Gender Differences in Basic and Non-Basic Colour Vocabulary among English Education Students

Abstract

Language and gender have been widely examined in sociolinguistic research, yet gender-related differences in colour vocabulary remain an area that warrants further investigation, particularly among English language learners in the Indonesian EFL context. Previous studies have generally focused on colour naming or broader colour vocabulary, while less attention has been given to how learners retain or replace basic and more specific colour terms in everyday descriptive contexts. This study aims to identify the use of basic and specific/non-basic colour terms and compare patterns of colour-term usage between male and female students in the English Education Study Program at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Dwijendra University. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed. Data were collected through a questionnaire and colour-term elicitation task involving selected colour stimuli representing basic and specific/non-basic terms. Prior to data collection, participants completed a colour-vision screening to ensure their eligibility for the visual task. The findings indicate that basic colour terms were used relatively consistently by both gender groups, whereas specific colour terms showed greater variation. Female participants more frequently retained several specific colour terms, while male participants also demonstrated the use of specific terms for particular colours. These findings suggest that gender-related differences are more visible in lexical specificity than in basic colour-term use. The study contributes to sociolinguistic research by providing an EFL-based Indonesian context for examining gender and colour vocabulary beyond simple colour naming.