Introduction

 For my language investigation I am going to explore the differences between male and female language in Disney Films. This is clear by my hypothesis: ‘what are the differences between the language used by the main Disney male and female character (for example the hero and the heroine)?’

 I will mainly focus on transcripts from animated Disney films during the past 20 years therefore I will analysis the discourse within these spoken transcripts. I will gather data from the main male and female character from each film during similar scenarios. For example, an important scenario to consider will be when both characters have to work together in order to overcome/defeat the villain. Some of the films and characters I will discuss in my investigation will be Hercules and Meg from ‘Hercules’, Anna and Kristoff from ‘Frozen’ and Pocahontas and John from ‘Pocahontas’. I have chosen these particular characters as I think they represent the typical male and female characters Disney Films normally include plus these are all films from various time periods over the past 20 years.

 Whilst studying English Language at AS I became interested in the way both genders differ in the way they talk. As I am also interested in Disney Films, I thought this type of language investigation was appropriate for both my interests and the relevance it has towards the English language today. Some of the theorists I will include in my investigation will be the ones I learnt about during AS. These include Robin Lakoff, Deborah Tannen and Zimmerman and West. Within my investigation, I will be looking to prove and support existing theories such as the dominance model. This suggests that men interrupt more during male-female conversations.  I will also be looking more closely into the type of issues and contrasts Tannen brought up towards male and female language such as status vs. support and information vs. feelings. Therefore the main purpose of my investigation is exemplification as I plan to give additional examples of language used by both genders to see whether these theories work in a different context such as a Disney film.

 My investigation will be part of empirical research as the data I gather will be from direct observation.  My investigation will also be objective as the results I collect will not be from my own opinion. Furthermore, it will be synchronic as I will focus on the context and the variation of language between both genders.