INFLUENCE OF SLANG LANGUAGE TO CASUAL CONVERSATION AMONG

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF SAMUEL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

GENERAL TRIAS INC.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction to the Literature Review

To truly grasp the understanding of this study, the content of this chapter focuses

on the influence of slang among students on their casual communication and verbal skills.

Moreover, this chapter aims to present and provide ideas and other related studies from

published research. The information contained in this chapter aids in familiarizing and

emphasizing the research topic.

Theoretical Framework
 Figure 2. Theoretical Framework

This study employs Robert Chapman's Theory on Slang (1988) which discusses the

forms of slang. Slang use was classified into two, primary and secondary. It shows that the

primary slang is the general slang, wherein life is more fun than people who were

conformed to rules. However, the secondary slang is stylistic, meaning metaphorical,

which is used to secretly express something specific people can understand. Chapman

(1988), the users of slang are not limited to a group of people because it spreads out through

society. Hence, this theory connects to the researcher's study since students are part of

society and influenced to use slang.

DEFINITION OF SLANG

Lumabi (2020) explained that "lodi" and "werpa" were popularized by Filipino

Millennials wherein Lodi is the reversed spelling of the English word "idol" primarily used

to refer to entertainment celebrities such as singers and artists, while Werpa is the inversion
of the syllables "pawer". According to Anza (2017), "werpa" and "lodi" are the top lists of

more than 20 Tagalog slang words for the everyday use of modern Filipinos.

According to an article released by The Summit Express (2017), in a short period,

slang words had gained much online attraction. When millennials started to appreciate the

slang terms, these informal or slang terms began to spread widely through Filipino social

media.

According to Nordquist (2018), slang is a unique manner of speaking that is marked

by freshly produced and constantly growing words and idioms. Slang language may be

perplexing to people unfamiliar with it, but most are harmless and essential to a teen's

identity. Children use these expressions to exhibit their individuality, sound hip, and mix

with their pals (Morin, 2021). Others are comfortable using slang language, so it is easier

for them to express themselves, but not everyone knows that, so there can be

misunderstandings.

As a matter of fact, according to Khan and Illson in Salma (2013: 2), as cited by

Sauli (2022), slang exists in various forms. Blend, acronym, new insight into a pre-existing

word and aphaeresis are some. This informal language recycles or reinvents words, giving

them new meanings and conveying something about the culture or group that uses them.

EFFECTS OF SLANG USE IN COMMUNICATION

The Voice (2021), a high school newspaper, stated that overuse of slang could

negatively affect people once the terms become too prevalent in a person's vocabulary. It

is increasingly brought to attention that because of the influence of slang, the young
generation is unaware that they do not always know how to speak correctly at the

appropriate times. Also, young people sound absurd when giving a speech since they are

addicted to always using slang.

Baleyos et al. (2020) in their research "Factors Affecting English Communication

Skills of Grade 11 Students in Bestlink College of the Philippines," found the medium of

communication today was the most significant factor affecting the student's

communication skills. It showed that the students consume time most on the media, thus

affecting their proficiency in using the English language since the media uses much slang,

which does not give importance to English proficiency.

According to Pontillas & Tormes et al. (2020), indirectness is a fundamental

element in human communication because of the influence of slang in our vocabulary. We

all use informal communication strategies at times. In this generation, many slang terms

have occurred. Every single word can have different meanings. The best example of this is

the word "sana all" it is a widespread spoken mixed language of Tagalog and English.

Furthermore, according to Rahman (2020), the differences between regions make

it difficult to relate terms and slang to a country because they are broad. He stated that you

miss some essential parts of a conversation when you do not know slang languages.

Kittelstad (2020) stated that by utilizing terminology that others do not understand,

slangs demonstrate that we are part of the crowd. We may connect with like-minded people

who understand what we mean. As a result, it is a means of using language to set ourselves

apart from others. According to Sentinel (2020), slang has a significant beneficial and

detrimental impact on today's culture. Continuous usage of slang may lead to its use in the
workplace, preventing one from taking advantage of countless chances at work. The

Oxford English Dictionary has introduced specific slang, such as "bling-bling," which

refers to fashionable jewelry.

Belkhir (2020), in his research “Student’s Slang and The Awareness of its Use: A

Case Study,” findings indicate that pupils are unaware of their slang employment. It intends

to analyze students' slang awareness from the perspective of English language learners.

Furthermore, data was gathered through an interview with English learners.

According to Desrosier (2019), slang is proper on a friend level. It helps identify

friends in the same area and the efficient and practical expression of ideas. However, slang

can bring people closer together, but it can also bring them apart and cause

misunderstanding. When you use slang in your conversations, it can be a source of

confusion and, at worst, offense (Bentley, 2017).

Fabro (2019), in her research "Filipino Slang Words Adeptness of Students: An

Assessment," found that students utilize slang wherein their adeptness in slang resulted in

"good" and their opinion to the degree of adeptness resulted in "very good." It aims to

deepen collaborative efforts between students and teachers to modify more acceptable

Filipino slang words based on the researcher's belief that words can travel twice as fast as

sound. The drop in the number of students who claimed to be outstanding, as well as the

increase in the number of students who claimed not to be fair, reasonable, and the list of

the 100 slang phrases, all contributed to this finding.

Cagalingan (2017) stated that "baliktad" is a euphemism term used in specific social

circumstances to diminish the effect of certain utterances that might be construed as either
negative or positive. Obscene or indecent variety of backward spelling terms and phrases

are now common in Tagalog. According to the Philippine newspaper Komisyon sa Wika,

revolutionaries employed this strategy to conceal their identities, such as Marcelo H., a

writer and one of the country's heroes. Later, in the 1960s, young people who resided in

government housing developments in Quezon City came up with the slang "jeproks," a

jumbled-up form of his surname.

As defined by Amir (2017), slang is the variety of speech characterized by newly

coined and rapidly changing vocabulary informally used by the young and even the

professionals who use this different conversational style. Generally, most countries had

slang terms in their language. According to Arran (2017), slang words or terms have greatly

affected students' verbal and written skills. It also affected students’ critical thinking

because they find it hard to conceptualize their thoughts and words since excessive slang

has confused their vocabulary.

According to Bostick (2017), slang is a terminology used by different age groups,

genders, and origins also called a shorthand writing example. Teachers have noticed a

significant difference in student writing within the recent decade. This way of

communicating has found its way into the school, surprising many writing teachers.

Teachers had already been mindful of slang in spoken interaction for years before moving

on to student work. We can identify ourselves writing the way we interact at times, but

now– a completely new method of communication via text messages or DMs; direct

messaging has become a new era of writing. For example, "cuz" stands for "because," and

"ur" stands for "your" or "you're."

EFFECTS OF SLANG USE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

According to the study written by Gime and Macascas (2020) entitled

“WIKAGENZ: BAGONG ANYO NG FILIPINO SLANG SA PILIPINAS”, language is alive

and dynamic in a society that constantly uses media and technology. The influence of social

media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and television different spectacles

lead to experimentation with new words and existing words. This paper also shows the

transformation of words based on social and cultural influences. Some words deliberately

spring up with a specific group of people. It was seen in the study when GenZers created

WikaGenZ that could only be said to be theirs.

Tomoh (2018) stated that communication has completely changed because of how

social media takes over people's lives; because of the explosion of social media, different

terms and slang have also grown. Social media slang's effects on student writing can be

adverse since students and children are exposed to social media early. The most common

errors social media brings are grammar and spelling, and this is quite difficult to take care

of in formal writings.

Furthermore, Harared's research in 2018 entitled "SLANG CREATED AND USED

IN 1CAK.COM SITE: A SOCIOLINGUISTICS STUDY'' showed that slang was used to

mock and praise someone. His research focused on analyzing slang by describing its word-

formation processes and functions. It is found that some of the types of slang formation

were used in 1cak.com, an Indonesian entertainment website that provides pictures and

videos.
 Camus (2018) stated that the Philippines is the world leader in using social media.

The way we communicate has been changing since social media is booming. It has

produced conveniences that transform all sorts of communication. According to

Magtanong (2019), it is evident that the internet, especially on different social media

platforms, has significantly affected the way people communicate with each other.

Moreover, he stated that the impact of social media in the evolution of language plays an

essential role in creating new words that are being introduced daily. It has changed our

vocabulary by altering the meaning of words and introducing new users to our language.

Language Reach (2015) claimed that the internet is one of the necessary forms that

has helped advance this trend. New terminology, phrases, and acronyms are readily

available thanks to the internet and social media usage. Moreover, it is not simply that

language is changing considerably; because of the strength of accessibility, new

terminology may be swiftly transmitted to other groups.

According to Thomas Fish (2015), a teacher at Gonzaga University, high school

students may be unaware that they are using language shortcuts in the classroom because

online devices have now changed the face of social presence. Teens have developed their

language through internet slang, and they have been observed to have trouble switching

from slang words to proper and formal English grammar.

In fact, according to Little (2011), slang terms and messages have become frequent

appearances of student high school homework due to the way students are involved with

one another across social media and text messaging. Teachers have seen a significant

decrease in student writing skills, namely the loss of capitalization, grammar, and the
shortening of any term longer beyond one syllable. Students may still not be aware they

are doing it, younger teachers may allow it, and senior teachers may be alarmed that this is

becoming our language.

Synthesis/Summary

The formation of different slang words has become a language game for people,

especially in their dialogue and oral speech. The growing number of people who use these

slang terms is now spreading, and because of the explosion of different social media

platforms, a variety of speech and words are created. Slang is used for words, phrases, and

alphabets that people use in an informal setting to communicate or express their emotions.

The slang language has affected students' communication and verbal skills in different

ways.

The online world has contributed a lot to students' vocabulary development and

communication since the young generation is obsessed with these platforms. Slang usage

on social media is evident and mainly used by students in their classroom, affecting their

verbal abilities.

Robert Chapman's Theory on Slang (1988) has benefited and given support to this

study, which discusses the forms of slang and its contribution to daily and casual

communication among students. Language can be formal or informal, depending on the

situation. Creating these slang words allows people to have fun with language since this

can help people connect and communicate.

 These studies and literature that the previous researcher reviewed show that there

are different effects of using slang terms, especially in the classroom and for the students'

communication. This study tackles a qualitative study of Slang usage among Senior High

School students of Samuel Christian College, General Trias Inc., studied from the thoughts

and experiences of the students that serve as a point for this research. It will also provide

the basis and foundation throughout this chapter, where the data and information will be

explained.