
Gender Differences in the Communication Styles of Vice-Chancellors: A Case Study of Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson and Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso
Issue: Vol.5 No.13 Issue Article 24 pp.2313-2327
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451324 | Published online 31st October, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This study explored gender differences in the communication styles of Vice-Chancellors in their investiture speeches. Adopting the Deficit Theory model, we compared the speeches of Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson (RAD), the current Vice-Chancellor (VC), and Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso (KOD), a former VC of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). The analysis reveals partial support for Lakoff’s (1975) gender-sensitive linguistic items. RAD’s exclusive use of rhetorical questions aligns with the linguistic item’s association with women’s language for persuasion. However, both Vice-Chancellors used adjectives and intensifiers, with RAD potentially employing them more frequently. Similarly, RAD used a higher number of adverbial clauses, particularly purpose clauses, suggesting a focus on relational aspects of communication. Interestingly, both VCs preferred postposed adverbial clauses, highlighting the need for caution in generalising the position of adverbial clauses as a gendered marker. Additionally, RAD’s language-mixing (English and Akan) emphasises the influence of factors beyond gender in communication. This study highlights the complexity of gendered language use, urging future research to consider broader speaker samples, specific language element functions, and social contexts in analysing gender differences in English syntax.
Keywords:, Gender differences, Communication styles, Investiture Speeches, Deficit Theory
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Esther Serwaah Afreh (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in English at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Generally, her research has been in syntax, semantics and in cognitive semantics.
Obed Atta- Asamoah is a graduate assistant in English at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. His research has been in syntax (grammar), semantics and in discourse analysis.
Afreh, Esther Serwaah & Obed Atta-Asamoah. “Gender Differences in the Communication Styles of Vice-Chancellors: A Case Study of Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson and Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.13 (2024): 2313-2327. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451324
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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