VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS & CULTURES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES GRADUATION PAPER CASE STUDY: GENDERED SPEECH DIFFERENCES IN THE AMERICAN MASTERCHEF EPISODE SEASON Supervisor: Vũ Minh Huyền Student: Bùi Thị Anh Thư Course: QH2017.F1.E22.PDCLC Hanoi – 2021 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA NGÔN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HÓA CÁC NƯỚC NÓI TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG: NHỮNG SỰ KHÁC BIỆT TRONG DIỄN NGƠN KHÁC GIỚI TRONG CHƯƠNG TRÌNH VUA ĐẦU BẾP MỸ MÙA TẬP Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Vũ Minh Huyền Sinh viên: Bùi Thị Anh Thư Khóa: QH2017.F1.E22.PDCLC HÀ NỘI – 2021 Signature of Approval: _ _ _ _ _ _ ACCEPTANCE PAGE I hereby state that I: Bùi Thị Anh Thư, QH.2017.F1.E22.PDCLC, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature Date: 04/05/2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the completion of my graduation thesis, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those who offered me great help throughout the process Without their support, it was impossible for me to complete this graduation paper on my own First and foremost, I would like to sincerely thank Ms Vu Minh Huyen, my supervisor, for her thorough guidance, constructive comments and constant encouragement She has been an incredible supporter, who has not only instructed me throughout the research, but has also been the one that sparkled my interest in Linguistics in the first place Secondly, I am also extremely thankful to Ms Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, the Dean of the Faculty of Linguistics and Cultures of English Speaking Countries for her careful reminders with detailed schedules, as well as her heartfelt suggestions for every from minor to major problems I encountered Thirdly, I hope to give thanks to the members of the University of Languages and International Studies’ libraries for providing me with all the well-equipped facilities and adequate materials for the need of my research Last but not least, I am very grateful to my family and all of my friends for always believing in me and encouraging me to overcome every hardship I might face i ABSTRACT Gender difference in communication has been a topic of debate over the past few decades and in fact, there has been no sign of it being diminished but increased significantly throughout the years A number of studies into gender differences in daily conversations, academic learning environments and TV series were conducted Nevertheless, few studies have been recognized towards the famous reality show “American MasterChef” Therefore, this case study was carried out in order to examine the gendered speech differences delivered by male and female judges in the American MasterChef episode season considering main elements: sentence types, tentative speech forms, vocal tendency, and speech acts Data was collected and put under close observation with frequency analysis The results showed that, as regards to sentence types, women used more declarative and interrogative sentences when giving comments and making requests to the contestants, whereas men preferred imperatives In addition to that, despite a small difference between the two genders’ frequency, women did surpass men in the use of three tentative speech forms i.e intensifiers, hedges, and back-channels Regarding vocal tendency, the male judge overall spoke faster yet at a lower pitch and delivered more information compared to their female counterpart Lastly, the study’s findings concluded that both men and women equally favored direct speech acts over indirect speech acts in their conversations ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of research problem & questions 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Gender 2.2 The American MasterChef reality show 2.2.1 Reality television shows 2.2.2 The American MasterChef 2.3 Linguistic features 2.3.1 Sentence types 2.3.1.1 Declarative sentences 2.3.1.2 Interrogative sentences 2.3.1.3 Imperative sentences 2.3.2 Tentative speech forms 10 2.3.2.1 Intensifiers 10 2.3.2.2 Back-channels 11 2.3.2.3 Hedges 13 2.3.3 Vocal tendency 14 2.3.3.1 Speed 14 2.3.3.2 Intonation 15 2.3.4 Direct & Indirect Speech acts 16 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Research design and Sampling method 18 3.2 Data collection instrument 18 iii 3.3 Data collection procedure 19 3.4 Data analysis procedure 19 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 21 4.1 Sentence types 21 4.1.1 Declarative sentences 21 4.1.1.1 Findings 21 4.1.1.2 Discussions 21 4.1.2 Interrogative sentences 22 4.1.2.1 Findings 22 4.1.2.2 Discussions 23 4.1.3 Imperative sentences 24 4.1.3.1 Findings 24 4.1.3.2 Discussions 25 4.2 Tentative speech forms 25 4.2.1 Intensifiers 25 4.2.1.1 Findings 25 4.2.1.2 Discussions 26 4.2.2 Back-channels 27 4.2.2.1 Findings 27 4.2.2.2 Discussions 28 4.2.3 Hedges 28 4.2.3.1 Findings 28 4.2.3.2 Discussions 29 4.3 Vocal tendency 29 4.3.1 Speed 29 4.3.1.1 Findings 29 4.3.1.2 Discussions 30 4.3.2 Intonation 31 4.3.2.1 Findings 31 4.3.2.2 Discussions 33 4.4 Speech acts 33 4.4.1 Findings 33 4.4.2 Discussions 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 36 iv 5.1 Summary of findings 36 5.2 Implications 36 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 37 REFERENCES 38 APPENDICES 46 APPENDIX 1: TRANSCRIPTION AND COLOR CODED ELEMENTS 46 APPENDIX 2: TYPES OF BACKCHANNELS 67 APPENDIX 3: SPEECH ANALYZER 69 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 3.1 Features and Classifications 19, 20 Table 4.1 Frequency of declarative sentences used by the judges Table 4.2 Frequency of interrogative sentences used by the judges Table 4.3 Frequency of imperative sentences used by the judges Table 4.4 Frequency of intensifiers used by the judges 21 22, 23 24 25, 26 Table 4.5 Frequency of back-channels used by the judges 27 Table 4.6 Frequency of hedges used by the judges 28 Table 4.7 Number of words spoken per seconds by the judges 30 Table 4.8 Frequency of speech acts (direct and indirect) used by the judges 33 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 4.1 Number of words spoken per seconds by the judges 30 Figure 4.2 Frequency of direct speech acts and indirect speech acts used by the judges 34 vi 11:53.19 11:55.57 [Graham Elliot] Complex Direct Right! I think Declarative speech act everybody's sentence become much more of a foodie so instead of, you 11:55.57 - know, just a 11:58.07 chicken breast or something else you're seeing people from 11:58.07 12:01.97 completely different backgrounds part to the world doing lamb [Christina Tosi] It Simple Direct 12:01.97 - really shows the Declarative speech act 12:04.97 power of how food sentence unites 12:04.97 - [Graham Elliot] 12:06.00 Exactly 12:34.90 - [Christina Tosi] 12:36.20 Alright, Derrick! 12:36.90 12:38.00 [Christina Tosi] What we have here? Non-polar Direct interrogative speech act (standard form) 56 Short utterance [Christina Tosi] Non-polar Direct 12:42.70 - Okay So, what interrogative speech act 12:45.30 does this apron (standard mean to you? form) [Christina Tosi] Polar Direct 12:50.15 - Do you make this interrogative speech act 12:52.27 dish for your mom (non-standard at home? form) Non-polar Direct speech act 12:54.87 - [Christina Tosi] interrogative 12:55.87 Why not? (standard form) 13:03.10 - [Christina Tosi] 13:04.39 Goodluck Derrick! 13:04.70 13:06.49 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct Just under 15 Declarative speech act minutes to go sentence 13:21.59 - [Christina Tosi] Hi 13:22.75 Moniza! 13:22.99 - [Christina Tosi] It 13:24.75 smells delicious! Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Christina Tosi] I Simple Direct love the pine nuts Declarative speech act in them sentence 13:26.95 - [Christina Tosi] Non-polar Direct 13:28.00 What's the dish? interrogative speech act 13:24.90 13:26.95 57 Short utterance Short question (standard form) [Christina Tosi] Non-polar Direct 13:31.10 - And what are you interrogative speech act 13:32.70 preparing here is (standard your form) [Christina Tosi] Are you worried 13:35.00 - about anything? 13:38.80 You have just over five minutes to go 13:47.60 13:51.00 Polar Direct interrogative speech act (non-standard form) Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct under cook, over Declarative speech act cook, under sentence season, over Simple Direct season Declarative speech act Those are the big sentence issues here 13:51.00 13:54.40 [Graham Elliot] Complex Direct And they will Declarative speech act separate them sentence from getting an apron, and just going home empty-handed 58 13:50.00 - [Christina Tosi] 13:51.40 Yes, yes 15:32.00 15:34.50 15:44.60 15:46.20 [Christina Tosi] Hey Amanda! What's the dish? Short utterance Non-polar Direct interrogative speech act (standard form) [Christina Tosi] Nice depth of flavor! [Christina Tosi] Simple Direct Really nice Declarative speech act decision that soon sentence 15:46.20 - acts on Simple Direct 15:51.40 Seasoning really Declarative speech act brings out both the sentence potatoes and the lamb 15:51.40 15:55.87 [Christina Tosi] I Complex Direct could see that the Declarative speech act potatoes if they sentence were crisp would really be a great statement in texture [Christina Tosi] Complex Direct 15:55.87 - but they're a little Declarative speech act 15:59.90 soft so you can sentence sort of see where 59 you lost track of time 16:01.50 16:02.90 [Graham Elliot] Derek, how we doing? Non-polar Direct interrogative speech act (standard form) [Graham Elliot] Imperatives Direct 16:03.10 - Go ahead and tell using short speech act 16:04.90 me what you've requests made 16:15.60 16:16.82 16:16.82 16:21.92 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct I'm gonna be Declarative speech act honest sentence [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct the preparation, Declarative speech act the flavor, the sentence technique, and the plating 16:23.22 16:24.62 16:24.62 16:27.32 [Graham Elliot] You’ve nailed them all [Graham Elliot] I Simple Direct think you've got a Declarative speech act long long road sentence ahead of you with cooking 60 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct 16:27.32 - This is one of the Declarative speech act 16:29.30 best things that sentence we've had so far 16:29.50 - [Graham Elliot] 16:30.80 Good job! 16:46.10 - [Graham Elliot] 16:46.80 Taylor, [Graham Elliot] Non-polar Direct 16:47.10 - What are you interrogative speech act 16:50.15 making to battle (standard for that apron? form) [Christina Tosi] 17:04.00 - *laughter* 17:06.00 [Graham Elliot] *laughter* 17:19.75 17:23.50 [Christina Tosi] Complex Direct It's a little Declarative speech act confusing to me, sentence those salmon curried flavors, 17:23.50 17:25.90 [Christina Tosi] but I also feel like it’s balls 17:24.60 - [Graham Elliot] 17:25.90 Yeah Short utterance 61 [Graham Elliot] Simple The level of action Declarative 17:27.20 - that Taylor's 17:31.40 bringing here, you Direct speech act sentence know, like it's game day 17:31.40 - [Graham Elliot] 17:32.20 He was ready 17:33.00 17:37.99 Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Graham Elliot] If Complex Direct you guys came to Declarative speech act change your lives, sentence you have five minutes to so [Christina Tosi] Simple Direct 17:40.59 - You can smell Declarative speech act 17:43.00 those blackening sentence spices 17:51.10 17:52.00 17:52.00 17:54.10 18:01.20 18:04.00 [Graham Elliot] Love it *smile* [Christina Tosi] Simple Direct Yeah, but she has Declarative speech act a lot to get done sentence [Christina Tosi] Complex Direct But if it’s not on Declarative speech act the plate, you sentence 62 Short utterance don’t have anything to taste 18:06.30 18:08.90 [Christina Tosi] Imperatives Direct Taylor, keep using short speech act going, keep going requests 18:16.70 - [Christina Tosi] 18:18.20 Great job, guys! 19:01.40 19:04.00 19:04.00 19:06.99 [Graham Elliot] Imperatives Direct Alright, Taylor using short speech act Let’s see requests [Graham Elliot] Complex Direct So salsa is one of Declarative speech act those things that sentence can show off some knife skills 19:06.99 19:08.99 19:08.99 19:10.19 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct So I'm looking at Declarative speech act the pineapple sentence [Graham Elliot] What's wrong with that? 19:11.49 - [Graham Elliot] A 19:12.90 little bit of the skin 19:16.00 19:18.80 Non-polar Direct interrogative speech act (standard form) Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Graham Elliot] Complex Direct The good thing Declarative speech act salmon's sentence 63 awesome, perfectly done 19:22.90 19:27.90 [Christina Tosi] I Complex Direct think that the Declarative speech act blackened rub on sentence the salmon for me is what just seals the deal in the flavor 19:27.90 19:30.20 19:30.60 19:33.80 I feel like I really Simple Direct understand your Declarative speech act flavor palate sentence It remains very Simple Direct clear the potential Declarative speech act that you have sentence [Christina Tosi] Short utterance 19:33.80 - Very exciting Head nod 19:35.80 Yeah *head nod* 20:44.67 20:47.67 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct Pink throughout, Declarative speech act strong pink sentence 21:07.25 - [Graham Elliot] 21:08.45 Salmon’s great 21:08.45 21:13.95 Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct The cook ah I Declarative speech act think Taylor's was sentence 64 a little more in that mid-rare, medium phase 21:13.95 21:15.45 [Graham Elliot] I Simple Direct think this is just a Declarative speech act little over sentence 21:18.15 - [Christina Tosi] 21:20.20 Oh that color I personally have Simple Direct 21:22.20 - never had a Declarative speech act 21:26.00 salmon curry sentence before But man, the Simple Direct 21:26.00 - sauce really Declarative speech act 21:29.30 delicious sentence Head nod *head nod* 21:40.90 21:42.50 21:46.30 21:48.30 22:01.00 22:03.50 [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct I'm going with Declarative speech act Taylor sentence [Christina Tosi] I Simple Direct gotta go with Declarative speech act Katrina sentence [Graham Elliot] Simple Direct Yeah, but I mean Declarative speech act the the cook on sentence Taylor's was perfect 65 Short utterance 22:03.50 - You can teach him 22:05.50 some stuff 22:05.50 22:09.20 Simple Direct Declarative speech act sentence [Christina Tosi] Simple Direct Yeah, but Declarative speech act Katrina's sentence personality on her plate 22:09.20 22:13.20 You can really Complex Direct gauge what her Declarative speech act potential is sentence 66 Short utterance APPENDIX 2: TYPES OF BACKCHANNELS In most studies that involve Backchannels, the researchers tended to categorize Backchanneling into two main types which were Verbal backchannels and Non-verbal backchannels Nevertheless, Sarom (2014) took a step further and divided these two types of Backchannel into smaller categories, namely Short Utterance, Short Question, Brief Restatement, Sentence Completion and Laughter Acknowledging the possibility and similarities of this research and the current paper, the researchers decided to adapt this method of categorizing for the purpose of detailed analysis However, a drawback of this reference material is that it is only available in PowerPoint-slide form, moreover, there is no access to the full written form of it, therefore, in order to clarify the information used in the current research, the researchers will interpret the slides as accurate as they could Noted that the examples used for clarification are extracted from Sarom’s 2014 presentation slides According to Sarom (2014), there are main types of Backchannels, they are Short Utterance, Sentence Completion, Short Question, Brief Restatement and Laughter In which: ● Short Utterance refers to very short and simple declarative sentences acted as backchannels For example: “I know”, “yes”, “right”, “okay” ● Sentence Completion is the short sentence which is used for the purpose of completing the previous saying by adding the missing information For example: A: “It actually goes from 170 billions.” 67 B: “To 270?” C: “To 270 billions per year.” ● Short questions are simple and short interrogative sentences For example: A: “I have to work tomorrow.” B: “Tomorrow?” ● Brief Restatements refer to sentences that contain the restated information from the previous sentence For example: A: “Yeah, she is nice” B: “Yeah, she is nice” ● Laughter, a non- verbal Backchannel, which refers to the movement of the mouth to express positive feelings 68 APPENDIX 3: SPEECH ANALYZER Speech Analyzer is a computer software for acoustic analysis of speech sounds of human language, which is a technology developed by SIL International The program is capable of performing fundamental frequency, spectrographic and spectral analysis, duration measurements, etc., with useful information such as tone, pitch (measured in Hz), and waveform (measured in percentage) The logo of the Speech Analyzer 69 An example of how Speech Analyzer functions 70 ... NGHIỆP NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG: NHỮNG SỰ KHÁC BIỆT TRONG DIỄN NGÔN KHÁC GIỚI TRONG CHƯƠNG TRÌNH VUA ĐẦU BẾP MỸ MÙA TẬP Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Vũ Minh Huyền Sinh viên: Bùi Thị Anh Thư Khóa: QH2 017 .F1.E22.PDCLC... 21 4 .1. 1 Declarative sentences 21 4 .1. 1 .1 Findings 21 4 .1. 1.2 Discussions 21 4 .1. 2 Interrogative sentences 22 4 .1. 2 .1 Findings ... ? ?Gendered speech differences in the American MasterChef episode season 6? ?? 1. 2 Statement of research problem & questions With the view to examining gendered speech differences in spoken data, the