Gender differences in the use of English in Nairobi

Abstract

Engsh is a peer code used by the youth in Nairobi. This study is an investigation of the gender differences in the use of Engsh in Nairobi. The study is within the field of sociolinguistics and has adapted social psychological and social dialectology theory. The research problem focused on differences in the speech of boys and girls in Nairobi with a focus on the syntax, phonology and the lexicon. The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one gives background information of the study and it includes: statement of the problem, background to the code, research objectives, hypothesis, rationale and limitations of the study. Theoretical issues, review of related literature and research methodology are also highlighted here. Chapter two dwells on reasons why boys and girls develop different speech characteristics in Nairobi. It establishes that boys and girls are socialized differently in the city giving rise to different sub-cultures. Besides, this society and culture assigns different roles for the two genders and has different expectations of them. Chapter three gives a general overview of the Engsh structure and tries to draw a comparison between the syntactic structure and phonology of the boys and that of girls. Chapter four establishes that the lexical items used by the boys is different from that used by the girls. it's main focus is on directness, indirectness, euphemisms and taboo words. The chapter also looks at how the two genders encode lexical terms to devalue or derogate each other. Chapter five provides a summary of research findings and conclusion by relating our findings to the objectives and hypothesis of the study .