Role of Age and Gender in Highlighting the Language Variation among EFL Students of University

Abstract

This study aims at highlighting the role of age and gender in language variation among EFL student of university (cause of Sudanese Khartoum Arabic). The descriptive analytical method was adopted; questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection which was administered to a sample of 60 university students drawn from 2nd and 3rd year students majoring in English language at the College of Languages in Sudan University of Science and Technology). The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The study revealed the following important results: age group plays a role in language variation in term of greetings and jargon as used in Sudanese Khartoum Arabic, gender (male –female) shape the use of Arabic language in terms of exclamation marks and pronunciation as used in Sudanese Khartoum Arabic. The research recommended that: government should adopt a project aimed at compiling all words of Sudanese Khartoum Arabic and design an encyclopedia, and in schools, universities, companies, should speak the formal Arabic language (official language),not Sudanese Khartoum Arabic.