English Language investigation: The differences in the ways that male and female reporters conduct themselves during sports interviews.

It has always been assumed (incorrectly), that men are more knowledgeable than women when looking at the topic area of sport. Both physically and pragmatically, men are thought to be superior to women when it comes to sport, even though there are sports that women tend to follow and play more than men themselves – for example Netball and Hockey. In the world that we live in today, gender stereotypes have a permanent place in conversations. Whilst these stereotypes are perhaps amusing or only used colloquially, they can still be deemed as offensive, arrogant and rude to a member of the targeted sex.

My language investigation challenges the social beliefs that people (typically men) hold about women when it comes to sport. To find out whether or not these claims are fact or just opinion, I will be analysing three interviews based on the sport of football.

After analysing the interviews of both the male and female reporter, I will then be able to see whether or not the knowledge of the two genders has an effect on the ways in which they conduct themselves.

I shall also be using my AQA English Language A2 textbook to research into specific theories and their creators, as well as information that I have obtained from friends and some family members.

Below is an insight into the two interviews that I will be analysing.

Interview 1:

The first interview that I will be analysing through transcription is one from the popular British football show, Match of the Day. The clip is from their 2010 World cup coverage, in which ex-footballer and pundit “Gary Lineker” speaks to members of his panel about the events of an England football match from the competition. The clip is exactly three minutes and twenty four seconds long, however I have only transcribed about two minutes worth of the discussion, because it was far too long.

Interview 2/3:

Whilst it may seem strange to analyse two interviews for the same reporter, I will explain my reasoning. Both interview two and three were conducted by the female reporter Gabby Logan, and were also taken from Match of the Day’s World Cup coverage. The reason as to why I have transcribed 2 interviews from Gabby Logan is because they are a lot shorter than the discussion that Gary Lineker lead with his panel – in terms of both duration and the

amount said by participants, which already seems to support the idea that “Women know less about football than men”. However, it will become a lot clearer as to whether or not the ideas of women and sport are flouted or supported.

Comparing the popularity of male and female football reporters:

In the world of sports journalism, there are plenty of names that are instantly recognisable throughout the world of football. Geoff Shreeves, Chris Kamara and Gary Lineker are among some of the most famous. As a method of instantly challenging the opinions of people when it comes to women and football knowledge, I made a list of both male and female football reporters that are currently working within the sport. I then showed the list to 5 of my friends and asked them to tick the names that they had heard of and to leave the less recognisable names blank – or alternatively to write yes or no in the box space given.

Below is an example of how the list looked when I provided it to my friends.

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male)Geoff Shreeves (Male)Chris Kamara (Male)Jim White (Male)Georgie Thompson (Female)Gabby Logan (Female)Natalie Sawyer (Female)Hayley McQueen (Female)

I sent a table to each of my five friends over email. Below are the results of each table.

Friend 1 – Dylan:

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male) YesGeoff Shreeves (Male) YesChris Kamara (Male) YesJim White (Male) YesGeorgie Thompson (Female) YesGabby Logan (Female) YesNatalie Sawyer (Female) NoHayley McQueen (Female) No

Friend 2 – Aaron:

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male) YesGeoff Shreeves (Male) YesChris Kamara (Male) YesJim White (Male) NoGeorgie Thompson (Female) NoGabby Logan (Female) YesNatalie Sawyer (Female) NoHayley McQueen (Female) No

Friend 3 – Paul:

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male) YesGeoff Shreeves (Male) YesChris Kamara (Male) YesJim White (Male) YesGeorgie Thompson (Female) NoGabby Logan (Female) NoNatalie Sawyer (Female) YesHayley McQueen (Female) No

Friend 4 – Ashley:

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male) YesGeoff Shreeves (Male) NoChris Kamara (Male) NoJim White (Male) YesGeorgie Thompson (Female) NoGabby Logan (Female) NoNatalie Sawyer (Female) NoHayley McQueen (Female) No

Friend 5 – Harry:

Name of reporter/pundit Are you familiar with them?Gary Lineker (Male) YesGeoff Shreeves (Male) YesChris Kamara (Male) YesJim White (Male) YesGeorgie Thompson (Female) YesGabby Logan (Female) YesNatalie Sawyer (Female) NoHayley McQueen (Female) No

Having analysed the data that I received from my friends’ contribution to the tables – out of the forty answers given, twenty three were “Yes”. Looking deeper into the data, only six of forty boxes that showed familiarity, only six of them were female reporters. The results are clearly more favourable to the male reporters than the females. The results speak numbers, as it is evident that the majority of popular football reporters tend to be male rather than female. This may not be mean anything outside of the contextual relevance of this investigation, but it seems as if the popularity of male reporters supports the idea of a lesser female knowledge. The reporters will need to be knowledgeable of the sport that they are working in. Men are typically interested in sport (and almost always football), so the percentage of male football reporters compared to females may be considerably higher.

However, the male interest in football may have had a huge effect on the amount of male reporters. The males may be seen as more likely to do research into the sport, because it naturally interests them. (I am not saying that this is true, but it is a possibility).

Transcript one – Gary Lineker.

Below is a transcript that I have produced from watching Gary Lineker’s debate with his panel from the Match of the Day analysis. Gary is joined by former footballers Alan Hanson, Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon. Before we even begin to look at the transcription of the clip, it is instantly noticeable that the entire panel is male. There is not one female person involved, which could suggest that the BBC would feel that male ex-footballers could provide a better insight into the match and its events, because unfortunately, male football offers much greater rewards than women’s football.

*Anything highlighted indicates a point of interest*.

Gary Lineker – The first game is not the ummm, be all and end all – but it’s certainly not the start that England would have wanted in terms of performance nor result.

Alan Hanson – Well I think it was just typical England at the World Cup, you errr, have ups and downs, highs and lows, laughter and tears… and that was all before half time. And ermm, you know, they got off to a dream start, scoring after 4/5 minutes with a great goal from Steven Gerrard… and then you’d think that England would tear the United States Apart from there… (3) You know, the more I come to the World Cup – the more I realise that you need possession to be successful… and England are a long way short of that.

Gary Lineker – Yeah, not a great night for Capello either really was it? Picks Green, makes a mistake. Picks Heskey, misses a sitter. Picks Milner… clearly not fit –

Alan Shearer – King… off hinges… (Sighs)… so it’s not been the best of days for them. They’ll win their next two games and qualify along with the USA I’m sure, but there is huge room for improvement (2). For me, playing 2 up front is too predictable and is too difficult to keep the ball up with extra men in midfield… and when they play this system, England don’t have the extra man in midfield. It does at times look very predictable from England… and for Heskey, for the most part he heald the ball up well, flicked it on well – but when the big chance comes along, you have to take those chances.

Gary Lineker – I mean, I know that you’ve spoken before the game (not just after it) about how you’d like to see Gerrard just behind Rooney (I think we all would), err Lee, do you concur?

Lee Dixon - Yeah after tonight’s performance I think Capello is putting a brave face on after the game like you would expect him to, it’s not doom and gloom, they have a point… I think the performance left a lot to be desired. Like Alan said – we gave the ball a lot against a not too brilliant team. But the USA made it difficult for us, but what a way to start a World Cup game, taking the lead early! However, we failed to capitalize on it, gave the ball away and didn’t create enough chances when they were in really good areas.

Gary Lineker – Okay, as you mentioned… perfect start for England – Steven Gerrard’s goal… terrific finish Alan.

Alan Hanson – It was! An ermm… what happens here is Heskey comes round the corner, Gerrard utilizes the space, it’s a great first touch and a great finish, Al.

Alan Shearer – Oh it’s a sensational finish, great first touch… and he actually takes this earlier and doesn’t give the goalkeeper a chance. And he’s actually bursting into that space, leaving the defenders behind… and he is a genius at doing that.

Lee Dixon – The more times you can get him in that position, playing off the front man… if he’s in that position, the more times you can get him round the box, the more chances he’ll create.

Alan Hanson – That’s by far his best position. You see him playing for Liverpool time after time, driving forward from the middle of the park… supporting the front man.

Gary Lineker –Right… well we have to talk about it (.) it was difficult to watch but (2)we have to watch it again. Let’s just start in the tunnel… looking at Robert Green. He looks very nervous.

Alan Hanson – Well Lee and I were discussing this earlier(.) is he in the zone or… or what exactly is it –

Gary Lineker – Yeah.

Alan Hanson – I was just thinking I’ve never seen anything like that in my life before. Alan, have you?

Alan Shearer – I mean to be fair to the guys in the tunnel, they were saying that he looked very nervous. Look at him there… he is motionless.

When analysing this transcript, one of the key features that could actually support this opinion, is the ways in which all of the interlocutors use both colloquial terms and jargon in the lexical field of football. As already highlighted, all of the pundits in the interview are male and have a stereotypical love for football. Because of this keen interest in the sport, as well as their long careers as footballers, they would have learnt all of the key terminology within the sport, as well as the words and phrases that shortened or even developed over the years – such as ‘keeper, which is short for Goalkeeper.

Examples of football jargon and colloquialisms that have been used include:

System – The way in which a team organises themselves.

Front man – A striker (Player who is at the head of the team formation).

Playing off – Meaning to be in the space between the midfielders and striker(s). This applies when there is a player who plays just behind the strikers, in a more attacking role than midfield players.

Keep the ball up – This means to keep possession of the ball whilst team mates find space in order to make passing easier.

Up front - The term which describes the general area of strikers on a football pitch.

The zone – A term used to describe a state of mind, in which the person is feeling confident and ready for a task that lies ahead of them.

The fact that the interlocutors in this interview can change the ways that they describe the match and still be understood shows that their knowledge of football and the lexis affiliated with the sport is of a high standard. When I say “Change the ways”, I am paying attention to the ways that the men can use both specific lexis and more colloquial terms (Or slang) to describe the events of the game. This shows a mutual and pragmatic understanding of football lexis and football slang between the men.

The showcase of different words and phrases used by the men in the interview demonstrate a superior knowledge of the sport, regardless of how much or how little women know about football. The way in which men conducted themselves for the interview is clear. The men can take a more laid back approach to the interview – as shown through the constant alteration between jargon and colloquialisms. The fact that all of the men are confident in their football knowledge makes talking about the sport seem natural and similar to a day to day conversation.

Another factor that I have noticed about the men in the interview is the way in which both questions and answers are longer than most standard interviews. This may be expected because of the debate styled layout of the interview, but the knowledge of the men in the interview is shown brilliantly through their answers.

“Lee Dixon - Yeah after tonight’s performance I think Capello is putting a brave face on after the game like you would expect him to, it’s not doom and gloom, they have a point… I think the performance left a lot to be desired. Like Alan said – we gave the ball a lot against a not too brilliant team. But the USA made it difficult for us, but what a way to start a World Cup game, taking the lead early! However, we failed to capitalize on it, gave the ball away and didn’t create enough chances when they were in really good areas.”

The paragraph above was taken from Lee Dixon’s utterance in the interview. As you can see from reading, Lee covers all previous areas of discussion from the interview in his answer. Furthermore, he does not give short answers. Each point he makes leads to another. For example – “The USA made it difficult for us, but what a way to start the game, taking the lead early”. In some other cases, reporters may have had a follow up question planned about the early goal in the game, after a question based on the difficulty that the USA caused. His football knowledge and the confidence that he has to keep the conversation alive proves that he has conducted himself in a relaxed manner, in which he can speak freely and confidently about the sport.

The MLU (Mean length utterance) of the conversation is very hard to work out, which is another interesting point to discuss. In Deborah Tannen’s theory of status vs support, mean are seen to be more interested in being dominant in a conversation than being supportive. This dominance is not always aggressive, but can sometimes just simply be a case of speaking more than the other. The reason as to why the MLU in this conversation is difficult to distinguish is because each of the interlocutors has a lot to speak about and a lot of time

to say it. The intrusion whilst they are speaking is minimal, because each of the men are aware of the knowledge that each other holds on football. It is evident through status vs support, that the men have conducted themselves in a way that assures they get their points across. For a gender that is stereotypically interested in football, it is understandable to see that they have a lot to say about football when questioned.

Transcripts 2/3

Below are the two transcripts of interviews that female reporter Gabby Logan has taken part in with footballers Robert Green and John Terry, after their World Cup match with the United States. The interview is just with each footballer at a time, so there are only two interlocutors.

*Anything highlighted indicates a point of interest*.

Gabby Logan and Robert Green:

Gabby Logan – Rob, what happened?

Robert Green – Uh, its uh… and interesting ninety minutes (2) uh, a lot of players from the Premier League, a lot of lads who we’ve played against earlier this season. So you know (.) it was a strange game in that respect because it didn’t feel like an international game… apart from the two names of the countries. It was a game that we were obviously looking to win (2) a game where we look at both ends of the pitch and say that’s where the game was decided. I’ve cost a goal which is obviously regrettable but something to bounce back from.

Gabby Logan - John Terry mentioned that it may be something to do with the ball (1) the flight of the ball?

Robert Green - Well it hasn’t helped. There’s been big issue in training with the lads (.) you have two palms that equal about a foot wide, maybe more in span and it’s hit the outside of my thumb (1) and I’m not that bad of a keeper to miss that. It’s an issue that’s come up in training and it’s an issue that’s going to come up in the games. But it’s not an excuse. It’s something that’s happened in life, but you except it and move on.

Despite not being particularly long, the transcript still speaks volumes. But one thing that has struck me as quite interesting is the fact that Gabby Logan’s questions are fairly short and only cover one real area of discussion. Whereas Gary Lineker reflects on comments made and then continues to ask the question about a different subject/matter. It is almost as if Gabby disregards whatever Robert Green has said to her when answering a question. Now, this could be due to a “lack of knowledge”, which leads to confidence not being as high as the men’s. In this scenario, Gabby may not have had enough knowledge on the

game itself, or the events that took place during it. This may mean that she has conducted herself to just ask questions and receive answers.

In this interview, the MLU is clearly with Robert Green as he starts gives long winded and detailed answers to Gabby. However, in terms of status vs support, Gabby is asking questions to Robert that invites him to answer with many words. Gabby has taken the support approach in this conversation, which is something that Deborah Tannen has claimed as typical of women.

In addition, after Robert Green answers a question about the match in general, Gabby Logan asks a completely unrelated question about something that a team mate had said to her. This question was not in any way related to the previous question, which shows that this was a question that Gabby had planned to ask regardless of the answer that Robert had given her. In contrast, Gary Lineker’s questions seem to be influenced by the answers that the other interlocutors give him. Gary’s knowledge of the sport has already been highlighted in this investigation. There is no doubt that his knowledge of the sport is the reason that he is able to create spontaneous questions that the other pundits can work from.

The reason that Gabby Logan may not have been able to create spontaneous questions for her interviewee is because she does not have pragmatic knowledge of the sport like Gary or the other pundits. Lineker was able to actually make his interview feel as if it was a conversation instead of a live TV broadcast.

Gabby Logan and John Terry:

Gabby Logan – John, it was a great start.

John Terry – Naa, great start. We aimed to start well. We saw the games before where we felt there was a slow tempo (.) so we thought that if we started well today then we’d get an early goal… and we did.

Gabby Logan – And then the first twenty minutes, the tempo was there (.) it did seem to drop off a bit though.

John Terry - Yeah I think after the goal naturally we sat back a bit (.) whereas we maybe should have tried to hunt the ball down more, press them and try and get the second goal (1) looking back in hindsight we should have done that.

Gabby Logan - And then of course (1) Rob Green’s mistake… what have you said to him?

John Terry - Naa look, listen, you know it could have happened to anyone umm (.) it’s disappointing but things can happen. We spoke about the movement of the balls (1) ummm, it’s just one of those things where we all have to concentrate (2) like I said, it could have

happened to anybody, but you know it always seems to happen to us (2) so hopefully that’s our one out the way. We’d rather it now than the later stages.

However, when we look at this transcript – we can see a few changes in the way the Gabby responds to John Terry’s answers. It appears that in this particular interview, one of John Terry’s answers actually helps Gabby Logan to create another question to ask. John Terry mentions a slow tempo to the game in his answer to the first question. Gabby Logan then asks Terry a question about the tempo of the game. She also then makes a point about the tempo of the game, which then invites Terry to give another answer.

This conversational behaviour flouts the stereotypical opinion that women have a lack of football knowledge. In terms of my investigation, it proves that the ways women conduct themselves before interviewing sports personalities can alter, but does not have anything to do with their football knowledge (How much or how little they know about football).