Contesting the existence of male speech stereotypes within the communicative context of nursing: a case of Bonda mission hospital, Zimbabwe

This article reported the findings of a case study carried out on 3 male nurses at Bondamission hospital in Inyanga, Zimbabwe. The paper tested the applicability of malespeech stereotypes to the communicative context of nursing. It investigatedoccupational discourse of male nurses specifically looking at the linguistic feature ofhedging. The aim is to find out how males linguistically behave in the domain ofnursing. Data was collected through audio recorders and interviews were used toestablish the functions of hedges as used by the male nurses. This study employed theCommunity of Practice approach in explaining linguistic behaviour. Findings from thestudy revealled that in contrast to existing speech stereotypes that men are authoritative,commanding, harsh and not polite, male nurses in this study were found to use hedgesto mitigate orders, commands and requests, to signal collaboration andcooperativeness, to maintain a relationship of solidarity, to maintain a relationship ofcloseness, and for politeness reasons. Conclusion drawn from the research therefore is that male speech stereotypes are not applicable to the communicative context of nursingand that linguistic behaviour is governed by the context of use and not necessarily gender.Key Words: Community of Practice, Gender, Hedging, Linguistic Behaviour, Stereotyp