Impact of Slang Words in Hollywood Movies on Daily Conversation of

University Students in Lahore

Muhammad Zia

School of Creative Arts

 Introduction

Slang is termed to be an autonomous non-literary language discipline that exists in a

language and is closely linked to its terms (Burdová, 2009). In England during the slang was

primarily used to define the vulgar language used by certain cultural groups, e.g. army

persons or people playing music. Conversely, slang words and phrases are characterized by

some casualness, fluency and language richness. The effectiveness increases than normal or

classical English in debating sports, sex, and drunkenness in daily discussion. (Andersson &

Trudgill, 1990). Slang transfers its identity with who is the speaker. Depending on the

academic, social or economic status of the individual or a geographical location and age, a

slang for one person cannot be a slang for the other individual. Jay (1992) proposes a bad

language grouping system in Cursing in America

1) cursing, 2) profanity, 3) blasphemy, 4) taboo, 5) obscenity, 6) vulgar, 7) epithets, 8)

insults and slurs, 9) scatology, and 10) slang.

Slang is also evolving over time and it can rapidly fade. Slang is used quite regularly

nowadays in Western films such as Hollywood films. Slang is commonly used in adolescent-

oriented movies featuring young adults (Yuliana, 2015). One of the fundamental changes in

the social context of this century is media participation in our daily lives. Movies have played

a central role in people's daily activities. The theatres are never empty and open twenty four

hours a day. It has been one of the main sources of slang in the society (Huesmann, 2007).

According to Onukaogu (2011) young people watching films prefer to mimic their favorite

hero or heroine. They try to replicate the style and the actor's way of speaking. Sometimes

they mimic the slang words from the movie without understanding the meaning of those

words, how it can be shaped, and it becomes their everyday language. Adams (1998) believes

that modern films are capable of producing negative effects among students who are prone to
playing with ideas imparted to them by the films. Wilson (2008) revealed that films and

television are an integral part of the subculture of young people. The slang words has been

part of people's everyday language. Most of the people use it to express their feelings. These

feelings are such as fighting with each other, scolding, surprise and amusement in normal

conversation as well (Pedersen, 2009).

1.1. Objectives of the Study:

Objectives of the study will be to:

1. Explore how often Hollywood films, contribute to slang words / terms being used in

students daily conversation.

2. Find out the extent to which university students use slang word/phrases of

Hollywood movies talking to friends, household members and instructors.

3. Find out the extent to which a male or female student uses slang language of

Hollywood movies.

1.2. Hypothesis of the Study:

H1: Greater the exposure to Hollywood films the implications on the daily

conversation of university students would be greater of using slang words.

H2: In comparison with families students are using more slang words with their

colleagues.

1.3. Rationale of the Study:

According to Aulia, and Djatmika (2018) It is also interesting to analyze slang terms

in this movie because there are some problems that still can be explored in the term of slang.

Firstly, most studies of slang language were limited in examining the use of slang language of

some groups. Secondly, based on the previous researches, most of the researchers only

concerned with the slang language in the form of words, not phrases. Lastly, there is still lack

of research that explores another type of slang in society including students slang. (p.139)
 The goal of this research is to examine the influence of Hollywood films on university

students ' adoption of slang words and their effect on their daily conversation. The point of

the study is to examine the relationship between the role of Hollywood films and their

impact on university students ' daily conversation.

 Literature Review

According to Eble (1996) Slang is a constant changing collection of idiomatic words,

sentences and phrases used by speakers to create or maintain social character or togetherness

within a community or society as a whole. The use of such terms within a language is

probably as old as language itself, as slang tends to be part of every language used by a

culture that is broad enough and inclusive enough to have recognizable subgroups of ordinary

communication. Leech and Svartvik (1981) assesses that slang is a very common term in

expression and is usually limited to people of a particular social circle, such as teenage slang,

army slang, theater slang. While sharing thoughts and emotions, slang is an effective method.

By slang people can make quicker, simpler and more personal contact (Flexer, 1967). Slang

is a particularly useful personality predictor. It leads the listener to regular social standing and

reveals the speakers ' sentiments and attitudes (Kahn & Illson, 1985). Slang demonstrate our

personal, regional, national, ethnic, cultural, academic, technical, community and

membership interests. (Flexner, 1967).

Intimacy improves with slang. Between friends and close social peers, it is most

expressed. The speaker and the intended recipient will recognize through using slang that

they are friends (Spolsky, 1998). Finegan (2008) Slang has been said to be especially popular

between many teenagers and university students in general.

Adams (2009) A person uses slang to create social interactions with the person he /

she talks to and slang describes social spaces, and slang habits help to define and build social

groups and identities.

According to Claire (1990) Slang is a term used by people who feel at ease with their

peers in a social environment. In non-formal situations, slang is commonly used. It can

increase the warmth of a conversation. Slang word is used in essentially every oral language

and is typically used to describe the feeling and imagination of people.

 In daily conversation slang is being used. This period of globalization allows

language grow rapidly. Slang terms are often incorporated into songs, TV shows (for

children, teens, and adults), films, and other facets of everyday life. Slang in University is a

collection of words that come from every student's social activity in university. Each

university normally has some words of its own that are not known to any other university, but

most words are familiar to everyone (Sutrisno, 2017). Slang is found in outlets such as a

television show, book, magazine, and film in particular. The film is a visual interaction

formed by telling the story to entertain the people. In a movie, slang is often used to reflect

the social state. The gangster, teenager, gambler, criminal, other characters use slang in the

film. (Aulia, & Djatmika, 2018)

2.1. Social Learning Theory

The theory of social learning implies that most social behavior comes from movies,

TV, books as well as other mainstream media (Bandura, 1977). The approach to social

learning acknowledges thought patterns and identifies the role they play in deciding whether

or not to mimic an action. The theory of social learning concentrates on learning that takes

place within a social setting. It believes that people are learning from each other, which

include ideas like observational learning, mimicry, and modeling (Bandura, 1999)

Bandura lists four criteria that are required before someone else's actions can be

effectively modeled. The first one is attention; the model must be taken into consideration by

the individual. Second, a person needs to be retained; the conduct that has been witnessed

must be remembered. The third one is reproduction; that is the capacity to reproduce the

actions just shown by the model. It indicates that the observer must be able to reproduce the

behavior that can be a concern with a young child that is not sufficiently trained to perform

any complex physical acts. Ultimately, a person needs to be motivated. The learner has to
show what they've learned. Through film and broadcast modeling adults and children learn

behaviors, emotional reactions and new behavioral types.

There are many aspects influencing the use of English words and phrases by

university students. Such factors can affect students implicitly when using English slang

words, such as social media platform, song lyrics, movie and TV shows (Milroy 1987).

The emphasis on social learning acknowledges ways of thinking and understands the

role they play in deciding whether or not to mimic an action. Social learning theory provides

a more comprehensive explanation of human learning through the perception of the part of

reconciliation procedures (McLeod, 2016).

 Research Methodology

3.1. Research Designs

This research will use Cross sectional survey design to explore the impact of slang

words in Hollywood movies on daily conversation of university students in Lahore. Cross-

sectional survey will allow for examining multiple variables at one point in time and the

researcher requires only collection of information and no long term consideration. The data

on variable will be collected at once (Setia, 2016).

The population of the study will be the undergraduate film and media students at the

School of Creative Arts, University of Lahore Defense Road Campus Lahore Pakistan. The

research will adopt the purposive sampling technique to examine the impact of slang words in

Hollywood movies on daily conversation of university students in Lahore. The researcher

will first introduce the topic and a consent letter will be signed for the purpose of anonymity

and confidentiality. The respondents will be given the right to withdraw. Forty undergraduate

film and media students at the School of Creative Arts The University of Lahore. Twenty of

them will be female and twenty will be male aged between 18 to 25 years. The minimum

criteria for selection is university students who can read and comprehend the rating scale.

3.2. Inclusion criteria

Both male and female students. Students of School of creative arts, The University of

Lahore. Undergraduate students of Film and Television and media.

A demographic sheet will be formulated to ask the questions about their name, age,

gender department, education, the status of marriage.. The questions asked will be open

ended. A five point Likert scale consisting of 15 items will be developed to measure, to what

deal Hollywood films, contribute to slang words or phrases being used in students ' daily

conversation. It will help in the responses that will be presented to accommodate neutral or
undecided feelings of participants and they will not be required to present a concrete yes or

no answers. A permission letter will be sought from the Head of Department for the collection

of data.
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