The Role of Gender and Personality Traits in Using Lexical Cohesion Devices in Oral Interactions

Abstract

In this paper, we studied lexical cohesion devices to define the role of gender and personality traits on using them in the speeches of the second grade students in elementary school. We have used survey method in questionnaire part and descriptive analysis in analyzing the obtained data. The number of students in our statical sample was 100, which was divided into 4 groups (each group was 25 students) according to gender and personality variables. The sample was chosen by cluster random sampling method. The students were divided into introverted and extroverted groups by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). In order to collect data, the researches took part in classrooms during the school year, and recorded the students’ voices.  Then their voices were transcribed to extract the used lexical cohesion. In data analysis, we used Wilcoxon math-pairs and Man Whitney U test according to the type of samples. The main purpose of this paper was to come to this conclusion that a general and bipolar judgment about the role of gender and personality traits in the studies of speech, especially in the study of using cohesion devices in discourses, is not true. So, this study, hesitated the general outcomes of some researches such as Hall who believed introverted students have more progress than extroverted in school, and Premuzic& Furham who believed extroverted students are more successful than introverted in class activities.

Keywords: gender, introversion, extroversion, cohesion devices, interaction