Communication Matters I:
He Said / She Said: 
Women, Men and Language

 

One of two series of 14 college-level lectures produced by the Modern Scholar Series and distributed by Recorded Books.  Available for purchase at Barnes & Noble stores or on Recorded Books website. The lectures can also be downloaded from  iTunes.
 
This lecture series constitutes a college-level course on gender and language, presented in non-technical language and illustrated by real-life examples.   Lectures describe the patterns that tend to distinguish how men and women use language in their everyday lives, and the consequences of these differences (as well as similarities) for conversations and relationships between women and men.  The goal of this series, in addition to illuminating the patterns of women's and men's uses of language, is to enhance understanding of how language works in everyday life. 
 
Available for purchase at Barnes & Noble stores or on Recorded Books website.  Can also be downloaded on iTunes.

Communication Matters II:
That's Not What I Meant!: 
The Sociolinguistics of Everyday Conversation

 

One of two series of 14 lectures, each series constituting a college-level course, produced by the Modern Scholar Series and distributed by Recorded Books.  Available for purchase at Barnes & Noble stores or on Recorded Books website. The lectures can also be downloaded off iTunes.
 
This lecture series constitutes a college-level course introducing a linguistic approach to everyday conversation.  Presented in non-technical language and illustrated by real-life examples, the lectures draw on linguistics, or the scientific study of language, to show the many ways in which language has a profound effect upon human relationships. Tannen explains the aspects and implications of what she calls “conversational style”, including pacing and pausing, relative indirectness, tendency to use opposition, and many other linguistic features that come automatically when people converse.  By showing how language works and how our ways of communicating differ based on cultural influences such as ethnicity, regional background, age, class, gender, sexual orientation, and individual personality, this course yields a better understanding of ourselves and those with whom we have relationships.  This understanding also leads to improved communication and therefore relationships.

Available for purchase at Barnes & Noble stores or on Recorded Books website. Can also be downloaded on iTunes.