CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The origin of Internet Slang can be traced back to the year 2005, which was long before the beginning of the Internet itself. The Jargon File (2005) began in Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence computer lab to define computer hacker terms. The Jargon File (2005) further explains that “hacker culture” began the use of slang, “among hackers, though, slang has a subtler aspect, paralleled perhaps in the slang of jazz musicians and some kinds of fine artists but hard to detect in most technical or scientific cultures; parts of it are code for shared states of consciousness”.

Preece (2001) spoke of the Internet as a place that allows people to communicate without distance being a determining factor for the utterance, and where they can share common beliefs through the Web. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, are one of many web areas where people develop communities and form new ways of interpreting communication such as teens are doing today to communicate with each other. The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines slang as “Very informal language that is used especially in speech by particular groups of people and which sometimes includes words that are not polite” (“Slang”, 2015).

Social networking has allowed these communities to develop their own language (Tellaria, 2012,). Further, Internetslang.com is a website that tracks and defines over 9,000 currently used Internet Slang terms and also tracks the top 10 trending terms (Internetslang.com, 2015). This makes it easy for teens today to understand and reference the Internet Slang language for their community. There is literature that discusses the use of Internet Slang in the classroom and on academic assignments. In studying the topic of Internet Slang usage, the opinions of teachers have been found on both sides of the issue. There have been debates amongst teachers and scholars regarding the effects of Internet Slang used in secondary education (Krupnick, 2010).

Tilley (2009). According to a Nielsen poll conducted in late 2008, teens in the United States send and receive, on average, 80 texts daily, a number that doubled in only one year. (Tilley, 2009). Brown, Campbell, & Ling (2011) have noted that teens primarily use smartphones for texting and less for voice calling, pictures, music, and video. Madden et al., (2013).Researchers are beginning to define effects of the use of Internet Slang-via text messaging-on secondary education, and some researchers are finding negative results between the use of Internet Slang in text messages and tests results on academic assignments (Cingel & Sundar, 2012).

Some students appear to be addicted to using Internet Slang in their academic school assignments, and they have been observed to have trouble switching from “text slang” during examinations to the proper use of English Grammar (Ochonogor, Alakpodia, & Achugbue, 2012). In other studies, teens feel that texting gives them a sense of immediacy of the conversation and take great pride in being able to type fast (Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, & Macgill, 2008).

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There is a language of today that has grown in popularity with the age of computers, smart phones, and social media platforms. Internet slang has been used by many on line communities and has changed vernaculars through many of these communities during the years of the information highway’s lifespan. These slangs has really affected the students of secondary schools in that they tend to abbreviate words not just on the social media but in the examinations they write thereby throwing the examiner into confusion as he/she finds it difficult to understand the explanations that is made by the students; it also makes the student to completely forget the correct spelling and pronunciation of a particular word in English language. Finally, several research has been carried out on the internet language among day students in private secondary schools but not even a single research has been carried out on the effect of internet slangs in the writing and speaking of English language in secondary school.

1.3   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

        The main of the study is to determine the effect of internet slangs in the writing and speaking of English language. Other specific objective of the study is to include;

1. to determine the extent to which internet slangs affects the writing and speaking of English language in secondary schools.
2. to determine the causative factors of internet slangs and its effect in the speaking and writing of English language in secondary school.
3. to determine the influence of internet slangs over speaking and writing of English language in secondary school.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problems.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS               

1. What is the extent to which internet slangs affects the writing and speaking of English language in secondary schools?
2. What are the causative factors of internet slangs and its effect in the speaking and writing of English language in secondary school?
3. What is the influence of internet slangs over speaking and writing of English language in secondary school?
4. What are the possible solutions to the problems?

1.5   STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0:   The speaking and writing of English language in secondary schools has not been influenced by internet slangs.

H1:      The speaking and writing of English language in secondary schools has been influenced by internet slangs.

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

        The study on the effect of internet slangs in the writing and speaking English language will be of immense to the entire secondary schools in the sense that it will enable the school authority to take note of the students that are victim of this; in that they are placing this internet slang into their academic work; though sometimes it could be difficult to totally eradicate the use of internet slangs among secondary school students but there is always a way of reduction. The study would enable the teachers to give a quality punishment to those that are still involved in the usage of the slangs. Finally, the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of study and basis for further research.

1.7   SCOPE OF STUDY

        The study on the effect of internet slangs in the writing and speaking of English language is limited to secondary school.

1.8   LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Effect      A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

Internet  A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.

Slangs     A type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people

Writing     Is a medium of human communication that represents language and emotion with signs and symbols. 

Speaking The action of conveying information or expressing one's feelings in speech