Complete 5 pages APA formatted article: Gender and Discourse. The author has analyzed conversational style and interaction differences at numerous levels and different situations. Largely, Tannen explores the two fundamental elements that created integrated coherence in any given conversation. These two elements are topical cohesion and physical alignment. Physical alignment entails the positions that individuals adopt during conversations. This might involve things such as how people sit in relative positions to their audience when talking and the maintenance of eye gaze (Tannen, 1994). On the other hand, topical cohesion entails ways in which people introduce and develop their topics regarding their manner of talking or that of their colleagues.

From the study analyzed by Tannen, it is noteworthy that the variation between boys and girls could be staggering or startling in terms of how the individuals handle their topical coherence or manage their body alignment. As in many such conversations, females often sit still, facing one another, with occasional glances and touching each other now and then. On the other hand, males are usually very restless, as seen in their fidgety movements and eye gaze. Older males tend to remain more in their physical appearance. However, they are more likely to spread out in their chairs than gather themselves within the space they occupy (Tannen, 1994). Furthermore, males do not often face each other during conversations and do not fix their partners’ gaze. When it comes to topical cohesion, Tannen’s analysis confirms earlier research studies that indicated that males encounter many difficulties in adapting themselves to the experimental conditions of sitting in composure and discussing important topics.

By observing the aspects of emergency coherence (topical coherence and physical alignment) among males and females of similar age, it is notable that there exist some gender-specific conversational styles. Even in today’s social environment, these patterns tend to remain relatively constant in all ages. For instance, in a recent group discussion on a personal development topic, it was noted that female members from different age brackets sat closely together, and at times seemed to align their bodies towards each other. When it came to the expression of opinion on several issues during the discussion, it was noted that most females displayed good eye contact, only showing a few occasional breaks in the gaze. When the time came for the male group members to present their views on different topics, most of them appeared to sit at inclined angles to the person who was moderating the discussion.