Conversational Styles In Classroom Discussions example essay topic

In her essay "Teachers' Classroom Strategies Should Recognize That Men and Women Use Language Differently", Deborah Tannen uses the subject of gender to reveal the differences between male and female conversational styles in classroom discussions. Tannen talks about how women tend to contribute less to hostile or debate-like conversations. On the contrary, men debate more in class because the conversational style reflects their own. Tannen observes the classroom situation, the topic of debate and its format, and men and women's attitudes toward that topic. First, she explains that as females mature, they use the language to communicate with friends, to whisper and tell secrets. Tannen says that the "telling of secrets, the fact and the way they talk to each other, that makes them best friends" (Reid 283).

She states that males are often more comfortable than females when publicly speaking. They tend to gather and communicate in larger groups related to the activities in which they participate. Tannen declares that men are "expected to use language to seize center stage: by exhibiting their skill, displaying their knowledge, and challenging and resisting challenge" (Reid 283). Men are more comfortable speaking in large groups of people rather than small groups of people they know well. Next, Tannen explains how men are more comfortable and familiar with the debate format of conversation than women. She states that "women are more likely to resist discussion they perceive as hostile... they don't ritualize opposition" (Reid 284).

Women do not often quarrel for amusement as most men do. Tannen also talks about how the amount of conversation from women depends on the topic of debate. Tannen also describes the experiment she performed in her classroom. She permitted the students to analyze their own conversations in randomly selected groups of people. This gave the introverted students the opportunity to interact and discuss their point of view without embarrassment or being uncomfortable. She was able to conclude that small-group interaction is vital to any debate class.

Although Tannen thoroughly demonstrates her knowledge of the conversational styles of men and women in the classroom, this essay is unfocused, disorganized, and uncorroborated. The main idea is clear at the beginning but begins to fade away as the article progresses. The disorganization of this essay causes the reader to wander off and lose track of the main idea. Her examples are not supported with clear, factual evidence. Other points made throughout the essay minimize the main point of Tannen's article. Despite the fact that her essay discusses the distinction of gender in debates, Tannen spends four pages describing the experiment she conducted in her classroom.

The experiment was divided into three different groups based on "the degree program they were in, gender, and conversational style" (Reid 286). The experiment is interesting, but the focus on the language and cultural differences in the experiment diminished the underlying focus. Tannen neglects to mention gender with respect to the issue. In addition to the experiment, her discussion with her colleagues distracts the reader and causes the reader to become sidetracked. Usually, essay conclusions emphasize the thesis and main idea, but Tannen's conclusion drifts quite a bit from the purpose of the essay. Tannen's article is quite disorganized.

At first her discussion is about conversational styles, which reveals what should be the topic of the paper. Then, she discusses about her conversation with her colleagues. Finally, she describes her classroom experiment. This structure jumps from topic to topic, leading the reader astray from the main idea. The disorganized format of her essay is revealed through her examples and supporting evidence of her assertions.

Though Tannen has a wide knowledge of the subject, she makes numerous statements, assumptions, and generalizations that are not supported with sufficient evidence. For example, Tannen assumes the reader has experienced or participated in a classroom debate. Also, she bases her assumptions on her classroom experience only, not that of other teachers. When Tannen does support her declarations, her evidence is unconvincing, vague, or too general. Her anecdotal evidence is tediously repetitive.

In addition, Tannen's conversations with her contemporaries provide examples but fail to thoroughly support her claims. In her article "Teachers' Classroom Strategies Should Recognize That Men and Women Use Language Differently", Tannen attempts to use her knowledgeable linguistic research to describe the different conversational styles between males and females. Not only is her essay disorganized but it also strays from the main idea and fails to provide persuasive evidence enough to support her thesis.