C-C-C Pattern SFL – ENGLISH PREPARATORY PROGRAM

WRITING C-C-C DEFINITIONS (C-C-C PATTERN)

C-C-C PATTERN FOR SIMPLE DEFINITION

Concept: The concept (or term) that we define

Class: Which category does the term (concept) belong to?

Characteristics: What makes it different from all other members of its class?

For example: Döner Kebab (concept) is a Turkish dish (class) which is made of cooked meat on a
vertical rotisserie (grill). (characteristics)

WHAT ARE THE QUESTION TYPES FOR DEFINITIONS?

For example: Who is an introvert?

How do you define an introvert?
Describe/define introvert
Write a definition of introvert
 An introvert (concept) is a person (class) who is shy, reserved, thoughtful and quiet.
(characteristics)

DESCRIBING OBJECTS / THINGS

Pattern: A---(concept)--- is a -(class)--- which/that------------(characteristic)-------------

For example: A mouse is a small device which/that you use to move a cursor on your computer
screen.
DEFINING PEOPLE

Pattern: A---(person)--- is a -(class)--- who------------(characteristic)-------------

For example: A manager is a trained person who is responsible for supervising staff and tasks.
DEFINING PLACES

Pattern: A---(place)--- is a -(class)--- where------------(characteristic)-------------

For example: A library is a place where there are a lot of interesting books.

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 DESCRIBING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
Comparisons and contrasts are usually used to support claims about the nature of things. Most
university writing examination prompts require students compare / contrast X with Z as an end itself
as seen in the following examples. These prompts usually require students to compare people,
concepts, ideas, human acts & events, works of art and so on.

Typical ways of framing compare/contrast questions

What is the difference between **** and ****? Differentiate between **** and ****.
Describe/discuss differences between **** and ****. Distinguish among these concepts:
What was the nature of **** as differentiated from ****? Compare **** to ****.
Explain the difference between **** and ****. Contrast **** with ****
Write a response comparing **** and ****. How does **** contrast with ****?
Contrast the differences between **** and ****. How do **** differ in ****?

Points of similarity or difference

The initial comparison in an argument must be followed by at least one statement that names points
of similarity or difference. A point of similarity then amounts to two claims that make the same
statement about their subjects. For example:
Turkish culture is like Japanese culture.

Both Turkish and Japanese cultures have interesting non-verbal communication.

Claim 1: Turkish culture has interesting Claim 2: Japanese culture has interesting
non-verbal communication. non-verbal communication.

American Culture is not like Japanese culture.

American Culture is characterized as a low-context culture but Japanese culture is characterized as a

high-context culture.

Claim 1: The spoken or written message is Claim 2: Non-verbal clues are important for
Japanese. important for Americans.

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Some common language used to compare and contrast
Describing similarities (Doyle, Morley & Pople, 2007)
a. Adjectives:
The mode of processing used by the right brain is similar to that use by the left brain.
The mode of processing used by the right brain is comparable in complexity to that used by the left
brain.
The mode of processing used by the right brain and that of the left brain are similar.

b. Nouns
There are a number of similarities between young children’s L1 acquisition and adults’ L2 learning.

c. Connectors
Young children learning their first language need simplified, comprehensible input. Similarly, low
level adult second language learners need graded input supplied in most cases by a teacher.

d. Other structures
Both young children’s L1 acquisition and adults’ second language learning generally take place in a
safe environment.

Describing differences
a. Adjectives:
Oral cultures are different from literate cultures in a number of respects.
Oral cultures are unlike literate cultures with respect to notion of time.

b. Nouns
There are a number of very important differences between literate cultures and oral cultures.

c. Verbs
Oral cultures differ from literate cultures in a number of important ways.
Oral cultures and literate cultures differ with respect to notions of time/ as far as notions are
concerned.

d. Conjunctions
Oral societies tend to be very anchored in the present, whereas literate societies have a very definite
awareness of the past.
While it is very difficult to get away from calendar time in literate societies, many people in oral
communities have little idea of the calendar year of their birth.
It is very difficult to get away from calendar time in literate societies. In contrast, many people in oral
communities have little idea of the calendar year of their birth.
In contrast to people in literate societies, many people in oral communities have little idea of calendar
time.

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You can also make use of the following chart for comparing and contrasting:

Adjectives Subordinators Connectors Prepositions other

better despite also in contrast to either

best although and in spite of too
different from though conversely instead of then
less than even though however or
like while on the contrary both
more than whereas on the other hand
most however otherwise
opposite rather still
same yet
similar to but
worse nevertheless
worst
half

Exercise: Read the assigned text and analyze the content and text organization by answering the
questions.

Perceptions of Assertiveness as a Function of Tag Questions

1.Men and women have a tendency to speak differently (Lakoff, 1975; Tannen, 1990). Men tend to be more
aggressive speakers than women (Haas, 1979; Poynton, 1985) and women tend to be more polite (Haas, 1979;
Newcombe, Arnkoff, 1979). Because of these differences, perceptions of assertiveness of the speaker may be
affected. Women tend to be judged lower in assertiveness than men (Lakoff, 1975). However, these
perceptions may be affected by the form of speech used (i.e. use of tag questions, hedges, or compound
requests) and it may have nothing to do with the gender of the speaker. Tag questions are statements added
onto declarative sentences that turn them into questions. For example, a tagged statement could be “It’s hot
outside, isn’t it?” Hedges are words added to a statement such as “y’know”, or “kinda”. Compound requests
turn ordinary commands such as “Open the door” into a more polite form “Could you please open the door?”

2.The speech style of women was first termed “Women’s Language” by Lakoff, but has since been changed to
powerful/powerless speech styles (Weatherall, 1998). Powerless speech styles include hesitancy and
tentativeness, politeness, tag questions, hedges and compound requests while in powerful speech styles these
are absent. Therefore, powerful speech style does not use any form that could make the speaker seem less
assertive. The designation of powerful speech typically goes to men, while powerless typically goes to
women. This designation usually occurs because when studied, women use most of the forms found in the
powerless speech style. However, these designations may be inaccurate because it may be the situation that
determines the form used in speech.

3.Early studies on gender differences in conversation focused on differences between male and female
speech, but later studies assumed stronger influence of other factors such as situation and setting. Crawford
and Chaffin (1987) found that “women’s language” (powerless speech style) is consistently present during
specific types of experiments. It can be seen that powerless speech style reflects discomfort or self-
consciousness with a task. Wheelan and Verdi (1992) showed that powerless speech type is actually used by
both genders. McMillian, Clifton, McGrath and Gale (1977) found sex differences in speech but attribute them
to the situation participants were placed in. Powerless speech style tends to appear when one is
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uncomfortable with a task, or has little control or power over a task. When power is absent, one may become
uncomfortable performing the task, and may end up speaking in a powerless style.

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 4.There are three theories of gender differences in conversation relative to the powerful/powerless speech
style. The first theory of gender differences in conversation comes from Tannen (1990) in which she states
,that men are more comfortable with public speaking, where as women are more comfortable talking in
private. Tannen terms this report/rapport talk, where men tend to use report talk (public speaking) and
women use rapport talk (private conversations). This theory does not support the idea that women are
inherently non-assertive, but it does support the idea that men and women speak differently, although those
differences are not necessarily a bad thing (Tannen, 1990).

5.The second and third theories on gender differences in conversation are similar to each other in that they
point toward genetic and biological reasons for differences in conversation styles (Cameron, 1997; Monroe,
1995). Research from the Institute of Child Health in the UK has pointed to genetic factors contributing to
language differences. A study involving girls with Turner’s Syndrome (one X chromosome instead of two),
girls without Turner’s Syndrome, and boys without genetic defects found that girls without Turner’s
Syndrome tended to have higher social cognition. They tended to interrupt less, and were better able to
assess the anger level of someone else. The actual chromosome (or piece of it) was not identified, but
substantial evidence pointed to the conclusion that there may be a genetic factor involved in gender
differences in communication (Cameron, 1997).

6.The third theory states that biological factors may account for gender differences in communication. There
is evidence that the male and female brains are substantially different, in that the corpus callosum (the nerve
that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain) are different sizes for men and women. This
difference may decrease the speed that information moves from left to right (or vice versa) in men compared
to women. Other evidence points to hormones as a reason for differences in communication between the
genders. Girls, except for those high in testosterone, always played with typical feminine toys (dolls, houses,
and kitchens) whereas the girls high in testosterone followed the boys’ lead, by playing with trucks and cars
and blocks. Both females and males produce testosterone, but males produce a much higher level. The girls
who played with the typical masculine toys had a level of testosterone rare for girls, and more closely
resembling the male level of testosterone. Both sets of girls had equal ability in regard to communication
(Monroe, 1995). All of the above examples provide possible explanations for gender differences in
conversation. Because of these possible reasons for gender differences in conversation, it is conceivable that
the frequency and reasons for use of tag questions by men and women may be significantly different.

7.The use of tag questions by men and women is under dispute by researchers. Tag questions ask for
listener agreement with a statement and blunt the force of a declarative statement, thus suggesting less
assertion. Dubois and Crouch (1975) found that men used tag questions more than women, but the number
of participants and the time spent talking by each participant was not reported, therefore the conclusions of
the study were unclear. However, it has been shown that tag questions are used differently by men and
women (Holmes, 1984). Women seem to use them to invite discussion, where men use them to confirm
their own views; they give you no choice but to agree with them. Even though use of tag questions is under
dispute, gender role stereotypes greatly influence the way men and women speak, as well as the perceived
assertiveness of the speaker.

8.Gender role stereotypes still influence everyday interactions, and play a role in social encounters.
Stereotypes greatly affect the decisions made when guessing speaker gender in transcribed speech (Ferber,
1995). Experimenters who ask participants to read a transcribed speech and guess the gender of the speaker
usually find that when tag questions are inserted, the majority of the participants will say that the gender of
the speaker was female. This may be a result of gender stereotypes; because people assume that women
use powerless speech styles and men do not. Researchers have attempted to determine if different speech
patterns affect person perception (Newcombe & Arnkoff, 1979) but not in the area specific to tag questions
and assertiveness (Culberson, 2002).

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Exercise
1. What is the text about?
The difference between men and women's speech tendencies .

2. Outline the main similarities & differences regarding speech style between men & women. ?

men women both causes

perception of
assertiveness
speech style

public vs. private

speaking
genetic factors

biological factors

use of tag questions

3. Write a short paragraph about the main similarities & differences regarding speech style
between men & women. Use at least two categories from the chart on the previous question and
some common language to compare and contrast (pages 3, 4).

One of the biggest difference is men are more aggressive than women. However, the
reason for this chromosomes. Because the Y chromosome makes a person more
angry and hard. But sometimes testosterones are also effective. some women can
be as aggressive as men. Because of testosterones. testosterone is a hormone
common in men and women. But sometimes it can be secreted too much in women
so women talk like men.