CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Junior High School Level

Trash Talk: How Foul Words Affect

the Players’ Gaming
Experience

A Research Paper Presented to the

Faculty of English Department of
Captain Albert Aguilar National High School

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
in English 10

By:

Dela Cruz, John Roel R.

Lavilla, Kurt Jazpher M.

Magaro, Klyde Cedrick G.

Rendon, Julian Sheniel N.

Vargas, John Kyle T.

Grade 10 – Section Novelty

June 2023
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

CHAPTER I.
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Social Media is a platform that is popular nowadays. It helps us to communicate

with other people by sharing their ideas, thoughts, and opinions to other people in the
community. You can interact with people from all around the world through social
media, share your hobbies, and play games whenever you choose. Social media is
actually pretty helpful fin gaming. This involves sharing gaming on platforms like
Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube. This entails demonstrating gameplay hacks and
techniques to help players' development and game knowledge. However, not every game
has a pleasant finish. Every gamer receives trash talk about their performance from their
teammates, and this can make them unable to play properly.
To provide a theoretical basis for investigating the nature of "trash talk," one of
the more entertaining but understudied aspects of team sports competition is the method
in which players communicate with one another. The topic of playing ability, which is
immediately significant, is trash-talked about most frequently, however other eventually
important issues, including physical beauty, also seem to be frequently discussed. Men
seem to trash talk a lot more than women do, and they are almost universally connected
with a lot more than other topics.
Based on Yip et al. (2018) even though it is a common topic among sports
journalists and others, the topic academically since in the broad scope of research on
human nature, “trash-talking” is relatively novel as a label for certain types of
communication, and prior studies on trash-talking have been conducted outside of the
fields from which they draw.
They say that trash-talking is part of the game, and it somehow boosts one's
confidence because it causes you to play aggressively which is defined by boastful
comments about the self or insulting comments about an opponent that are delivered by a
competitor typically before or during a competition. However, it still has its limitations
because some players just say what they want to say without thinking about whether or
not it can be harmful to someone's mental health, particularly when they mention
someone's relatives in an unrelated context.
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
Therefore, trash talk is a controversial aspect of the gaming experience that can
either enhance or detract from your overall enjoyment of the game. While this can be a
powerful psychological tool to gain an edge over your opponents, it also carries the risk
of creating a toxic gaming environment and alienating some players.
In connection with this, the researchers want to investigate how players react
after receiving trash talk from their playmates. Consequently, certain players should
control their words and play calmly and with discipline.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Foreign Literature

The Action, Actor, Context, Target, and Time (AACTT) of Trash Talk: Identifying
Forms of Trash Talk in Esports Using Behavior Specification

How esports observers observe the social morals of trash talk practice set up that it
was judged upon reflection of the environment and motive of the act. However, feting the
lines between socially respectable trash talk and illegal importunity in the professional
esports community has been confined (Irwin et al., 2021). Trash talk has been described
as a way of expression among male players that has the ability to establish connection
and affection toward others while not influencing their ideas of masculinity (Kniffin &
Palacio, 2018). Female gamers, on the other hand, have experienced feeling disconnected
from this aspect of gaming culture; they have been harassed and/or separated from male
gamers (Vossen, 2018). It says that the gender-based disparity in trash-talk culture within
gaming communities is a reflection of the broader societal gender norms and stereotypes
that have historically privileged masculinity and marginalized femininity. It is
unfortunate that female gamers have been subjected to harassment and exclusion from
this aspect of gaming culture, which can create a sense of alienation and disconnection.

Emotional Manipulation and Task Distraction as Strategy: The Effects of Insulting

Trash Talk on Motivation and Performance in a Competitive Setting

The consequences of "trash talk," on an opponent's performance in a competitive

situation were modeled in this exploratory study. A model anticipated that the perception
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
of verbal insults will increase cognitive distraction, alter emotions, and impair motivation
to perform, resulting in a reduction in competitive performance. Anger and humiliation
were proposed as the fundamental emotional affect expressions. The experiment used a
videogame racing competition to randomly assign participants to verbal insult and control
conditions. The results showed that verbal insults had a negative impact on competitive
performance on both psychological and emotional levels, though not exactly as expected
by the model.

Local Literature

The Effect of “Trash Talk” to the Interpersonal Skills

The research conducted by Fabito et al. (2018) suggests that there is no significant
correlation between tertiary scholars' academic performance and mobile game
dependence or involvement in cyberbullying. These findings challenge the common
assumption that these factors have a direct impact on academic achievement. However, it
is important to consider that academic performance can be influenced by a variety of
other factors, and individual experiences may vary. Excessive online social gaming has
been linked to three different types of bad outcomes. Technology-related problems
include professional conflict, family conflict, and individual conflict. Conflict between
people and technology is exacerbated by conflict between people and employment and
family. (Gong, X. et al., 2019)

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study demonstrates its impact on the players' gaming experience.
Specifically, this study will answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of

1.1. Gender,
1.2. Grade Level?
1.3. Most likely to receive trash talk in game

2. What type of game do they play?

 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

3. What are the common foul words that are commonly used in gaming?

4. What are the players’ reaction to toxic behavior?

5. What action plan can be done based on the findings of the study?

Conceptual Framework

INPUT
-Demographic profile PROCESS
of Respondents
1.1. Gender OUTPUT
-Analyzing the
1.2. Grade level data by conducting
a survey Glossary of the
1.3. Most likely to foul words and its
receive trash talk in positive
game Descriptive counterparts
-Common Foul words Statistics:
-Reaction to foul -Quantitative
words

Figure 1. IPO of the Study

The figure shows the Input, Process, and Output model. In input-it shows how the
respondent reaction after they received foul words and common foul words that they
mostly occur when playing. In process, it includes the gathered data of the researchers.
Finally, the output, we made a glossary of the foul words and it contains possible solution
and answer to address the researchers’ problem.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

Only 24 respondents, whose responses ranged in grade level from seventh grade
to tenth grade junior high school, provided the study's primary data. For the purpose of
collecting data, the researchers will only take into 1 account, the responses of the
following institution: Captain Albert Aguilar National High School (CAANHS-Main) for
responses in junior high school.
This study focuses on how they feel when they are being trash-talked. The
researchers will only deal with the words used to trash talk per respondent. They will not
obtain data that would answer why the respondents receive trash talk in that game. The
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
interpretation of data will only focus on how will the respondents feel if they receive a
trash talk.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study would help players to get more information and stop trash talking to
avoid toxicity and consequences.

PLAYERS – This study would help players play whatever they want without
experiencing toxicity.

TRASHTALKER – This study would let them know that if they insult more, the game
would become toxic, and players would eventually stop playing.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
For better understanding on how the terminologies were used in the study, the
following words were defined operationally:

Trash Talk refers to insulting, flaming, and humiliating players during the game or afterward.

Young Players are gamers from grade levels 7-10.

Foul Words are offensive words that are used in general when communicating with other
people.
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
CHAPTER II
PROCEDURES

RESEARCH DESIGN

To accomplish the goal of this study, a quantitative approach, especially a

research design, was selected. Descriptive statistics were applied to the data.

INSTRUMENTATION

For the research instrument, A survey made by the researchers was conducted for
the respondents' preference on how they feel when being trash talked which contains
choices for the respondent to answer.
The researchers used both open and closed ended type questions for the respondents
fill their answer pr write down their own opinion about how they feel when being trash
talked.

SAMPLING

Researcher applied the non-probability sampling technique, especially the

convenience sampling method, in selecting the samples for the study. A total of 24
respondents were from Captain Albert Aguilar National High School-Main (CAANHS-
MAIN) Grade levels are: grade 7 (Cluster A) = 6, Grade 8 (Cluster B) = 6, Grade 9
(Cluster B ) = 6, and Grade 10 (Cluster A) = 6, were chosen to be respondents for the
survey. They were chosen because they match the description stated in the purpose of the
study (Grade 7-10 students).

TREATMENT OF DATA

For both of the study topics, frequency and percentage computation will be used as
a method of data treatment. The data will be tallied and computed using descriptive
statistics.
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
CHAPTER III
RESULT AND DISCUSSION

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of gender, grade level and
most likely to receive trash talk in game?

Gender Profile of Respondents

MALE FEMALE
LGBTQ+ PREFER NOT TO SAY

13% 8%

13%

67%

Figure 2. Gender Profile of Respondents

The pie chart above shows the gender profile of the respondents. As can be seen
in the figure, the majority of the population is composed of male respondents, with a total
of 16 out of 24 (67%) of the entire population. It is most likely that men are more into
games than other genders. In fact, they are most likely to receive trash talk in game.
2. What type of games do they play?

Figure 3. Most Played Games of Respondents

 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
The bar graph above shows the most played game. As can be seen in the table,
the majority of the population is composed of MOBA games, with a total of 11 out of 24
or 46% of the entire game genre. Most likely, the gaming community's most popular and
frequently played genre are MOBA games.

3. What are the common foul words that are commonly used in gaming?

Common Foul Words

8

0
"B*B* T*NG* "UNINSTALL MO "GGEZ" "QUIT KA "NOOB"
KA!" NA YAN!" NALANG"

Figure 4. Common Foul Words

The bar graph above shows the common foul words. As can be seen in the bar
graph, the majority of the population is composed of foul words "B*B* T*NG* KA" and
"GGEZ", with a total of 7 out of 24 of the Common Foul words. Most likely, these words
are most commonly use in gaming.

4. What are the players’ reaction to this toxic behavior?

 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
Figure 5. Reaction to this Toxic Behavior

The bar graph above shows the reaction on receiving to toxic behavior in gaming. As
can be seen in the bar graph, the majority of the survey is composed of neutral vote, with
a total of 9 out of 24 of the reaction on foul words. Most likely, this behavior is
commonly do when receiving this kind of toxicity.

5. What action plan can be done based on the findings of the study?

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Goal: To raise awareness and to prevent toxicity in game.

Product: Glossary of the Foul Words and its positive counterparts

Target: Gamers

Figure 6. Glossary as Output

 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of the study, the following can be concluded:

1. Majority of the respondents who play games are male.

2. MOBA games are the most popular type of game.
3. Majority of gamers’ reactions in the toxicity behavior are neutral.
4. Some of the respondents are females and members of the LGBTQ Community.

Based on the conclusions, the researchers would like to recommend the following:

1. To avoid future toxicity, Game Developers should continually monitor their users'
behavior.
2. Trash talkers should be careful on what they are saying to other players to avoid toxicity.

REFERENCES

Irwin, S. V., Naweed, A., & Lastella, M. (2023, April 18). The AACTT of trash talk:
Identifying forms of trash talk in esports using behavior specification. Human Kinetics.
https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jege/1/1/article-jege.2022-0024.xml

Chapter 2-3 - thesis - the effect of “Trash talk” to the interpersonal skills chapter II
review of. Studocu. (n.d.-a). https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/cotabato-state-
university/teacher-education/chapter-2-3-thesis/41193970

McDermott, K. (2021, September 5). Emotional manipulation and task distraction as

strategy: The effects of Insulting Trash Talk on Motivation and Performance in a
Competitive Setting. Taylor & Francis Online.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10510974.2021.1975139
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
APPENDICES

Appendix A. Permission Letter

June 6, 2023

Carlos Alexander S. Rigon

Principal III

Captain Albert Aguilar National High School- Main

CAA Road, Corner Balikatan St. BF International Village Las Piñas City

Dear Mr. Rigon,

I, Kurt Jazpher M. Lavilla, a student from grade 10-Novelty of CAA National High school Main.
My research team and i are currently gathering data for our research paper in English entitled:
Trash Talk: How Foul Words Affect the Players' Gaming Experience. And we focus on grade
levels from 7-10. We are doing this research to know how other gamers feel when they are
being trash talked.

To accomplish the aforementioned goal, we are requesting for your guidance and permission
to gather data from students enrolled in CAA National High school. We aim to gather data
during this week of June, 2023. Our data-gathering procedure involves having the students
complete a survey. The data- gathering procedures for the study involve the following: (1)
seeking the informed consent of participants, and (2) administering a questionnaire.

If you have questions and concerns, we are willing to discuss these matters with you in
person. You can also contact at kurtlavilla07@gmail.com, or 09690905018.

Thank you so much for your time:

Sincerely,

Kurt Lavilla from Team Flareon

Noted by:

Mr. John Rey Real

 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

Appendix B. Research Instrument

June 5, 2023

Dear Respondents,

We are Grade 10 students from Novelty

We are currently conducting a study on Trash Talk: How Foul Words Affect the Players’
Gaming Experience We are requesting that you allot a few minutes of your time to
participate in this study. As a participant, you will be requested to complete a
questionnaire. 5 minutes will be needed to complete the questionnaire. We hope that you
will find time and interest to participate in our study

The confidentiality of your responses is guaranteed. The one primary researcher and a
data encoder will be the individuals with direct access to the completed questionnaires.
Your personal information (e.g. name and contact information) will not be part of what
will be encoded as you will be given individual research identification numbers. Only
your research identification such as age, gender, reactions and skills will be included in
the data files. If you have questions regarding the study, please send your queries to
09690905018 or kurtlavilla07@gmail.com.

If you are interested in participating in this study, please direct your attention to the
bottom part of this sheet and fill out the necessary information. Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Team Flareon
Researchers

NAME: (optional)

GENDER GRADE LEVEL

 MALE
 FEMALE  GRADE 7
 LGBTQIA+  GRADE 8
 PREFER NOT TO SAY  GRADE 9
 GRADE 10
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

WHAT TYPE OF GAME DO YOU PLAY?

 FPS GAMES (Call of duty, PUBG, Farlight 84, etc)

 ADVENTURE GAMES (Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact, etc)

 MOBA (Mobile Legends, Arena of Valor, Wild Rift, etc)

 OTHERS:

COMMON FOUL WORDS YOU OCCUR THE MOST? (Select 1 or more)

 “B*B* T*NGA KA” (It means that your teammates are not satisfied with your skills)

 “UNINSTALL MO NAYAN” (This means that they should stop playing the game)

 “GGEZ” (Disrespectful way to say too easy to win)

 “QUIT KA NA LANG!” (Advice that the other player should stop playing the game

because they are so bad)

 “NOOB!” (Used to describe a player who is not good at the game)

 OTHERS:

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THIS TOXIC BEHAVIOR?

 GET MOTIVATED AND PLAY BETTER
 GETS TILTED
 TROLL TO LOSE THE GAME
 NEUTRAL (Chilling, just ignoring the toxicity)
 OTHERS:
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level

Appendix C. Raw Data

N = 24

GENDER TALLY TOTAL

MALE 1111111111111111 16
FEMALE 111 3
LGBTQIA+ 111 3
PREFER NOT TO SAY 11 2
TOTAL 24

TYPE OF GAME TALLY TOTAL

FPS GAMES 111111111 9
ADVENTURE GAMES 1111 4
MOBA GAMES 11111111111 11
TOTAL 24

COMMON FOUL WORDS TALLY TOTAL

“B*B* T*NGA KA” 1111111 7
“UNINSTALL MO 11 2
NAYAN”
“GGEZ” 1111111 7
“QUIT KA NA LANG!” 111 3
“NOOB!” 11111 5
REACTION TO THIS TALLY TOTAL
TOXIC BEHAVIOR
GET MOTIVATED AND 1111111 7
PLAY BETTER
GETS TILTED 1111 4
TROLL TO LOSE THE 1111 4
GAME

NEUTRAL 111111111 9

TOTAL 24
 CAPTAIN ALBERT AGUILAR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
Junior High School Level
Appendix D. Non-Linear Texts

Figure 1. IPO Model

Figure 2. Gender Profile of Respondents

Figure 3. Most Played Games of Respondents

Figure 4. Common Foul Words

Figure 5. Reaction to Toxic Behavior

Figure 6. Glossary as Output