Gender Differences in Paralanguage Use in the U.P. Manila Debate Circle

Abstract

Due to the growing interest in nonverbal cues, the studies on nonverbal cues were sliced into smaller more focused study on a specific nonverbal cue. Paralanguage is the nonverbal cue that deals with the characteristics of the delivery of speech. This study aims to evaluate the paralanguage employed in men’s speech, to evaluate the paralanguage employed in women’s speech, and to compare the paralanguage in men’s and in women’s speech in terms of the difference in intonation, in the volume of speech, in the speed of speech, in fluency, and in occurrence of deviation from standard articulation in men and women's language. The participants are the members of the UP Manila Debate Circle, a heterogeneous group of almost equal number of female and male members. All the members of the organization are students of the University of the Philippines Manila. The members of the organization evaluated each peer in the scale of 1 to 5 in terms of intonation, speed and volume of speech, fluency and articulation. The findings from these procedures are as follows: Intonation or Vocal Dynamics among men and women do not differ in the UP Manila Debate Circle. Both male and female debaters spoke at an average speed of speech during the debate. Volume of Speech varied. Male debaters spoke at a high volume while women debaters at an average. Female and male members of the organization employed flawless articulation. In general, there was no particular pattern of paralanguage use among male and female debaters.. From the data gathered, it appears that the differences are caused by individual differences rather than gender. The findings show that the differences are based on personality differences among the debaters rather than gender bases.