Abstract:Gender difference in English language is a common social phenomenon. It is a fundamental fact of human life. Knowing something about this is significant for the communication between males and females. Gender as a social demarcation has had certain effect on language split. Some sociologists think gender is one of the most important social factors to using language. Then based on theories of some famous linguists, this paper will discuss the gender differences that manifest in phonology, vocabulary, syntactic structure and stylistic features from the sociolinguistic perspective. This discussion aims at making a scientific, accurate and objective explanation of the gender differences in language use. What’s more, the paper tries to elaborate on the essential factors influencing gender differences in language from physiological, psychological and social aspects.  If social attitude towards women changed for the better, the work to eliminate the gender differences in English language would be much easier and finally arrive somewhere.

Key Words: gender difference, sociolinguistics, English language

摘要：英语语言中的性别差异是一种普遍存在的现象，它是人类生活的基本事实。了解这一差异对于男性和女性之间的沟通有重要的意义。性别作为社会的划分，对语言的分支有一定的影响。一些社会学家认为，性别是使用语言的最重要的社会因素之一。本论文分别从音系、词汇、句法结构以及文体特征几方面，对男女两性在语言上的差异进行分析，并从生理、心理和社会三个角度揭示了造成两性语言差异的重要原因。最后提出如果社会对女性的态度有所提升的话，消除英语中性别差异将变得更加容易，并在某种程度上有所进展。

关键词：性别差异；社会语言学；英语语言