Communication and Gender:
How Men and Women Communicate
in Taiwan's Offices
YE4B
1101100083
Michael Tang
Content
• Background & Introduction
• Research Questions
• Literature Review & Theoretical Framework
• Methodology
• Result & Discussion
• Limitation & Conclusion
Background
• about 4,777,000 women who had jobs last year in
Taiwan (DGBAS, 2013)
• the sex ratio in Taiwan is 100.09, and the ratio is
falling down continually (BBC News, 2013)
 various work-related problems can arise such as
communication difficulty, and sexual harassment
Introduction
• Tannen (1990) thought that men and women are
speaking different dialects, and brought up the
genderlect theory
• If people start to understand and accept the
communication styles of others, the conflicts between
people can be reduced (Tannen, 1994)
Research target: the employees of offices in Taiwan
Research Questions
1. How do men and women communicate in
Taiwan’s offices?
2. What are the differences between their
communication styles?
Literature Review
Women’s Communication Style
• Women are more cooperative, sensitive, and concern
about the feelings and relationships with others.
(Mason, 1994)
• Women would use less powerful words and terms,
and speak politely in conversations. (Lakoff,1973)
• Women interrupt less than men in the conversation
because they might perceive their social status is
lower than men. (Thorne & Henley, 1975)
Literature Review
Men’s Communication Style
• Men see conversations as a way to maintain their
social status and establish dominance. (Tannen, 1990)
• Men are more assertive than women, and tend to be
specific, logical, and powerful. They are also more
likely to offer solutions to problems in order to
prevent further discussions. (Basow & Rubenfield,
2003)
Theoretical Framework
• Genderlect Theory
Men
Women
Purpose of Communicating To seek status
To seek connection
Style of Communicating
Report talk
Rapport talk
Language
Talk to get things done
Talk to interact with others
(instrumental approach)
(relational approach)
(Tannen, 1990)
Methodology
Material: online survey
Times: the end of February to March in 2014
Total Participants: 70
Questionnaire: multiple-choice and Likert-Scales
Statistical Measurements: cross-tabulations,
correlation, T-test, and Likert Scales
Result
• Women would straight to the point when having business
conversations
• Women could convince others when having different ideas or
opinions
Discussion
• Men would ask people who they are not familiar with
for help when they had problems or difficulties on
works.
• Women’s communication style in Taiwan’s offices
has some differences between the previous research
of foreign countries.
Conclusion
Thank you for listening