Jiexing He (Stephen)
48 Reading and Writing
Summary
March 3 , 2014

According to article, ”How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently”, published in Chronicle of Higher Education, June 19 2006 by Deborah Tannen, the author states that she persuades the education staffs should revaluate their teaching strategies. First, Deborah shows us some experiment by some professors in the beginning of the passage, which illustrate that boys tend to participate more in the classroom than girl and that because of the ritual opposition the girls don’t want to have, they tend to keep silence during the class. The author also explains the new term called ritual opposition. The ritual opposition is to explain that some people want to do something obeying the ritual. Subsequently, Deborah shows us two more examples in the classroom. She argues that the students ought to learn how to become an observer in the classroom especially the boys, moreover, the students should recognize that respect is a fundamental element in classroom. When they discuss topics in the classroom that the behaviors, which the students present, must understand they are not definitely the right one. The author also explains the new term called ritual opposition. The ritual opposition is to explain that some people want to do something obeying the ritual.

Response： From my point of view, I agree with the argument in reading passage that the boys prefer the debate-like formats rather than the silent in the classroom. According to my experience, boys intend to compete with each other in different situations. For example, when they are playing basketball, for fun is just part of the purpose, while being the victory is most of their desire. That’s why the amount of watching the sports games of the boys is more that of the girl. Moreover, it’s very easy to find that, as Deborah Tannen points out in the reading passage, “but ritual opposition is antithetical to the way most females learn and like to interact. It is not that females don’t fight, but that they don’t fight for fun. They don’t ritualize opposition”. Unlike the boys, the girls, who don’t like to answer questions or participate in the activities during the classes, keep silent and sit far away from the teachers in the classroom. Even though they know the communication such as discussion is a fundamental element