Investigating Gender-related Use of Language in Maghnia Speech Community

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the attitudes of Maghnia speakers towards using language following quantitative and qualitative methods. It tends to prove that the socio-cultural structure of Maghnia speech community affects deeply their use and construction of words and sentences. It shows that men differ largely from women in using language since they have created their own vocabulary due to their commercial contact. It also attempts to confirm that the attitudes of speakers are strongly related to the speakers’ age, gender, the educational background, identity and culture. Henceforth, the results show that women follow the rules that Maghnia society has imposed in terms of speech and behaviour. They also reveal that females are more conservative and represent the norms of this speech community.