Gender differences in conversational style among EFL learners the case of the third year students of english at mohamed seddik ben yahia universityu-jijel

Abstract

Language variation, according to gender, has long been established as a working principle and a major social factor in sociolinguistic investigations. The aim of this research is to examine the differences between the speech of males and females in the university of Mohamed seddik ben Yahiya-jijel and to attempt to figure out some reasons behind these differences. Responses to the questionnaire that was administered to 60 third year EFL learners at Mohamed Seddik ben Yahia University-Jijel and a video from a TV show confirm or refute the assumption that males and females’ speech is different. The results obtained revealed that despite the fact that language for both men and women is acquired at the same age, in the same circumstances and following the same stages, its use differs for both sexes and each sex uses a language vocabulary according to their gender, in addition to specific styles. By this it can be said that the assumption is confirmed