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CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW2.1.SlangSlang is a compound word formed by the combination of ‘s’ in ‘street’ and ‘lang’ in ‘language’. Therefore, slang is used to referred to Street language, an informal form of a language, used in daily communication by a certain group of people. According to the encyclopedia, slang consists of a lexicon of nonstandard words and phrases in a given language. Use of these words and phrases is typically associated with the subversion of a standard variety (such as Standard English) and is likely to be interpreted by listeners as implying particular attitudes on the part of the speaker. In some contexts, a speakers selection of slang words or phrases may convey prestige, indicating group membership or distinguishing group members from those who are not a part of the group.For example:Cockney rhyming slang is the language used in London by Cockney – the people who were born within the sound of Bow Bells; therefore, the people from other places cannot understand at the first listening. The Vietnamese students also have their own slang.No table (slang): no comment
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION I.1. Statement of the problem English is one of the most important languages in the world. It can even be said to be the single most important language. It is the international language, the only language that truly links the whole world together. According to Jennifer (2013), English has special or official status in more than 75 countries. It’s spoken as the first language by 375 million people and as the second language by approximately 375 million people. Estimates suggest that one in every four people is able to speak a little English, with numbers increasing year-on-year. Moreover, a mastery of the language provides job opportunities outside of English-speaking countries, as well as in them. Multinational corporations employ English-speakers in offices around the world. English is also the first language of organisations such as the European Union, the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and NATO. In summary, English is very important in our life. For this reason, schools in countries with other primary languages often require students to study English as a Second Language or a Foreign one. In Vietnam, English has become a compulsory subject at secondary schools as well as high schools. However, together with speaking standard English, Vietnamese students have invented a number of statements which no one can understand at the first listening. These statements belong to the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English and can be understood as a kind of slang. The phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English among the young people in Vietnam is becoming more and more popular. More important, this issue is ripened into a huge social problem. In an article, Dr. Le Trung Ngan 1 has said “This phenomenon firstly seemed to be harmless but it has gradually left unforeseen consequences”. Because of the current state of using the so-called slang among the Vietnamese youths and the serious consequences left, this study is carried out with the purpose of explorring the current situation towards the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English among the students at Cao Ba Quat High School – whether they are interested in using slang or not, and their opinions about this phenomenon. I.2. Objectives The objective of this study is to explore the current practice of using slang, specially, the words and phrases towards the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English in such 7 aspects as the extent of the knowledge of slang, the frequency of using slang, the reasons for not using slang, when to use slang, the reasons for using slang, the feelings about slang and the opinions towards the impacts of using slang. 2 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Slang Slang is a compound word formed by the combination of ‘s’ in ‘street’ and ‘lang’ in ‘language’. Therefore, slang is used to referred to Street language, an informal form of a language, used in daily communication by a certain group of people. According to the encyclopedia, slang consists of a lexicon of non-standard words and phrases in a given language. Use of these words and phrases is typically associated with the subversion of a standard variety (such as Standard English) and is likely to be interpreted by listeners as implying particular attitudes on the part of the speaker. In some contexts, a speaker's selection of slang words or phrases may convey prestige, indicating group membership or distinguishing group members from those who are not a part of the group. For example: Cockney rhyming slang is the language used in London by Cockney – the people who were born within the sound of Bow Bells; therefore, the people from other places cannot understand at the first listening. The Vietnamese students also have their own slang. No table! (slang): no comment! No star where (slang): no problem/ not at all Ugly tiger (slang): shy Black chicken (slang): okey 3 In short, slang is an informal kind of language that is not considered part of the standard vocabulary of a language and that is used very informally in speech, especially by a particular group of people. 2.2. Vietnamese equivalent of English The phrase Vietnamese equivalent of English refers to the way of using Vietnamese equivalent of one English word instead of it when communicating, the English words are combined together to make up a sentence with Vietnamese grammar according to homophonic principle. These sentences do not agree to both English and Vietnamese; in this case, the Vietnamese equivalent is called Slang. (http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi- su/mot-dung-tieng-anh-theo-nghia-viet-cua-teen-2142857.html) The principle of forming the so-called slang is mainly based on the homophonic phenomenon in Vietnamese language. The English words are translated into Vietnamese and combined together to make up a phrase that has a Vietnamese tame meaning. These examples will make it easier to understand the Vietnamese equivalent of English. No table!(slang): No comment! Umbrella tomorrow (slang): sugared dry apricot In the first example, no table is used instead of no comment that has the Vietnamese equivalent of miễn bàn. In Vietnamese, table and comment have the same pronunciation bàn; however, in English, table refers to an article of furniture consisting of a flat, slab top supported on one or more legs or other supports, while comment has the meaning of a remark, observation or criticism. As a result of this homophonic phenomenon, the Vietnamese youths use no table in stead of no comment. 4 Let’s take a look on the second example, Sugared dry apricot is a kind of food and its Vietnamese equivalent is ô mai. In Vietnamese, umbrella is pronounced ô – a portable device used for protection against rain, snow, etc, and consisting of a light canopy supported on a collapsible metal frame mounted on a central rod; tomorrow is pronounced mai – the day following today, this is why umbrella tomorrow is used instead of sugared dry apricot. The other statements belonging to this phenomenon will be mentioned in part 2.3 below. 2.3. List of statements involved in this phenomenon. Below is the list of popular statements involved in this phenomenon which are collected from a private blog blog.zing.vn and from the website www.vietbao.vn. Black chicken (Okey) Clothes donkey (đồ con lừa) Dog die (chó chết) Down birth have fun (Giáng sinh vui vẻ) Dream what (Tưởng gì) Eat picture (ăn ảnh) Go die go (đi chết đi) Go dust (đi bụi) Home face road, dad do big (nhà mặt phố, bố làm to) Hover go for water it pure (lượn đi cho nước nó trong) I wanna toilet kiss you (anh muốn cầu hôn em) 5 I love toilet you sit down (tôi yêu cầu bạn ngồi xuống) I no want salad again! (tôi không muốn cãi nhau với anh nữa) Know die now (Biết chết liền) Lemon question (chảnh) Like is afternoon (Thích thì chiều) No dare where (không dám đâu) No family live (vô gia cư) No I love me (không ai yêu tôi) No four go (Vô tư đi) No star where (không sao đâu) Pickhand dot com (bó tay.com) Seven love (Thất tình) Sky down no enemy (thiên hạ vô địch) Son with no girl (con với chả cái) Star I miss mono? (vì sao tôi cô đơn?) Stop we share hand (thôi mình chia tay) Story minor (Chuyện vặt) Sugar I I go, sugar you you go (đường tôi tôi đi, đường anh anh đi) Sugar sugar a hero man (Đường đường một đấng anh hùng) Ugly tiger (xấu hổ) Umbrella star go again (dù sao đi nữa) 6 Uncle like (Chú thích) Understand die now (hiểu chết liền) You think you delicious? (mày nghĩ mày ngon à?) 2.4. The current state of the phenomenon amongst the young people in Vietnam in recent years. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Khang, the former deputy director of the linguistic institute, believes that slang is a kind of language belonging to certain social groups. When there are different groups in a society, there are different kinds of language that go with these groups. In the past, it is said that slang was unpleasant, for it was undesirable gangs’ language. For this reason, it can be acceptable in informal communication but not appropriate in formal one. However, Slang, for the time being, is used by most of social groups such as students, pupils, office staffs, journalists. etc. The young people in Vietnam nowadays like using slang and consider it a fashionable, particular and typical feature of their group. They use slang anywhere – at school, at home, at the office; with anyone - friends, teachers, parents, even relatives. They update the latest slang from the internet and compare with friends. The young even set up private pages to discuss about slang and introduce them to others. According to vnexpress.net – a Vietnamese electronic newspaper, in many forums, the youths often use this kind of language and even create a slang dictionary. This phenomenon is inclined to develop and become more and more popular over time and space, it spreads from the South to the North, from urban areas to rural ones, from the past to the present. 7 The young introduce slang to friends in a web page There are four primary fators that make the youths interested in the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English. According to Eric Partridge (1934), Today and Yesterday, the young use slang to communicate with others just for the fun of the thing. They want to add the waggishness to their conversation. The second reason is that slang is used as a means by which the insiders make other people unable to identify something. Another reason is that the young use this kind of language by habbit. Quynh Nhu – an overseas student said that “Many people use slang by habbit and I sometimes inadvertently use them when talking to my parents”. (http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/mot-dung-tieng-anh-theo-nghia-viet-cua- teen-2142857.html). One more reason, according to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thanh – a teacher of English at Tran Hung Dao Special High School, is that the young use slang because they do not have a thorough grasp of vocabulary and grammar; thereby, they use slang instead of standard English. 8 In fact, using slang leads to serious consequences. First, using slang in communication makes the interlocutors difficult to comprehend and is even open to misunderstanding. Second, using slang in a long period of time without controlling has made up a habit of using them unconsciously. Most of the youths now certainly face many difficulties in constructing a sentence in grammar as well as in using words in contexts. Last but not least, a large number of the young people in Vietnam have a tendency to use this kind of language casually and widely which damages and crooks the Vietnamese language’s pureness. 9 CHAPTER III. CONTENTS AND METHODOLOGY 3.1. Subjects The subjects of this study are fifty four students, who are at intermediate level in English proficiency. 3.2. Contents This study aims to find out the current situation towards the phenomenon of the Vietnamese equivalent of English among the students at Cao Ba Quat high school in terms of the extent of knowledge of slang, the frequency of using slang, the reasons for not using slang, when to use slang, the feelings of the students about slang and the opinions towards the impacts of using slang. 3.3. Methodology The instrument to collect the data used in this study is questionnaire survey. The researcher chose this method because it has some advantages. First, the responses are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are quite objective. Second, it is relatively quick to collect the information using a questionnaire. Finally, potential information can be collected from a large portion of a group by using questionnaire. In this study, the questionnaire was designed in the form of a test so that it is easy for the students to answer the questions and it helps the researcher collect the data quickly. The questionnaire was given to 54 students at Cao Ba Quat High School in class time. The students were explained how to answer each question. In 15 minutes, the students completed and returned it directly to the researcher. 10 [...]... the students at Cao Ba Quat High School do not know many of them, most of the students know just from 6 to 15 statements of slang In terms of the frequency of using slang, astonishingly, most of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School do not often use slang when communicating and even 41% never use slang In terms of the reasons why the students use and do not use slang, the researcher explored that... illustrates the extent of knowledge of slang It shows that the majority of the respondents (n = 35, 65%) know 6 to 15 statements in the total of 37 statements of slang The minority of the students (n = 1, 2%) knows about 26 to 37 statements 26% (n = 14) out of the total know from 16 to 25 statements The figures in this section indicates that the students at Cao Ba Quat High School do not know many of the. .. practice of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School towards the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English and as the same time suggests some recommendation for reducing as well as preventing the development of using slang among them on the ground of the reasons of using slang from the study 5.1 Conclusion From the figures showed in the charts in Chapter IV, it’s clearly to see that although the phenomenon. .. students at Cao Ba Quat High School consider slang as rubbishy rather than interesting while most of the young consider slang interesting and fashionable The last aspect in this reseach is about the opinions towards the impacts of using slang Through the figures in the study, it is clear that most of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School are aware of the ill effect of using slang, only a few of them, only... phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English is becoming more and more popular among the Vietnamese youths, it does not seem to be true to the current practice of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School The Vietnamese youths are very interested in using slang, they update slang every day and introduce them to their friends to broad the knowledge of slang As a result, they know hundreds of slang However, the. .. not know many of the statements involved in the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of English 4.2 Frequency of using slang 12 The chart below describes the frequency of using slang of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School always sometimes rarely never Chart 4.2 The frequency of using slang The chart shows that the majority (n = 22, 41%) never use slang while only 11% (n = 6) of the respondents chose... of them do not use slang because they find slang rubbishy and many of the them use slang just for fun In the aspect of when to use slang, while the Vietnamese youths use slang to communicate with friends, teachers, even parents and relatives, most of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School just use slang to communicate with their friends 17 It is surprisingly from the study that a lot of students at. .. towards the impacts of using slang This section presents the opinions towards the impacts of using slang of the students at Cao Ba Quat High School harmful helpful both no opinion Chart 4.7 Students opinions about the impacts of using slang Chart 4.7 above illustrates that the majority of the respondents (n = 22, 41%) believe that slang is harmful The percentage of the students who agree that slang is both... in the phenomenon of Vietnamese equivalent of 15 English are rubbishy while 33% (n = 18) of the respondents agree that these statements are interesting Among 54 students, 24% (n = 13) consider these statements are neither rubbishy nor interesting Therefore, the number of students who consider slang rubbishy is bigger than that of the students who think that slang is interesting 4.7 Opinions towards the. .. as prevent the development of using slang among the students at Cao Ba Quat High School According to the study, a few students use slang by habbit; therefore, the teachers should correct the students habbit as soon as catching them using slang when communicating There are also a small number of students (25%) using slang because of the lack of vocabulary and grammar (Chart 4.4), why don’t the teachers . equivalent is called Slang. (http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi- su/mot-dung-tieng-anh-theo-nghia-viet-cua-teen-2142857.html) The principle of forming the so-called slang is mainly based on the homophonic. inadvertently use them when talking to my parents”. (http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/mot-dung-tieng-anh-theo-nghia-viet-cua- teen-2142857.html). One more reason, according to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slang 11. “Vat va voi ngon ngu teen”, http://vietbao.vn/vi/The-gioi-giai-tri/Vat- va-voi-ngon-ngu-teen/55300971/412/ APPENDIX 19 Questionaire 1. How many phrases and sentences