Language and Gender

The notion that gender is neither fixed nor homogeneous but that it is ‘constructed’ in specific sociocultural, historical and situational contexts is not entirely new but has steadily increased its influence on language and gender theory, methodology and research. This chapter will capture some of the complexity, heterogeneity and even contradictory nature of gender performances that are at the core of the social constructionist approach to language and gender, with a particular focus on adolescents and young adults from a wide range of countries, including China, India, Ghana, Germany, Scotland, England and the United States. In this way, the chapter will be able to provide an overview of many important developments in the field at the same time as maintaining a clear focus and examining a selection of conversational data from an age range of speakers that will be of particular interest to many student readers of this handbook.