show how it differs and discuss why women and men talk differently. Studying dialogues in movies is an effective way to help students to learn about cross-gender conversational styles, because they provide authentic contexts with abundant examples of real conversations. It is not easy to implement the findings of the study in an ESL environment, in which the primary goal is language acquisition. However, language is a part of culture, and it is necessary to educate students about the culture as a whole so that they might better understand the part language plays in it. Gender differences in communication are part of culture. ESL teachers are encouraged to make their students aware of differing conversational styles between men and women. Through a deeper awareness, students can better understand the nuances and subtleties of English conversation.

Key Words: language and gender;communication;movies