Open AccessAnalyzing Speech Acts In The Pakistani Social Media Scenario: A Gender-Based Comparison
Author(s) -
Anmol Ahmad,
Fizza Farrukh
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pakistan journal of gender studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2663-8886
pISSN - 2072-0394
DOI - 10.46568/pjgs.v15i1.126
Subject(s) - optimal distinctiveness theory , social media , psychology , taxonomy (biology) , speech act , directive , identity (music) , social psychology , linguistics , computer science , world wide web , philosophy , botany , physics , acoustics , biology , programming language
Gender studies have been an invigorating field of study under numerous lenses. Such explorations explore the inimitable distinctiveness and resemblance between the two genders. Correspondingly, this study focuses particularly on written communication of Pakistanis. Utilizing Searle’s Taxonomy for Speech Acts (1969) and Wulandari (2014)’s Taxonomy for Speech Act Functions, this research investigates differences and similarities of language use among Males and Females on the online social platforms of Facebook and Twitter. Data comprises of a thousand utterances accounted from selected social mediums. Results reveal Pakistani Males tend to use Expressive Acts often within their language while updating their status messages on Facebook and Twitter; contrastingly, Pakistani Females prefer to employ the Directive and Assertive Acts frequently in their language used in Facebook and Twitter status updates. Furthermore, Pakistani Males utilize the medium for informing their potential audience about various topics. While, Pakistani Females make use of the status messages to achieve multiple purposes, including: informing, suggesting and asserting. Through application of ANOVA, study’s results validate linguistic differences in language use of Pakistani Males and Females. It corroborates the fact that gender-based differences are part of the identity of a person and these are reflected through the medium of language elaborately.