the use of and the attitudes toward slang expressing surprise and disbelief among young americans = việc sử dụng và quan điểm đối với tiếng lóng biểu lộ sự ngạc nhiên và hoài nghi của giới trẻ mỹ

DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES---***--- PHẠM HOÀI ANH The Use of and the Attitudes toward Slang Expressing Surprise and Disbelief among Young Americans Biểu Lộ Sự Ngạc Nhiên Và H

DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

-*** -

PHẠM HOÀI ANH

The Use of and the Attitudes toward Slang Expressing Surprise and

Disbelief among Young Americans

Biểu Lộ Sự Ngạc Nhiên Và Hoài Nghi

Của Giới Trẻ Mỹ)

PROGRAM I M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15

Hanoi, 2009

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

-*** -

PHẠM HOÀI ANH

The Use of and the Attitudes toward Slang Expressing Surprise and

Disbelief among Young Americans

Biểu Lộ Sự Ngạc Nhiên Và Hoài Nghi

Của Giới Trẻ Mỹ)

PROGRAM I M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15

Supervisor: Prof.Dr Hoàng Văn Vân

Hanoi, 2009

CONTENTS Page

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Contents

List of Tables and Charts

Abbreviations

i ii iii vi vii PART A - INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale

1.1 Problem statement

1.2 Significance of the study

2 Aims of the study

3 Scope of the study

4 Methodology

4.1 Research questions

4.2 Methods

5 Design of the study

1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEOREICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Slang

1.1.1 What is slang?

1.1.2 What slang is NOT?

1.1.3 Slang as an integral part of youth culture

1.1.4 Slang as a language variety

1.1.4.1 Slang as a register

1.1.4.2 Slang and social aspects of language variation

1.1.5 Social functions of slang

1.1.6 Lexicological and semantic classifications of slang

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1.2 Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang - a speech act

1.2.1 Speech act and speech act classification

1.2.2 Speech Act Theory

1.2.3 ―Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang‖ as a speech act

1.3 American slang and its role in today’s American society

1.3.1 American slang and its characteristics

1.3.2 Importance and prevalence of slang in today‘s American society

1.3.3 History of American Youth Slang (AYS)

1.4 Summary

13 13 13 14 15 15 15 16 18 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Aim of the Empirical Study

2.2 Methodology

2.3 Data collection methods

2.3.1 Questionnaire survey

2.3.2 Follow-up interviews

2.3.3 Participant observations

2.4 Conclusion

19 19 19 19 19 21 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 3.1 Data presentation

3.1.1 Description of the population sample

3.1.2 Backgrounds of the respondents

3.2 Findings and discussions

3.2.1 The use of slang expressing surprise and disbelief

3.2.1.1 Frequency of slang use

3.2.1.1.1 Age and frequency of use

3.2.1.1.2 Gender and frequency of use

3.2.1.1.3 Education and frequency of use

3.2.1.2 Reasons for using slang

3.2.1.3 Contexts for slang use

3.2.1.3.1 Non-acceptability contexts

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3.2.1.3.2 Mid-acceptability contexts

3.2.1.3.3 High-acceptability contexts

3.2.1.4 Classifying slangisms according to the trend in use

3.2.1.4.1 Out-of-date slangisms

3.2.1.4.2 Contemporary slangisms

3.2.1.5 Pragmatic classification of contemporary slangisms

3.2.1.5.1 Based on the social contexts

3.2.1.5.2 Based on the degree of emotion

3.2.2 Attitudes toward slang use

3.2.2.1 Age and attitudes toward slang use

3.2.2.2 Gender and attitudes toward slang use

3.2.2.3 Education and attitudes toward slang use

3.3 Summary

29 30 31 31 32 33 33 35 37 38 39 39 40 PART C –CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Conclusions

2 Recommendations

2.1 For ESL teachers

2.2 For ESL learners

2.3 For ESL translators

41 42 42 42 43 REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Appendix A 20 Slangisms of surprise and disbelief

Appendix B Invitation Letter

Appendix C Questionnaire on American Slang

Appendix D List of additional slangisms of surprise and disbelief provided by respondents

Appendix E Commonly used slangisms of surprise and disbelief in America today

44

I

I III

IV

IX

X

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

TABLES Page

Table 1 Backgrounds of Participants

Table 2 Age and frequency of using slang

Table 3 Gender and frequency of using slang

Table 4 Educational background and frequency of using slang

Table 5 Classification of slangisms of surprise and disbelief based on the trend in use Table 6 Classification of slang according to context

Table 7 Classification of slang according to level of emotion

Table 8 Age and attitudes toward slang use

Table 9 Gender and attitudes toward slang use

Table 10 Educational background and attitudes toward slang use

22 24 25 26 31 34 36 38 39 40 CHARTS Chart 1: Frequency of using slang among American youth

Chart 2: Reasons for slang use by American youth

Chart 3: Non-acceptability contexts for slang use

Chart 4: Mid-acceptability contexts for slang use

Chart 5: High-acceptability contexts for slang use

Chart 6: Attitudes toward slang use

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37

ABBREVIATIONS

ESL : AYS : L1 :

English as a Second Language American Youth Slang

First Language (native language)

PART A – INTRODUCTION

6 Rationale

1.1 Problem statement

David Burke, the author of Biz Talk series – the bestsellers of American business slang

and jargon, begins his book by quoting a common complaint by visitors to America, ―What are the natives saying?! This isn‘t the English I learned in school!‖ (1993, p.vii) This can

be traced to what he calls ―confusing yet popular ‗inside‘ language used by the inhabitants:

slang‖ (1993, p.vii) Slang is a special type of vocabulary, existing in every language and

reflecting the country‘s social and cultural aspects Different countries even speaking the same language possess a different slang vocabulary Slang is often an easy, informal way

to communicate However, it is often perplexing for international students, because the

meanings of slang terms are not necessarily in the dictionary and cannot be taken literally

In the United States, the prevalence of slang now is much beyond the expectation of linguists Slang frequently appears in daily conversations, movies, literature, newspapers and magazines Understanding and ability to use slang in communication, hence, is of great necessity for ESL users About the importance of American slang, Parshall (1994, p.23)

puts, ―slang supplies more than 10 percent of the words the average American knows‖, of

which slang expressions of surprise and disbelief account for quite a large number, as the

Americans have a high frequency of showing surprise and disbelief through verbal communication in their daily life

Now there is a realization that slang - youth language - may be more important than previously thought This area, therefore, is not quite mistreated as it was However, in Vietnam, where much more attention is habitually paid to Standard English, slang is still ignored by both linguists, ESL teachers and even ESL learners The main reason for the neglect, perhaps, arises from people‘s perception that slang, which is a sublanguage of a subculture, is not widely acceptable Another reason why both ESL teachers and learners take no notice of slang because they do not for sure how frequent slang is used and how to employ it properly in daily communication

Some writers (Nguyen Van Khang being an influential example) have touched this field, but mostly limited to introducing definitions of slang and contemporary slang terms

in dictionaries The problem lies in these dictionaries themselves, wherein the

lexicographers usually bring in a slang term along with its meaning and an example of use only This really challenges ESL speakers because they do not know in what context and with whom the slang item should be used to avoid failure in communication Also, they do not know various nuances denoted in a slangism, especially those expressing emotion and feeling, to use it at best

Another question lies in previous studies which point out that slang is youth language, and that it is frequently employed and accepted by the youth But whether there exist dissimilarities in the use of slang and attitudes toward slang among the young people remains unanswered

For all the justifications above, the author aspires to conduct the study entitled

“Slangisms expressing surprise and disbelief with young Americans: The use and attitudes” It is hoped that the study will be a contribution to the understanding of the

nature of slang, American youth‘s use of and attitudes toward slang, as well as providing useful recommendations of how to use this special kind of vocabulary to ESL teachers, students and translators

1.2 Significance of the study

Slang is generally labeled as a linguistic taboo that should not be appearing in most

formal social occasions However, to my mind, slang is worthy of the attention of researchers in its own right; further, as an exciting and controversial form of language which belongs to young people and to youth culture in colloquial contexts, it is a valuable

topic for discussions of sociolinguistic and pragmatic issues

Commenting on the approaches toward the study of slang, Nekvapil puts that, ―The lexicographic approach dominates, often complemented by grammatical or word-formation analyses‖ (1987, p.195) While etymological and semantic studies of slang have been recently common, other approaches to research on slang are rarely seen Therefore, this paper, which is a sociolinguistic investigation of American people‘s attitudes toward slang and their use of slang, holds great academic merits Equally important, whereas slang is conventionally classified in the light of lexicology and semantics, this pragmatic classification of slang, therefore, is obviously a milestone

Further, by identifying current and common slang terms and how to use them in certain contexts, the studies directly benefit Vietnamese-American cross-cultural communication,

Communicative English teaching, and translation Such information can be of particular help to ESL teachers, who are often puzzled about what register of English to stress in instruction The study can also be useful to ESL students, who must understand not only the meaning of a slang term in everyday conversation but also the appropriate social context for using it in order not to offend people Finally, Vietnamese translators can take the most of recommendations from the research when facing with a number of slang expressions in movies, papers, magazines, etc., because the subtleties of using slang in a foreign language are always filled with difficulties

7 Aims of the study

The aims of the study are as follows:

a To explore the use of slang of surprise and disbelief by American youth, specifically

- to find out frequency of use, reasons and contexts for slang use,

- to identify current and commonly-used American slangisms of surprise and disbelief;

- to classify those slang expressions in the light of pragmatics

b To investigate attitudes toward slang use of American young people and the correlation between these attitudes and social aspects such as age, gender, and education

8 Scope of the study

First, the study deals with verbal aspects of the communication act of expressing surprise and disbelief through slang The role of non-verbal factors in communication such

as paralanguage, proxemics, chronemics and icons is beyond the scope of this study

Second, the study especially focuses on American slangisms expressing surprise and

disbelief Slang of other variations, such as British slang, Australian slang or slang

denoting other themes, then, is mentioned but not elaborated Also, other meanings rather

than surprise and disbelief implied in a slang item are not considered in the current study

Third, the data obtained is confined to the informants‘ responses to the questionnaire and follow-up interviews which are not spontaneous discourse They are, of course, somewhat different from real-life communication So, the study, rather than reaches fixed conclusions, would give remarks, comments and assumption on the way American young people use slang of surprise and disbelief

Fourth, the investigation concentrates on the use of slang by the youth, which is defined

as ―young people in general‖ by Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (Quirk,

2003, p.1920) For the feasibility of the investigation, the researcher focuses on the age group of 15-30

Finally yet importantly, the study is limited to the two aspects of language and

communication: context and level of emotion, to categorize these slang terms These

aspects are believed to be most important for ESL speakers to be aware of, while communicating with American natives

9 Methodology

4.1 Research questions

In order to meet the aims of the study, the following research questions are generated:

 How frequent, for what reasons and in what contexts is slang employed by American

youth?

 What are current and common American slangisms of surprise and disbelief?

 How are these slangisms categorized in the light of pragmatics?

 What are the attitudes of American young people toward slang and what is the

relationship between these attitudes and aspects like age, gender and education?

4.2 Methods

As for the methodology of this slanguage study, it covers both qualitative and

quantitative approaches Data collection methods include studying materials, written

questionnaire survey, follow-up interviews, personal observation, consulting the supervisor, and discussing with American and Vietnamese colleagues Written questionnaire survey with the participation of American people, aged from 15 to 30, is the mainstream strategy Data analysis engages statistics, description and synthesis methods A balanced and strategic employment of these research methods is expected to generate findings with high reliability and validity

esign of the study

The research paper consists of the following parts:

Part A - Introduction introduces the problem leading to the research, as well as the

purpose, scope and organization of the study

Part B - Development

Chapter I: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review

Theoretical background relative to the topic and surveys of articles, books and other resources that are relevant to the study topic are put This part also provides description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work quoted

Chapter II: Methodology

This part presents the detailed procedure of the study: the methodology, population selection, data collection and analysis

Chapter III: Data Analysis and Results

The part deals with the findings drawn out from the analysis of data The findings and discussion are based on describing the use of slang by American native speakers and their attitudes toward slang

Part C: Conclusions and Recommendations

Main points and contents of the study are summarized based on the results of the study The implications of the study and the recommendations for ESL learners, teachers and translators are thenpresented

PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEOREICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Many people think that they recognise slang when they hear it or see it, but exactly how slang is defined and which terms should or should not be listed under that heading continue

to be the subject of debate Various definitions of slang have been proposed by scholars for over five recent decades The slang of the early time is characterised by Halliday in terms

of ‗antilanguages‘, the secretive codes of transgressive or deviant subcultures - criminals, beggars, travelling entertainers - with their salient features of relexicalisation and overlexicalisation (Halliday, 1978, p.164) In Dumas and Lighter (1978, p14:16), the definition of slang receives a particularly systematic treatment Slang here is defined as any

expression that satisfies at least two of the following criteria (paraphrased), of which the

first criterion is identified as being central to slang

1 It lowers the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing

2 Its use implies the user‘s familiarity either with the referent or with the less statusful or less responsible class of people who have such special familiarity and use the term

3 It is a tabooed term in ordinary discourse with persons of higher social status or greater responsibility

4 It is used in place of the well-known conventional synonym, especially in order to (a) protect the user from the discomfort caused by the conventional item or (b) protect the user from the discomfort or annoyance of further elaboration

Later sociolinguists have focused on the role of adolescent slang in the construction of social identity among, for example, street gangs or high school students (Labov, 1982; Eckert, 1989) Recent linguistic work has refined our understanding of the concept of

1 Translated from the Vietnamese version by the writer of the thesis

slang Finegan (1994, p.373), for instance, defines slang as a variety of speech ―used in

situations of extreme informality, often with rebellious undertones or an intention of distancing its users from certain mainstream values.‖

Most recently, in the Cambridge History of the English Language, Lighter writes:

―Slang denotes an informal, nonstandard, nontechnical vocabulary composed chiefly of sounding synonyms (and near synonyms) for standard words and phrases; it is often associated with youthful, raffish, or undignified persons and groups; and it conveys often striking connotations of impertinence or irreverence, especially for established attitudes and values within the prevailing culture.‖ (2001, p 220)

novel-These definitions all have one characteristic in common: slang is defined in terms of a long list of features; of which the work of Lighter has significantly clarified our understanding

of slang in context and relating to historical trends Though, whatever one‘s perspective on slang, it is a natural and inevitable part of the English language, and as such it can be organized according to fundamental features and functions as other English lexemes can

1.1.2 What slang is NOT?

The first misconception about what slang is that, ―The general public uses the word for

anything an English teacher might oppose – anything new or odd” (Lighter, 1994, p.432)

At the same time, Lighter argues, ―slang differs broadly from dialect [a regional or social variety of speech] and jargon [a vocabulary of technical terms]‖ (1994, p.xiii) What‘s more, slang is not catch phrases/ cliché Here are some sample clichés and catch phrases

from students' essays: key to the future, o a bird in the hand

According to Johnson and Fox (n.d, sec.2) slang is certainly not either slogans (Make

love, not war) or graffiti (Lethargy rulezzzzzzzzzzz) Many linguists once confused slang

with argot or cant, which is ―special vocabulary used by a secretive social group‖

(Crystal, 1995, p.448) Argot and cant are used to conceal the meaning from those outside

the group, for example, we have thieves‟ argot or thieves‟ cant This is the original

meaning of slang (in the 18th and early 19th century), but now slang conveys different

senses Further, slang is not colloquialism which is ―simply informal English‖ (Lighter,

1994, p.294) Obviously, slangisms are often used in colloquial speech but not all

colloquialisms are slangisms Slang is, certainly, not solecism, ―breach of grammar; a

breach of etiquette‖ (Allee, 1978, p.355)

Overall, these are very common misunderstandings of slang Avoiding these misconceptions is of vitality for researchers and ESL users of slang

1.1.3 Slang as an integral part of youth culture

Dalzell (2005, para.3) strongly believes that, ―Whatever its source, youth slang is a core element of youth culture.‖ Other elements can be easily regulated by adult authorities, but also according to Dalzell, ―Even the most vigilant and repressive attempts by adult authority cannot completely eradicate slang and music with its slang lyrics.‖ (2005, para.3) Supporting this viewpoint, Thorne, the compiler of the bestselling Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, says that apart from being a controversial and spectacular social phenomenon, slang is a variety which belongs to young people themselves (2004, para.2) Discussing about stimulus for the creation and distribution of slang, Dalzell (2005,

para.4) holds that the four factors that are the most likely to produce slang are youth,

oppression, sports and vice, of which youth is the most powerful The reason for his

argument is that we are not all members of a group that is oppressed by a dominant culture,

we are not all sports fanatics, and we do not all fall into vice with its attendant argot, but surely we are all young once When we are young, we always tend to invent slang words that we recognize as our own

All in all, slang is a central part of youth culture which is very difficult to be controlled

context of situation (Halliday et al., 1964, p.87) The following definition of register aims

at enlightening the contexts wherein the Americans are most likely to use slang

Register is characterized by the dimensions of field, mode and tenor of discourse by

Halliday (1978) Field of discourse is the ongoing activity and the particular purposes that

the use of language is serving within the context of that activity (Halliday, 1978, p.62)

This means field covers the content or topic of discussion and the social setting Prominent

researchers on slang like Eble (1996), Andersson and Trudgill (1990) agree that it is used

in informal situations By which they mean that using slang in formal contexts is absolutely inappropriate The topics the speakers engage in are also determined by the contexts they find themselves in Some common topics of slang users as found in

dictionaries of American slang include sex and body parts, drugs, drinks, cars, fashion,

and dating Mode of discourse refers to whether the medium of communication is spoken

or written and it determines the role played by the language in a situation (Crystal, 1997, p.244) The American slang under investigation can be either spoken or written, depending

on the settings they find themselves Tenor of discourse is defined by Halliday (1978,

p.33) as, ― relationship between participants not merely variation in formality but such questions as the permanence or otherwise of the relationship and the degree of emotional charge in it.‖ This means tenor also includes the age, social status, and background of the participants, as well as the level of formality between them

The investigation of slang as a stylistic variety concentrates on the relationship between interlocutors, the level of formality of the situation and the degree of emotion expressed by them The speakers‘ relationship greatly accounts Whether they are friend-friend, parent-child, teacher-student affects their choice of language, as argued by Thomas et al ― speakers take into account whom they are talking to and alter their speech accordingly‖ (2004, p.169) Slang, representative of informal situations, is spoken predominantly in casual settings between friends or with people who are familiar with one another

1.1.4.2 Slang and social aspects of language variation

―Certain social factors – who you are taking to, the social context of the talk, the function and topic of the discussion – turn out to be important in accounting for language choice in many different kinds of speech community‖ (Holmes, 2001, p.21) For that reason, exploring the use and users of slang, which form a focal part of the current

research, requires an understanding of this variety in use in combination with the social

context, which has been discussed in the previous part, as well as the social characteristics

of its speakers

This study focuses on speakers‘ age, gender and level of education to analyze the

relationship between frequency of use and attitudes toward slang, and these social aspects

Age is an important factor in language variation and in language change Holmes (2001,

p.183) points out that there are age-graded patterns of speech that are appropriate for year olds or teenagers which disappear when they grow older For example, children use some vocabulary items that adults never do, and vice versa Slang, the most nonlinguistic type of language, is believed to be used by the youth However, among the youngsters, whether there exists any difference in slang use between them is still an open question For instance, is there a difference between the use of slang by high school students (aged 15-17) and the use of slang by college students (aged 18-25)? The current research will deal

10-with that question In relation to slang and gender, Bailey (1985, p.5) maintains that ―

slang is used more by males than by females.‖ However, in her study, De Klerk (in Mesthrie, 1995, p.268) argues that the gender difference in use and tolerance of slang is leveling out in contemporary society and that the stereotype of males being the primary

slang users is open to question Education is also one of the factors influencing the choice

of sounds, grammatical elements, and vocabulary (Sociolinguistics, Encyclopedia Britannica, para.1) Therefore, it is, of course, a factor affecting the use of slang However,

no previous research deals with this rapport

1.1.5 Social functions of slang

Slang, as other language varieties, is supposed to complete various functions for its users Some scholars hold that slang users employ this variety for social identification

purposes, when they wish to show others where they are from

Eric Partridge, an influential American lexicographer, provides a long list of fifteen possible reasons for using slang, among them being the following: for fun, humor, playfulness; to be creative; to shock others; to reduce excessive seriousness of a conversation; to be secretive; for group identity and solidarity (1935, Ch.2) Wentworth & Flexner remark that the need to use slang terms reflects a need to reject the mainstream, to

rebel against the squares, in order to be accepted as an insider They write,

―We would rather share or accept vices than be excluded from a social group For this reason, for self-defense, and to create an aura (but not the fact) of modernity and individuality, much of our slang purposely expresses amorality, cynicism, and ‗toughness‘.‖ (p xi:xii)

Bailey (1985, p.3) maintains that slang may be used for humorous effect; to regulate social interaction whereby a group uses particular words for particular purposes such as in greeting and farewells Over a decade later, Eble (1996, p.4) reiterates some of the

purposes first mentioned by Partridge and adds to these by referring to the function of

slang as a means of opposing established authority In fact, much slang, according to

Thorne (2009, para.2), functions as an alternative vocabulary, ―replacing standard terms

with more forceful, emotive or interesting versions just for the fun of it.‖

Nine most-agreed reasons have been selected from these various functions and used in

the questionnaire (see Appendix C, PART B) as a benchmark to find out whether people in

this study use slang for similar reasons

1.1.6 Lexicological and semantic classifications of slang

Slang is traditionally categorised in the perspectives of lexicology, semantics, and

lexicography Lexicological classification of slang words and phrases is perfectly done by

Eble (1996, p.48) based on word formation or word building Accordingly, the slangisms

of surprise and disbelief in the current study are born in the following ways

* Coinage: Its ‗inventors‘ use new word according to a particular context; for example,

‗diggity‘ (in Hot diggity dog!) was coined by the blackstreet group The phrase expresses

extra excitement and anticipation

* Compounding: Generally, the youth employ this type of word-formation process to

exhibit their creativity The following are a few of the examples they provided as part if

this investigation:

Examples: hot + damn = hot dog!: an interjection of surprise

holy + cow = holy cow!: an exclamation of surprise

* Blending: Within the process of blending, parts of the combined words are removed or

altered

Example: By Jesus → bejeezus!: a noun for emphasis of scary surprise

* Clipping: It is pointed out that, generally, in slang some words are shortened by eliding

the final syllable, while other words are lengthened In some cases, the words have not

only been clipped but added to one or two letter to make them naturally pronounced The

following example is found to have undergone the process of clipping

Example: Jesus → Jeez/ Geez!: a mild oath or introductory expletive to express

surprise

* Acronyms: Eble (1996, p.35) refers to this process as shortening, whereby ―sounds are

eliminated from words without an immediate change in meaning‖ This process occurs quite a lot in the group of slangisms of surprise and disbelief

Examples: - GTFO! (Get The Fuck Out): an expression of excitement for

something really extraordinary, including doubt of its existence

- OMG!(Oh My God): an expression of surprise and disbelief

- WTF! (What The Fuck): an exclamation of unpleasant surprise

* Shifting: This is a process whereby Standard English words have shifted denotations (De

Klerk in Mesthrie, 1995, p.274) This is also known as conversion or functional shift The reason for that is youth always try to break the monotony of life by creating for themselves

a fun and humorous way to deal with everyday, often, serious situations

Examples: - Yahoo (uncultured, ignorant, or stupid person) → an exclamation of

surprise and disbelief

- Hot dog (a sausage heated and served in a long split roll) → an expression of approval or gratification

* Lexical borrowing, the adoption of individual words or even large sets of vocabulary

items from another language or dialect, applies to some of slang items

Examples: Sheesh!: Anglicized version of the German word "Scheisse" (shit)

Eesh!: a Greek term from mythologists during the 10th century

Semantic classification of slang has been mostly done by linguists and lexicographers

Recently, Thorne (2005, p.3) categorizes slang into 13 groups:

1 Intoxication by drink or drugs (17.46%)

2 Terms of approbation (15.23%)

3 Romance, sex and related body parts (12.06%)

4 Insults and terms denoting misfits (11.42%)

5 Terms of disapproval/disappointment (8.25%)

6 Greetings, farewells and exclamations (5.07%)

7 Social or ethnic categorisations (4.76%)

8 Relaxation (4.44%)

9 Money (3.80%)

10 Negative or unsettling states (3.49%)

11 Anger or excited states (3.17%)

1.2 Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang – a speech act

This section looks at the notion of speech act and Speech Act Theory, which aims at

providing important theoretical background for the study

1.2.1 Speech act and speech act classification

Speech acts can be defined as ―actions performed via utterances‖ (Yule, 1996, p.47) A particular speech act is performed within a speech event in a certain situation In other words, speech acts are the minimal units of the speech situation-speech event-speech act set

Kinds of speech acts are distinguished in different ways The following classification is very common in pragmatics Rooted in Austin‘s work (1962), Searle (1969) and Cohen (1996) group all speech acts into five basic types based on the speaker‘s communicative

intentions They are Representatives (telling how things are); Directives (getting people to

do something); Commissives (committing the speaker to do something); Expressives (expressing feelings and attitudes), and Declaratives (acts causing changes in the world

through the execution)

In making an utterance, Levinson (1983, p.236) sees that three kinds of acts are simultaneously performed These kinds of acts can be simply summarized as followed:

- Locutionary act: The words the speaker uses

- Illocutionary act: What the speaker is doing by using those words (accusing,

requesting, promising, and so on)

- Perlocutionary act: The effect of those words on the hearer

This classification of speech acts is employed as a yardstick to analyze slang terms in the coming chapters

1.2.2 Speech Act Theory

Speech Act Theory attempts to offer explanations on how the speaker uses language to accomplish intended actions and how the hearer infers the intended meaning on the basis

of what is said The theory is based on the assumption that it is the performance of certain acts rather than linguistic expressions that is the minimal unit of human interaction (Austin, 1962; Grice, 1975; Searle, 1969, 1975, 1979) The theory, as Yule argues, has provided a basic unit of analysis that helps to illustrate the kinds of things we can do with words and

to identify conventional utterance forms associated with specific actions (1996, p.58)

Since the introduction of speech act theory, much work has been focused on single speech act However, communication in reality, as maintained by Searle, involves a series

of sequences of speech acts (1979, p.27), and it is necessary to look at more extended interactions to understand how our actions are carried out and interpreted within speech events Therefore, a theory of conversation, which is about how speech acts combine in

connected discourse, is required to complement Speech Act Theory

1.2.3 “Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang” as a speech act

By and large, from the view of Austin, ‗expressing surprise and disbelief‘ belongs to

Expressives In everyday conversation, there always exists a stimulus and a response Tsui

(1995, p.57) typifies a response as ―an utterance which fulfils the interactional expectation set up by the preceding initiating act‖ Consequently, ‗expressing surprise and disbelief‘ is considered part of a communicative act, more specifically, a responding act, because it is produced in reply to an initiating act (or a stimulus), which may be giving a piece of breaking news An expression of surprise and disbelief can serve several functions of communication such as complimenting, sympathizing, etc The response in the situation below is a sympathy When something bad happens to someone else, but not too bad, American people might say "yikes" to express their empathy S1 got a bad sunburn and

showed it to S2 (stimulus), S2: ―Yikes! It looks like that really hurts!” In other words, the

slangism of surprise and disbelief is expressive The speaker certainly expresses his/her feelings or attitudes toward the stimulus

Based on the classification by Levinson, it is a speech act with three levels Further, it

is observable that the act of expressing surprise and disbelief, like any other speech acts, possesses both illocutionary force and propositional content The correct understanding of the intended illocutionary force is inevitably dependent upon the context Below is an example of how this three-level analysis works for B‘s utterance to A:

- A: I‘m gay - B: What the hell??

 Locutionary act: B said ‗What the hell?‘ which can be semantically paraphrased as:

„I‟m not believing and totally shocked at the weird thing you‟ve said.‟

 Illocutionary act: By that statement, B performed the act of expressing extreme surprise and disbelief at A‘s news

 Perlocutionary act: B‘s utterance may have any of the following perlocutions: A gives

explanations, A persuades B that being gay is not weird, etc

In addition, indirect speech act markedly appears in expressing surprise and disbelief The responses under investigation are generally uttered to show other communicative

intentions, not merely surprise Let‘s study the following example: Stimulus: Something

unexpected or unpleasant happened; response: ―What the deuce?” This slang phrase is

not only an expression of surprise but also of dismay and irritation

On the whole, in term of pragmatics, expressing surprise and disbelief through slang is one kind of speech act used frequently in interaction

1.3 American slang and its role in today’s American society

1.3.1 American slang and its characteristics

It‘s the evolution of American English that leads to differences between American slang and slang of other English varieties When the pioneers living in the New World had children, they taught their children to pronounce words the way they were written, in order

to keep things simple This was the first break from British English (American Slang for ESL Students, n.d., para 2) As America grew, so did a new casual variety of English – American English, which was greatly influenced by cowboys, sports, the building of the

railroad, the card game of poker, African-American culture, immigrants, and so on

American slang, as defined by Flexner, ― is the body of words and expressions frequently used by or intelligible to a rather large portion of the general American public, but not accepted as good, formal usage by the majority‖ (1975, p.vi) This definition seems

a little too broad, making nearly everything slang except a few highly formal terms

American slang is characterized by the following features: ephemerality,

generativeness, and fertility Dalzell (2005, para.2) puts that, ―both the ephemeral and

regenerative traits are nowhere more apparent than in the slang of American youth.‖ He

also stresses American slang is also known for its fertility; it reproduces itself in abundance

with each new generation At any given moment, there are many, many slang words and expressions in use across the country Only the strong terms or phrases survive, the rest are

quickly discarded and forgotten, marking evidence to a generation or subculture

1.3.2 Importance and prevalence of slang in today’s American society

About the power of slang, Dalzell (2005) says, ―slang is generally a bit wittier and cleverer than Standard American English.‖ (para.1) Therefore, slang permeates American speech to an astounding degree This popularity is probably caused by the rush of

journalists, politicians and transmitters of popular culture to hold the latest words to color a newspaper headline, stump speech, advertisement or television script Plenty of recent research shows a stronger realization that slang is part of American today‘s culture and should be used rather than ignored Many other studies also reveal that there has been in increase in frequency of slang use in various fields and that there has been more tolerance and social acceptability of slang in the United States

In 2000, the US Media Research Center compared 1989 and 1999: ―The overall use of profane language has skyrocketed over 500 percent since 1989‖ (In Wachal, 2002, p.196)

An article in Brandweek Magazine urges advertising executives to stay on top of the latest slang because it ―can be such a key to communicating with the kids‖ (Ebencamp, 1998, p.24) Surely advertisers know that slang opens doors to communicating and interacting with young people A survey on attitudes toward the use of business slang by Gilsdorf releases that an unexpectedly large number of respondents expressed tolerant attitudes toward the terms frequently labeled as non-words by academics (1993, p.29) Though they vary widely in kind and quality, business slang is now widely used in the States, as they can sometimes be precise and expressive, and can sometimes add conciseness and comfort

to everyday, informal business communications

To sum up, the popularity and power of American slang have come as no surprise Hence, it is necessary to acknowledge that slang is certainly a reality for members of the American population and there is higher acceptability of slang use in this society today

1.3.3 History of American Youth Slang (AYS)

When we think of slang, then, we either think of the slang of the youth For this reason, Dalzell states that ― youth slang exerts enormous power over American English.‖ (2005, para.1)

The history of AYS has been presented and critically analyzed by this author in his

famous book ‗Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang‟ (Dalzell, 1996) Accordingly,

AYS can be grouped into eight main periods with brief description of slang and relevant historical milestones as follows

P1 Before the Flapper (pre-1920 slang)

Before World War I, a viable youth subculture did not exist anywhere other than on the campuses of colleges and possibly within pockets of youthful vagrants, criminal and workers Therefore, slang of this period was the slang of college students Most of the

vocabulary deals with academic subjects such as campus landmarks, college rivalries and

academic subjects For example, bull means to discuss at length, blood means excellent, skin means to plagiarize

P2 The 1920s: The Flappers

The term flapper in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, listened to the new jazz music, drunk, smoked and showed off heir disregard for what considered socially acceptable

The 1920s was a decade that was extraordinarily prolific for the American language, part of which is slang Different from slang of the previous period, the Flappers‘ slang so

much reflected drinking habits, intoxication, currency, and sex, such as speakeasy for a

place to purchase illegal alcohol, boffo for a dollar, lip stick for a cigarette,

barney-mugging for sex

P3 The 1930s

The early 1930s were chaotic years in America The Great Depression had devastating effects on the country Much slang from the era comes out as a response to the Depression:

from Okies a migratory agricultural worker who migrated west because of drought and

farm foreclosure, to many terms related to President Hoover, who was blamed for the

Depression (Hoover blankets: newspapers used to keep warm while sleeping outdoors, Hoover flags: empty pockets turned inside out)

P4 The 1940s

Youth slang of this period was influenced to an inestimable degree by jive, black street vernacular that began to migrate into broad popular youth culture with the swing music and jitterbug craze of the late 1930s Most importantly, although much of the jive/youth slang

of the 1940s would fade by the end of the decade, it would lay an important foundation for the slang of the coming decades

P5 The 1950s

Besides the mainstream popular culture, a social and literary movement in this period called Beat Movement, which was as a reaction by the younger generation to the new materialistic way of life, had certain effects on the society Central elements of Beat culture include rejection of mainstream values, experimentation with drugs and alternate forms of sexuality, and an interest in Eastern spirituality The Fifties slang wasn't as colorful as the social changes, while the Sixties, with its drug and protest culture, was slang heaven

P6 The 1960s

The 1960s are often remembered as the decade of the hippies, who were individuals best known for rejecting many of society's morals and attitudes, and engaging in risky drug behavior The slang of this period which drew heavily from Beat and jazz slang strongly reflected many aspects of hippie culture A large part of hippie slang dealt with drugs, sex,

smoking and many of them are outlaw words (fuck, shit)

P7 The 1970s and 1980s

In the late 1970s, the United States paused to gather its collective breath after a decade

of presidential scandal, war and social/racial upheaval During this pause, the coining and

use of slang slowed - but not for long In the 1980s, hip-sounding video-jockeys on MTV

joined the ranks of slang instructors; their language was also heavily influenced by the African-American street For the last two years, the black slang of hip-hop culture and rap music has dominated American youth slang among all classes Another source for youth slang is, surprisingly, the slang graveyard of generations past

P8 The 1990s

As the 1990s edge towards to 21st century, youth culture in America remains without a unifying youth movement For sure, hip-hop culture and rap music continue to have a tremendous cultural influence At the same time, a range of ethnocentric choices of music exist for young white kids, including grunge, heavy metal, alternative music, and country and western There are two basic trends within young slang of the 1990s Rap continues to exert a tremendous influence on the language of young people in America Second, there is

the clever and ironic use of Standard English with a tendency toward bad-is-good meaning

1.4 Summary

This chapter has discussed first, concepts and misconcepts of slang, then the roles of slang as an indispensable element of youth culture and as a language variety, and finally the social functions of slang or reasons why people use slang Focused analysis is on

‗Expressing surprise and disbelief via slang as a speech act‘, based on speech act

classification The last part of the chapter has dealt with matters in American slang and its importance in America today

This chapter serves as a driving principle for the study that is going to be presented in Chapter 3 The next chapter will be a discussion of methodology used in the research

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Aim of the Empirical Study

The overall aim of the empirical study is to gather data in order to provide a description

of attitudes toward slang and the use of slang by American youth Particularly, it aims at (1) exploring attitudes toward slang use and discovering the rapport between these attitudes and social aspects like age, gender, and academic background among American youth, (2) investigating frequency of use, reasons and contexts for slang use, (3) identifying current and popular slangisms of surprise and disbelief, and (4) categorizing these slang expressions based on the contexts and the level of users‘ emotion

2.2 Methodology

Qualitative research, as Seliger and Shohamy (1989) claims, is a useful approach

wherever an investigator is concerned with discovering or describing second language acquisition in its natural state or context (p.124) For this reason, I have chosen qualitative

as a principal approach for my research, the one that I think can best serve the research

aims However, quantitative method, a research method that is much more focused on the

collection and analysis of numerical data and statistics, still plays a certain role, especially

in evaluating current and common slangisms

2.3 Data collection methods

2.3.1 Questionnaire survey

In order to attain the research objectives, it is required to go into the knowledge, opinions, ideas, beliefs, expectations, and experiences of the research subjects What‘s more, the survey needs conducting for a population of different groups of subjects in a short time Questionnaire survey can meet such requirements because, according to Wallace, this method has the advantage of being less time-consuming and gathering plenty

of responses from a large number of informants (1998, p.130)

Questionnaire method, however, has some limitations as Wallace mentions when

arguing problematic aspects of using questionnaires (1998, p.127) First, the method is of subjectivity Questionnaire results depend much on the respondents who are sometimes not sure about their responses and may have a motivation (consciously or unconsciously) for giving incorrect answers; and we the researchers are unable to check on such feedback Another problem lies in the nature of samples The survey participants are just part of the whole target population and we think of them as a sample of a larger group But sampling

can be such a complex issue that we may not control it except when we get a 100%

‗sample‘, which is totally infeasible for the research And the last problem about questionnaires is that they can be quite intrusive techniques The respondents may feel that completing questionnaires is a waste of time and they benefit nothing from that This fact more or less has certain effects on responses to the questionnaire

 Design of the questionnaire: (see Appendix C)

The questionnaire comprises of three main sections The first one requires respondents

to provide their demographic details like age, gender, occupation and educational background The second section (PART A) consists of questions requiring the respondents

to present information about each of slang expressions given These 20 slangisms of

surprise and disbelief have been collected from the online Historical Dictionary of

American Slang, which is a reliable, up-to-date online dictionary (see Appendix A for the

original source of the slang expressions) The aim of this substantial section is to find out which slang terms are currently and commonly used It also aims at providing a description

of nuances of meaning, degree of emotion charge, and social context connoted in each

slangism In the last section (PART B), the respondents are requested to indicate their frequency of using this group of slang terms, the reasons why they use them, the contexts wherein they would use them, and their attitudes toward slang use

The first version of the questionnaire has been piloted with two American teachers at Hanoi University of Technology, where the author is working Then problems remained in that version have been discussed and revised In general, the questionnaire has been nicely designed and very respondent-friendly

 Distribution of the questionnaire:

In order to minimize the disadvantages of the method, the following measures have

been taken First, the questionnaire has been distributed via emails, personal blog, and

facebook, which are common electronic tools for communication today In this way, only

those who have enough interest, patience and commitment took part in the survey Additionally, they can easily distribute my questionnaire to their friends and relatives who have the same interest More importantly, respondents do not feel reluctant to respond to the questionnaire because they completely volunteer to do it If they don‘t, our relationship

will not be affected at all Second, accompanying the questionnaire is an invitation letter

(see Appendix B) which clearly states the purposes and significance of the research,

especially its importance in providing a better understanding of American language and culture This letter is believed to encourage American youngsters to join the survey

2.3.2 Follow-up interviews

Milroy and Gordon (2003, p.61) point out the importance of interviews in producing qualitative data that can complement the quantitative data collected and analysed The type

of interviews adopted in this study is follow-up interviews which have been done in case

the questionnaire survey does not bring about satisfying results That is the case when the respondents give out ambiguous or unclear answers, but their answers are really important

to the research The follow-up interviews have been undertaken right after getting survey

data The findings from the interviews serve to substantiate the data gathered from the

questionnaires The researcher has integrated and represented the results of the interview

by providing some examples of use of some slang terms in Chapters 1 and 3 of this study

2.3.3 Participant observations

As to avoid the possible limitations of questionnaires to the study results, participant observation is used in combination with them The strength of observational methods, as Burns said, is ―the new perspectives they offer on familiar situations, i.e ordinary and habitual occurrences can be given new meanings when they are engaged with more closely and systematically‖ (1999, p.81) Observation will be a useful supplementary tool for it allows the researcher to see objectively what people actually do, in comparison with what they say they do

non-In this study, the researcher conducted personal observation of a group of American volunteer teachers (aged 22-27) who are living in Hanoi They have been observed in informal contexts such as at shops, at social gatherings, etc The researcher would then take notes immediately after each observation, to capture the data relevant to this study The purpose of the participant observation was to confirm the findings in the questionnaire The researcher drew examples of the findings from personal observation and integrated these as part of the data analysis

2.4 Conclusion

For purposes of relevance to the study of slang among American youth, the researcher has chosen to embrace the use of written questionnaires, interviews, and participant observation as dater-gathering methodologies The next chapter is a statistical analysis of the data gathered

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

3.1 Data presentation

3.1.1 Description of the population sample

One month after the questionnaire was distributed via emails, personal blogs, and

facebook, 58 completed questionnaires were returned However, two of them had to be

removed because the respondents were outside of the target group (aged over 30) Thus,

totally there have been 56 questionnaires collected Some of the respondents are now

working in Hanoi, the rest are residing in the USA

3.1.2 Backgrounds of the respondents

The written questionnaire is exclusively aimed at American young people between the ages of 15 and 30, who are L1 speakers of American English All the demographical information of the participants is mentioned in the first section of the questionnaire (see Appendix C) Table 1 indicates all of the information about the respondents

Table 1 Backgrounds of the participants

(out of 56)

Percentage (out of 100%)

 High school students

 College students/ BA holders

Regarding occupation, the participants of the survey do many different jobs, namely

student, librarian, Lutheran deaconess, claims processor, researcher, etc Because of this

variety, it is not possible to group these informants based on their jobs The current research, therefore, would not consider ‗occupation‘ as a social aspect which may affect the use of slang

To conclude, 56 respondents of the survey can be sorted into different groups according

to their age, gender, and level of education The number of people in each group is

relatively equal, which is an advantage for the researcher when analyzing the data

3.2 Findings and discussions

3.2.1 The use of slang expressing surprise and disbelief

3.2.1.1 Frequency of slang use

Chart 1: Frequency of using slang among American youth

Data from the survey questionnaire (see Appendix C, PART B – Question 1) show that the American young people use these slang expressions at high frequency Expressly,

almost half of them often use the slang words and phrases, the same proportion occasionally employs them, and only 4% of the respondents say they rarely use these

slangisms (see Chart 1)

These results are completely corresponding with previous studies which reveal that slang is mostly and frequently used by the youth The facts also support the conclusions by scholars that slang has permeated everyday speech One of the reasons for that may be originated from the fact that, American slang, as described by poet Whitman in the late 19thcentury, is more humorous and smarter than Standard English

The concern now is whether there exists a difference in frequency of use among these groups of young people This question will be discussed in the coming parts on the

relationship between frequency of use and users‘ social aspects like age, gender, and level

of education

3.2.1.1.1 Age and frequency of use

Table 2 Age and frequency of using slang

Frequency of using slang

a Always b Often c Occasionally d Rarely e Never

Table 1 above shows that an absolute percentage (100%) of the respondents in the age

category 15-17 use slang often Remarkably, the frequency of slang use decreases when

the age increases Looking at the rest two groups, it is found out that the people of 18-24 use slang far less than the younger group but much more than the older one Over one tenth

of the oldest respondents (25-30) say they rarely use slangisms of surprise and disbelief,

while none of the other two groups do

This finding supports the one by De Klerk (1991, p.68:82) who claims that it is expected for slang to be used particularly by teenagers and adolescents It also fortifies Eckert‘s statement that linguistic style is an important part of age-appropriate behavior and that adolescence has been pinpointed as a turning point in the speaker‘s sociolinguistic competence (2000, p.8)

The use of slang by mainly adolescent youth is a reflection of characteristics of these participants as juvenile and linguistically adventurous They are at a vital stage in their language development to be trial and creative with language and to assert language as their own, cause to undergo changes in form and function for purposes suitable for them They take possession of Standard English, process it and make changes that adults would not anticipate nor be inventive enough to do The youth build words from Standard English to meet their own needs particular to them and their age, as well as to their culture

3.2.1.1.2 Gender and frequency of use

Although the majority of the participants are female, the results show that 56% of the

males say they often use this group of slangisms opposed to 43% of the females Moreover, 7% of the female respondents state that they rarely use these slang terms, while

none of the male ones choose this option (see the table below)

Table 3 Gender and frequency of using slang

Frequency of using slang

a Always b Often c Occasionally d Rarely e Never

or the ‗F-word‘, containing ‗fuck‘ (like WTF, GTFO) more than females do Further, they are more likely to use ‗stronger expressions‘ such as hot dog, hot damn, crazy than

people of the opposite sex Another example of this is the slang phrase ‗What the hell/

heck?‘ Expressing the same idea, the men use a very strong term hell, whereas women use

a milder heck

It is concluded that they are used more by males than by females, and that men have a tendency of using taboo and stronger expressions, while women are likely to employ neutral and milder ones This finding is completely verified by Bailey (1985, p.5) who maintains that men use slang more than women, and Preston and Shuy (1988) who claims that gender differences in using English appear to be notable (p.14)

3.2.1.1.3 Education and frequency of use

The table followed releases attention-grabbing facts about the correlation between

users‘ educational background and their frequency of slang use Accordingly, all of the high school students believe that they often use this group of slangisms, whereas only one third (35%) and 6% of, respectively, college students/ BA holders and MA holders do What‘s more, over half of the college students/ BA holders group say they occasionally