A Study of Final Particles in Male and Female Teacher Talks in a Sixth Grade Class

• Main Authors: Ting-Ya Wang, 汪庭雅
• Other Authors: Shu-Hung Huang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/68285793095309731806

碩士 === 國立臺北教育大學 === 兒童英語教育學系碩士班 === 103 === This study aimed to explore final particles and functions of them in teacher talks used by male and female teachers. The research questions are: (1) What are the differences in use of final particles by male and female teachers in teacher talks? (2) What are the functions of final particles in teacher talks? Are the functions gender-related? Three male and three female teachers consented as participants. Data includes two parts, final particles and functions of final particles. All data were collected from the real contexts of classrooms. Two techniques, frequency counts and distributional display were used for analysis. The results show that female teachers used more final particles than male teachers did. The top three final particles used by male and female teachers are NE (呢), O (喔) and NE (呢). O (喔) is considered as a feminine particle in previous studies, but it is found as a neutral particle in this study. NE (呢) is found as a feminine particle the same as it was in previous studies. A(啊), YA (呀) and BA (吧) are viewed as neutral particles the sames as the previous studies were proved. Moreover, MA2 (嘛) is considered as a feminine particle in previous studies, but it is found as a neutral particle in this study. As for the functions, there are totally 14 categories in this study. They are 1. MA1 (嗎), turning a declarative into a question; 2. MA1 (嗎), asking questions on purpose; 3. O (喔), friendly warning; 4. O (喔), a pause; 5. NE (呢), a response to expectation; 6. NE (呢), a pause; 7. YA (呀), reduced forcefulness; 8. YA (呀), a pause; 9. A (啊), reducing the forcefulness; 10. A (啊), a pause; 11. MA2 (嘛), insistence function; 12. MA2 (嘛), a pause ; 13. BA (吧), solicit agreement in declaratives; 14. BA (吧), speaker’s uncertainty in interrogatives. The top three functions of final particles used by both male and female teachers are MA1 (嗎), turning a declarative into a question, O (喔), a friendly warning, and NE (呢), a pause. In other words, there is no difference when male and female teachers used the top three functions of final particles frequently, but O (喔), a friendly warning, and NE (呢), a pause, are the two functions that female teachers used more than male teachers did. In addition, some functions of final particles are gender-related. Female teachers preferred to use O (喔), a friendly warning, NE (呢), a pause, and NE (呢), a response to expectation, more than male teachers did.