This study examined the stereotypes held by American native English-speaking students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) about gender and language. Captions from 14 cartoons in 1993 issues of "The New Yorker" magazine were used to elicit subjects' stereotypes. The issue of whether there would be a difference between male and female subjects with respect to the frequency with which they assigned a particular gender to the speaker of each caption was researched, as well as the reasons they gave for their decision to assign a particular gender to the speakers. Only those cartoons in which there were two adult characters and one line of speech were used. Using a two-way Chi-square, the researchers analyzed feedback from the subjects (n=20) based on a form on which the cartoon captions were listed. The subject responses were also analyzed in terms of the reasons that they gave for assigning a particular gender to each caption. In only one case was a statistically significant difference found for the frequency with which subjects assigned a particular gender to the speaker of a given caption. Some stereotypes held by both men and women about the way different genders use language were unexpected. Appended is the test instrument, chi-square calculations on frequency of gender, choice of speaker, and speaker choices. (Contains 11 references.) (CK)