Lead supervisor:
Dr Amanda Potts 
Other supervisor(s):
- Dr Chris Heffer
Start date: October 2025 (Full time)
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Linguistics and Bilingualism
Thematic Cluster:
Language, Learning and Behaviour Cluster
Learning to Talk the Language of Men? A Corpus-Informed, Critical Discourse Analysis of the Masculinisation of the Linguistic Styles of Women Teachtaí Dála in the National Parliament of Ireland
Women account for 22.5% of Dáil Éireann’s TDs. Past research suggests that if women politicians are to succeed, they must learn to speak like men do. This is not a new concept with Eleanor Roosevelt positing in 1928 that “if women believe they have a right and duty in political life today, they must learn to talk the language of men” (78–79). Using a systemic database of transcribed speech, I propose to investigate the linguistic styles of Ireland’s women politicians through a mixed methodological approach of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Drawing on language and gender studies this research will analyse how ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ the linguistic styles of these women TDs are, taking into account their respective time periods, using corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS). This study is expected to reveal significant patterns in how women TDs adjust their linguistic styles to fit the traditionally masculine norms of parliamentary discourse, in accord with previous research which suggests that “power speaks with a male voice” (Jones 2016: 636).
Bibliography
Jones, J. J., 2016. Talk “like a man”: The linguistic styles of Hillary Clinton, 1992–2013. Perspectives on Politics, 14(3), pp. 625–642.
Roosevelt, E., 1928. “Women Must Learn to Play the Game as Men Do.” Red Book Magazine, 50, pp. 78–79, 141–142. Available at: https://erpapers.columbian.gwu.edu/women-must-learn-play-game-men-do [Accessed 20 Oct. 2024].