Review of Related Literature

Jejemon is a sub-culture in the Philippines which rose to fame in year 2010 mostly bythe Filipino

youth. It is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines.The word "Jejemon" supposedly originated

from online users' penchantto type in "hehehe" as "jejeje", either because "jeje" is derived from Spanish,

whosespeakers denote the interjection as laughter, or because the letters "h" and "j" arebeside each n

other, and that it is appended by "-mon" that came from the JapaneseanimePokémon,with "-mon"

meant as "monster," hence "jeje monsters." TheJejemons are said to be the new "jologs", a term used

for Filipinos of the lowerincome class. The parameters of being classified as a Jejemon are still unclear,

and how the different "levels" of "Jejemonism" are reached.The origin of short-handed typing was

through the short messaging service,in whicheach text message in cellphone is limited to 160 characters.

As a result, an"SMSlanguage"developed in which words were shortened in order to fit the 160-

characterlimit. Although some jejemons aren't really "conserving" characters instead they

arelengthening it. Later the use of word "Jejemon" to refer such people made rounds invarious

Filipinointernet message boards. Jejemons, young people who are part of the subculture, deliberately

exaggerateordinary words by adding or subtracting letters, by using a mixture of capitalized and

notcapitalized letters in words, and even adding numbers. This style is used in texting, and

incommunicating via social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook. (abs-cbnnews.com 2017 ).

In an episode of the television show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho entitled "Attack of theJejemons”,

sociologist Bro. Clifford Sorita said the “jejemon phenomena” can be considered a form of refuge. He

says those who engage in the fad most likely have the desire to be recognized as unique. Having their

own language and ways of communicating might give them the feeling of being distinguished from the

rest. In the same program, writer Pete Lacaba said that we should not think too little of Jejemons

because their new word inventions mean that our language is still alive and continues to grow.
 According to a news article in The Philippine Star (2018), Beatriz Piramide, SeniorExecutive for

Talent Acquisition of Aegis People Support in Cebu City, fears that jejemon language may infiltrate

mainstream communication among the young and couldruin their chances at landing jobs in call centers

where career opportunities abound.Former DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno said she has not issued any

order against “jejemon,” or the use of alternate spellings of common words, but she appealed to parents

and teachers to discourage students from adopting this pop culture phenomenon.The researchers were

very eager to know why Jejemons exist in the Philippinesociety. We observed that in the year 2010, the

jejemons became a sudden concernamong the public. We wanted to find the factors involved as to why

they became popularamongst the youth. Were there other factors that triggered them to form another

culturebesides their popularized way of texting/typing?What are the personal and professional

backgrounds of these Jejemons that may haveinitiated them to form their culture? In connection with

this, it was very important toknow the personal profile of Jejemons such as their age, gender/sexuality

orientation,civil status, educational attainment, employment status, and family background. It wasalso

vital to know their way of thinking of themselves.The researchers also wanted to find out if the reasons

of the existence of this moderntradition were related to the following aspects: studies, family, peers and

other social relationship.

Diyubako (2010), stated that learning and teaching grammar is an important aspect of language learning.

It is not enough to know how to translate words into different languages. One of the aims of language

learning is to help students learn effective communication, thus learning the correct grammar is

essential. As noted by many grammarians, studying a second language primarily consisted of

grammatical analysis and translation of written forms. Developed for analysis of Greek and Latin, this

approach divided the target language into eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, participles, articles,
pronouns, prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions. Learning the language required study of the eight

categories in written text and the development of rules for their use in translation.

However, when 18th century grammarians moved beyond the Greek and Roman classics and

began the study of English, again using the eight categories to generate grammar rules, it became clear

that the parts of speech could not be used as effectively to analyze a language in which word order and

syntax produced grammatical function and where rules often had multiple exceptions. Nonetheless, this

traditional approach remained the basis of instructional pedagogy in the United States and England until

recently and is still being used in a number of countries as the primary method of English instruction.

This is particularly true for many English as foreign language (EFL) classrooms, where English is learned

mainly through translation into the native language and memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary

(Howatt, 1984).

Today, grammarians have been able to use modern pedagogical grammars for teaching and

learning. Pedagogical grammars generally describe the full structural complexity of any given unit but

significant differences may emerge in the distribution of potential elements in actual discourse (Swan,

1995).

According to UrbanDictionary.Com, it is anyone with a low tolerance for correct punctuation,

syntax and grammar. This definition is limited to the linguistic style of Jejemons. But in reality, Jejemon is

a new breed of hipsters who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their

own sub-culture and fashion.

Text messaging is the first ever evidence that the Jejemons are not just fictional creatures; they really

emerge. They have a set of eyes (and obviously the time) that can easily decipher the word hidden in

jumbled letters, alternating capitalization, over-usage of the letters H, X or Z and mixture of numeric

characters and our normal alphabet. To be able to understand Jejenese or to Jejetype is definitely a skill.
 In a commentary, “Intellectualizing a Language,” by Dr. Ricardo Ma. Nolasco published on June

13, 2009, in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he said that: “We will never be able to develop our languages

for higher thinking unless we begin basic literacy and education in them.” With the prevalence of

Jejemon, will the long process of intellectualization of our Filipino language be held back? I believe that

the answer depends on one’s lenience with the Jejemons. Just as whether or not the Jejenese and the

Jejebet wreak havoc on major languages depends on how one perceives Jejemonism. The Jejemons find

their place in their world by finding a clan, or a regular group of people they text and talk with in

Jejenese. Regardless of whether they know each other or not, they will talk to others members of these

clans and even meet up with them in Jejelands (frequent hang-outs).