Slang Research Paper

8/9/2019 Slang Research Paper

1/14

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

FACULTY OF ENGLISH

STUDENT RESEARCH PAPER

REVIEW OF AMERICAN SLANG AND SOME

SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE

THE ENGLISH LEARNERS ABILITY OFLISTENING ABOUT SLANG IN THE FACULTY

OF ENGLISH-HNUE

STUDENT : QUACH HAI YEN

CLASS : K60C

HANOI, 4!0"!

0


2/14

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

I.1. Background to the study.....2

I.2. Aims of the study....3

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

II.1. Some thoughts on slang.3

II.2. The classification of slang.4

II.2.1. Slang s. !argon...4

II.2.2. Slang s. Argot4

II.2.3. Slang s. "ialect..#

II.2.4. Slang s. $ollo%uial language.............#II.3. Slang &ord formation#

III.3.1. $om'ounding.#

III.3.2. $li''ing..(

III.3.3. Blending.(

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

III.1. Su)*ects of the study....+

III.2. "ata collection instruments..+

III.3. "ata collection 'rocedures...,

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

I-.1. indings and discussions..,

I-.2. Im'lications for teaching and learning of slang.../

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION.10

REFERENCES...11

APPENDI#.12

1


3/14

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

I$"$ BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

According to the definition of the ford Adanced earners "ictionary

+thedition5 200#65 slang is usually used as collo%uial &ords and 'hrase. It

cannot )e regarded as Standard78nglish5 thus this sho&s that5 slang is

9onstandard78nglish. :o&eer5 slang is ery 'o'ular in the 8nglish7

s'eaking countries no&adays. Slang is s'oken )y 'eo'le in daily s'eech5

and een maga;ine and literary &orks may find a large num)er of them.

the language has eisted in

close contact &ith culture. Americans s'eak colorful5 idiomatic 8nglish that

may hae little resem)lance to the language that students studied in school.

8en a natie 8nglish s'eaker might )e confused )y the com)ination of

slang that characteri;es American conersation. So it is ery im'ortant to

ca'ture the American slang e'ression in order to kno& others correctly.

I$!$ AIMS OF THE STUDY

8nglish learners around the &orld hae a lot of difficulties in listening

eercises like dialect5 reduced forms of &ords5 academic or )usiness issues5

)ut 'erha's the most confusing and com'licated 'ro)lem is listening to

2


4/14

slang and figure out its meaning. So &hy do 8nglish learners find it

unmanagea)le &hen they come across a slang in a &hole sentence?

As &e kno& slang is defined )oth as a grou'7related ariety and as an

informal oca)ulary of more general use. It is characteri;ed )y many etra7

grammatical formations &hich distinguish it from standard7 8nglish5 )ut also

)y formations &hich conform to regular 'atterns. Besides5 it is ie&ed as a

com'le leical system on account of the difficulty it entails in cognitie

'rocessing and meaning disam)iguation. Slang commonly oerla's &ith

other non7standard arieties such as cant5 *argon5 dialect5 or een &ith )ad

language. All of these are unfamiliar to 8nglish learners around the &orld

)ecause slang is not directly taught in their learning 'rograms )ut someho&

it still a''ears in the tests5 een though its a''earance is rare.

Therefore5 the aim of this research is to im'roe the 8nglish learners

a)ility of listening a)out slang and from that they &ill gradually gain their

kno&ledge a)out it and feel confident &heneer they come across a slang&ord. In the rest of the research &e &ill discuss a)out the classification of

slang5 slang &ord7formation5 the methodology then the discussions of the

findings of the study.

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

II$"$ SOME THOUGHTS ON SLANG

@Slang is the 'oetry of eeryday life.

7S. I. :ayaka&a5Language in Action5 1/41

@I shall inent a ne& game> I shall &rite )its of slang and 'oetry on sli's

and gie them to you se'arate.

7eorge 8liot5Middlemarch5 1,+1

@Slang is language &hich takes off its coat5 s'its on its hands 77 and goes

to &ork.

7$arl Sand)urg as %uoted in $rystal1,26

@Slang is humanityCs first 'lay toy.

7!ohn Algeo5 Dniersity of eorgia 'rofessor

@Slang5 at its &orst5 it is stu'idly coarse and 'roocatie. At its )est5 it

makes standard 8nglish seem 'allid.

7!. 8. ighter5 chief editor ofRandom House Historical Dictionary of

American Slang

3


5/14

II$!$ THE CLASSIFICATION OF SLANG

II$!$"$ S%&'( )*$ +&('

!argon is terminology &hich is es'ecially defined in relationshi' to a

s'ecific actiity5 'rofession5 grou'5 or eent. !argon refers to a set of terms5

idioms5 and conce'ts &hich are shared )y 'eo'le &ith a similar interest. In

other &ords5 the term coers the language used )y 'eo'le &ho &ork in a

'articular area or &ho hae a common interest. As an eam'le5 the &ords

RAM, bit, byte, CPU, and hexadecimal are *argon terms related to

com'uting5 or end one, goal linehand!off, "ic"off, loose ball or offsideare

eam'les of oot)all *argon.

Euch like slang5 *argon can deelo' as a kind of short7hand5 to e'ress

ideas that are fre%uently discussed )et&een mem)ers of a grou'5 though itcan also )e deelo'ed deli)erately using chosen terms. But slang differs

from *argon in its lack of 'restige and 'retentiousness. The truth is that slang

terminology is more 'o'ular and familiar than the technical *argon of

)usiness5 foot)all5 la&5 science5 etc.

II$!$!$ S%&'( )*$ A(.

Argot or cant is a s'eciali;ed oca)ulary5 set of idioms or a secret language

used )y a 'articular social class or grou'7 es'ecially one that functions

outside the la&7 to 'reent outsiders from understanding their conersations.

Still5 argot is not the same as slang. Slang is more &ides'read than argot5

and it tends to s'read %uickly and metamor'hose as it is used.

II$!$/ S%&'( )*$ D&%12.

"ialect is a ariety of a language that is distinguished from other arieties

of the same language )y features of 'honology5 grammar5 and oca)ulary5

and )y its use )y a grou' of s'eakers &ho are set off from others

geogra'hically or socially. Therefore5 slang is not geogra'hically restrictedlike dialect. "es'ite its local 'eculiarities5 slang is not necessary associated

&ith one region or social class. Some slang &ords are of more general use or

they ha''en to )e understood )y 'ractically anyone &ithin the language

community. or instance5 this is the case &ith &ord like nerd an

insignificant or socially ine't 'erson6 or the &ord crac"ers insane5 cra;y65

4


6/14

although they may not )e acce'ted as 'ro'er American 8nglish or British

8nglish6 &ords.

II$!$4 S%&'( )*$ C%%3&% %&'(&(1

$ollo%uial language5 es'ecially in 'hiloso'hy of language5 is natural

language &hich5 among other 'ro'erties5 uses collo%uialisms. Slang is

largely collo%uial. It )elongs to the s'oken 'art of language and is rarely

&ritten ece't in the direct %uotation of s'eech. But not all collo%uial &ords

or e'ressions are slang. or eam'le5shut u#&hich means )e %uiet or talk

no more6 is often used in dialogue and it is not slang. ike&ise5 not all

&ords &ith informal connotations are necessary slang such as limo for

limousine5

lea"for unauthori;ed disclosure5 decaffor decaffeinated coffee or $arm! u#

for clothing &orn to kee' the muscles &arm )efore or during eercise.

II$/$ SLANG WORD-FORMATION


7/14

%ell out @rela )y doing nothing5 lay out @ sun)athe5 rag out @ )ecome

tired5 roc" out@ 'lay music loudly5 tang out@ a)andon5 'ut an end to5

!out@go to slee'5#hase out@)ecome una&are5 as if aslee'5 etc.

II$/$!$ C%'(

The most fre%uent 'attern of cli''ing is the loss of sounds from the ends of

&ords. The most common 'attern is )ack7cli''ing5 in &hich the )eginning

of a )ase leeme is retained labfrom la)oratory5 exam from eamination5

doc from doctor5 #o# from 'o'ular music5 oo from ;oological garden6.

ther 'atterns are fore7cli''ing5 in &hich the final 'art of the &ord is

retained #honefrom tele'hone5 chutefrom 'arachute5#i"e from turn'ike,

gator from alligator65 middle cli''ing in &hich the middle 'art of the &ord

is retained flufrom influen;a5 tec from detectie65 and com'le cli''ing or

cli''ed com'ounds in &hich one 'art of the original com'ound most oftenremains intact cablegramfrom ca)le telegram5 o# art from o'tical art5org!

manfrom organi;ation man6.

$li''ing is also common in slang. They are 'rimarily shortenings of nouns

and ad*ectiesG co"e from cocaine5 cred from creditcredi)ility5 crim from

criminal5fa&e from faorite, hy#er from hy'eractie, bro from )rother5#ed

from 'edestrian5 rehabfrom reha)ilitation5s"ellfrom skeleton5scally from

scally&ag5 etc.

II$/$/$ B%1'7'(

Blending is a com)ination of shortening and com'ounding5 the 'rocess of

)lending 'uts together 'ieces of &ords and their meanings. Thus brunch is

formed from brea"fast and lunch and means @a meal that com)ines )reakfast

and lunch.

Blending slang though is not much )ut they are still 'o'ular in usedG )uel

)ody F fuel6 @ to eat oraciously5 droned drunk F stoned6 @ una&are

)ecause of alcohol or drugs5 froyo fro;en yogurt65 'olislide 'olitical

science F slide6 @ easy 'olitical science course5 etc.

(


8/14

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

III$"$ SUB+ECTS OF THE STUDY

rom the )eginning of the research5 I hae )een trying to make an as7

s'ecific7as 'ossi)le reie& of slang5 &hich is a ne& and interesting su)*ect

in learning 8nglish. $onse%uently5 I hae gathered and clarified the

materials and information from different sources in order for readers can

hae the general kno&ledge of &hat slang is5 ho& slang is classified5 and

&hat they are like5 etc. The su)*ects of my study are the so'homores7&ith a

total u' to ,0 'eo'le7 &ho are studying in aculty of 8nglish5 :9D8. They

hae a little kno&ledge of American slang and also an unam)iguousconce'tion of this matter. :ence5 I consider them the useful as &ell as the

)est su)*ects for me to do my small research on American slang and ho& to

im'roe the 8nglish learners a)ility of listening a)out slang in the aculty

of 8nglish.

III$!$ DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

To attain my aim in collecting data5 I carried out a surey including ,%uestions to find out the kno&ledge and understanding of American slang of

the so'homores in the aculty of 8nglish as &ell as their o'inions orsuggestions a)out ho& to im'roe the 8nglish learners a)ility of listening

a)out slang. I find %uestionnaire the most useful and non7time consuming

tool collect data from such a huge grou' of 'eo'le. In the %uestionnaire5 first

4 %uestions are designed to find out ho& students can distinguish slang

&ords from normal &ords. The net 2 %uestions are designed for researcher

to kno& ho& students can figure out the meanings of slang &hen they come

across sentences consist of slang. The net %uestion is for researcher to

kno& )y &hich factors students can figure the meaning of slang. The last

%uestion is to ask students suggestions a)out ho& to im'roe 8nglishlearners a)ility of slang listening.

III$/$ DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

The total num)er of sureys I collected from so'homores in aculty of

8nglish &as (# sureys. I &ould ery highly a''reciated if the freshmen5 the

+


9/14

*uniors and the seniors could hel' me &ith their 'recious o'inions or

suggestions to do the surey5 )ut &hile I &as carrying out this surey5 the

freshmen &ere on their &ay to start their ne& studying enironment so

may)e their understanding &as still limited5 and )oth the *uniors and the

seniors &ere at their 'ractical teaching in some high schools &here &ere far

a&ay from our uniersity so I can only delier the surey to the so'homores.


10/14

Slang has *ust )een introduced to the so'homores in the aculty of 8nglish

through the ty'e of reduced forms of &ords likegotta get to65 $anna&ant

to6 orgonnagoing to65 etc5 in the tet)ook of Interactions 2 &hich &e are

studying. rom the conse%uence of my surey5 there are some reasons &hich

e'lain &hy my su)*ects feel confused and hard &heneer they hear a)out

slang all of a sudden. irstly5 reduction is only a ery small 'ortion of this

)ook and it is also taught in an entirely short 'eriod of time at class.

Therefore5 students are una)le to hae a &ide kno&ledge of slang. Secondly5

the form of slang is a difficult matter to students on account of its strangely

isual as'ect. inally5 slang is not straightly mentioned in the tet)ook. It

only 'resents a glance at reductions &hich included in slang and it also does

not clear state a)out the definition of slang together &ith its form. In )rief5

for these ery reasons students hae little 'erce'tiity and understanding of

slang as &ell as a lot of them find it inconceia)le to learn. And these

findings lead to some im'lications for teaching and learning slang in theaculty for students can )etter their listening a)ility so that they can feel

sell7confident &hen listening to slang as &ell as the natie s'eaker.

IV$!$ IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING OF

SLANG

IV$!$"$ FOR TEACHING

2.1.1. Introducing a fe& short slang lessons at eery class in a short 'eriod

of time for students can hae a )asic kno&ledge of slang.

2.1.2. Identifying the reduced forms in general and slang in 'articular

2.1.3. Interactions &ith students during the lesson.

2.1.4. iing &eekly slang eercises to students so that they can 'ractice

more at home.

IV$!$!$ FOR LEARNING

2.2.1. Students should learn )y heart some )asic forms of slang for natie

s'eakers often use slang a lot &hen making conersations.

/


11/14

2.2.2. Besides )eing taught at class5 students need to 'roide reasona)le time

for self7studying at home. Since the 8nglish language contains a rich amount

of slang &ords and 'hrases5 &hat they learn at school is neer enough.

2.2.3. Students should )e a&are that there is a large olume of slang they

encounters through the media such as teleision5 film and 'ress5 &hich

inaria)ly increase their references 'oints so )esides self7studying from

materials gien )y teacher5 students should learn more a)out slang )y

&atching these materials from a)road sources.

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION

Although I hae tried my )est to carry out my research5 I reali;e that there

are still some limitations in this research )ecause of the shortage of materials

and information and the time constrains.

F The Internet is my 'rimary source for gathering materials for slang is still

a ne& matter in listening skill so it &ill not hae enough logical information

for the research.

F or I only )ase on students 'oint of ie&5 not any teachers o'inions5

some of my traits in this research may not make readers content &ith it.

In a nutshell5 this research mentions a reie& of slang5 to )e more s'ecific it

sho&s readers a glim'se into slangs definition together &ith its

classifications and &ord7formations. Besides introducing slang to readers5

this research also discusses a)out some im'lications for slang teaching and

learning in the aculty of 8nglish5 :9D8. I ho'e that &hen readers7

es'ecially students7 finish reading this research 'a'er they &ill hae a ne&

thought and 'erce'tion of slang learning as &ell as they &ill reali;e the

im'ortance of slang &hen making conersations &ith natie s'eakers. In my

last s'eech5 I ho'e that I hae made readers someho& feel satisfied &ith my

research 'a'er een though it has some mistakes and limitations and from

that I e'ress my desire to carry out another further research &ith moreoriginal and 'lenteous ideas to sole the limitations of this 'a'er as &ell as

'roiding readers more useful information and kno&ledge.

10


12/14

REFERENCES

8S Slang 'age from htt'G&&&.eslcafe.comslang

8am'le of !argon &ords from

htt'G&&&.)usinesstune7u's.com8am'les7f7!argon.html

Heduced form5 Karens inguistic issues from

htt'G&&&3.telus.netlinguisticsissuesHeducedorms.html

Slang7


13/14

APPENDI#

SLANG SURVEY

$hoose the )est ans&er for each follo&ing %uestion a)out slangG

W


14/14

A. $ontet B. Structural clues $. ist or series ". $ontrast

,. D = . *%&'(

13

Documents

Slang Research Paper