The language of men and women in narratives

Abstract

When people narrate their experiences, they construct reality and provide different ways of understanding the world. The language they use is significant, in that it articulates the experience, which otherwise would remain unknown to others. This study attempts to find out whether men and women relate their experiences in the same way. It focuses on the differences and similarities in men's and women's narrative worlds, and the language devices they use in the course of their narration. The study is based on data elicited from a group of 30 men and 30 women. The data is further divided into three different age group categories, 18 - 30; 31- 50; 51 & over.