Abstract: Research on gender and language has always been one of the subjects of Sociolinguistics. The paper, which is based on the theory of deficit, dominance, difference, politeness and constructionism, takes ten speeches of the same topics made by Obama and Hillary for example and makes comparison between them. Vocabulary in the speeches are classified and analyzed to illustrate the gender differences in the usage of vocabulary through the data. It is found that the gender difference of the usage of modals and first personal plural pronouns of Obama and Hillary is distinct, while the difference of the usage of adjectives is not obvious, which is different from the theory of the predecessors.

Key words: gender difference, lexical usage, public speech

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review.2

  2.1 Language and Gender

    2.1.1 Research on Gender Differences in Language Use Abroad  

    2.1.2 Research on Gender Differences in Language Use at Home

  2.2 Five Major Theories about Gender Differences

    2.2.1 Deficit Theory

    2.2.2 Dominance Theory

    2.2.3 Difference Theory

    2.2.4 Politeness Theory

    2.2.5 Constructionism Theory

  2.3 Characteristics of Public Speeches 

3. Research on Obama and Hillary’s Public Speeches...6

  3.1 Research Subjects and Objectives

  3.2 Data Collection

  3.3 Data Analysis and Discussion

4. Conclusion11

Bibliography.13

Acknowledgments.15