Gender and conversational styles in a non-marital relationship in Malta

Abstract

This study examines the linguistic variation in the conversational styles that are used by males and females in a non-marital relationship. Since it has been asserted that "Boys and girls grow up in different worlds" (Tannen, 1990: 254) communication between adult men and women can actually be referred to as "cross-cultural communication" (Tannen, 1990: 42) due to the different genderlects they use when communicating. These differing styles will be examined in-depth by means of qualitative interviews with each of the three chosen couples, as well as a final discussion among themselves. The results of the qualitative part will form the basis of questions asked in a structured questionnaire, in order to find out whether or not males and females support the former findings. The age and inevitably the gender of the respondents are important variables in this study since the findings will be compared with the results that were obtained by other studies in this field concerning married couples (Sciriha 2005; Mercieca 2005). Very often, married couples are older than the respondents who are not married and thus, there will be room for comparison. The findings will be useful to the present researcher in order to conclude whether or not the persons involved in a non-marital relationship use different conversational styles from those who are married.