Investigating American and British English Language Variation  among Kufa University EFL Learners

Ali Muhammed Ridha Abdulwahid Smesim; Saif Abdulkareem Hadi Shaban; Hussein Awad Ibrahim

Ali Muhammed Ridha Abdulwahid Smesim University of Kufa, Faculty of Education
Saif Abdulkareem Hadi Shaban University of Kufa, Faculty of Education
Hussein Awad Ibrahim University of Kufa, Faculty of languages

Keywords: English language variation, American variety, British variety, Dialect, Idiolect, Sociolinguistics

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the variation of English language among English students. The study sample consists of two groups. The first group consists of 105 (male and female) students, fourth-year advanced Iraqi learners studying EFL at the Department of English at three faculties (Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Languages, and Faculty of Education) at the University of Kufa for the academic year 2023/2024. This group includes (35) students selected from the faculties mentioned above. The second group is a recording of (20) fourth-year students who have a degree of fluency in English and learned English in Iraq. A statistical analysis is employed to find students' most preferred language variety. The questionnaire data were analyzed using various statistical methods, including percentages and mean. The findings revealed that the students slightly prefer British English to American English.

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