GENDER DIFFERENCE INTHE USE OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH IN THE WRITINGS OF NIGERIAN UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

Gender variation in academic achievement has been a consistent discourse in the academia. This study investigates gender difference in the use of Nigerian in English in student’s writings. It specifically determines whether there are differences in the use of Nigerian English in the writing of the Nigerian undergraduates based on gender. The study which employed the ex-post facto design comprised a sample of sixty (60) first year students drawn purposively from the faculties of Management Sciences and Engineering of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria. The subjects consist of 32 males and 28 females who were also purposively chosen. Data were generated through essay writing which was administered on the students as part of their in-course assessment for the university wide course, ‘Communication in English’, coded GST 111. The generated data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics. The results of the study showed that there is a significant difference in the use of Nigerian English in the students writing based on gender with the male students using more of it. It was concluded that the male students do not conform to the standards of the target language in their writing as much as the females. Hence, continuous awareness creation about the need for students to conform to the target language standard in their writings was recommended.