Do They Write Differently? Exploring Gendered Linguistic Differences in Academic Writings of Saudi Writers

Abstract

This study examines linguistic differences between male and female academic writing in Saudi Arabia, focusing on published research papers. Using Biber's multidimensional analysis as a model, the study examines both male and female authors' inherent lexical and grammatical preferences. A dataset of 20 research papers from each gender was tagged to analyze the linguistic features. ANOVA analyses were then conducted to identify patterns and variations. The research study provides interesting perspectives on the complex relationship between language and gender in academic settings. Though there are some similarities in the use of lexico-grammatical features between male and female research papers, noticeable differences suggest that gendered perspectives have an impact on scholarly writing. Both male and female research papers fall on the same polarity of the continuum across all five dimensions but with varying degrees. The findings suggest that male research writers tend to use more informational, explicit, and non-argumentative language while using less non-narrative and abstract discourse than their female counterparts. This study emphasizes how gender impacts the linguistic choices.