Development and Variations of American Slang in 1980-2006

• Main Authors: Ya-Mei Chung, 鍾雅玫
• Other Authors: Kuei-Jung Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/46988975570430077268

碩士 === 南台科技大學 === 應用英語系 === 97 === In linguistics, all languages are equally worthy; no one language is superior to others. American slang is helpful for people to understand the diversity of the American culture. In addition, understanding American slang allows people from with-in individual subcultures to easily recognize one another because it plays a significant part of American communication in movies, television, radio, newspapers, music, magazines and informal conversation. The purpose of this study is to explore the development and variations of America slang in 1980-2006. By analyzing the slang, people could also understand the variations and development of the American culture. As a senior secretary to the President and CEO in an international pharmaceutical company, understanding American slang and culture is also important and helpful for me to have better communication with the foreign colleagues, consultants, customers, and friends. It will be a plus for my career. In this study, the research is built on qualitative research. It is divided into two parts. Both parts concentrate on three groups of slang: underworld and drugs, collegiate, teens, and juvenile, and computer and internet. The first part focuses on the semantic change of slang by analyzing the slang terms from three dictionaries published in the past thirty years, ten years for each period of time. The second part is designed for the interviews and surveys. The interviews and surveys aim to observe the perception of the slang words from different ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds. The interviewees and survey participants are selected from native English speakers that include American, British, Irish, Canadian, and Australian. They are the researcher’s English teachers, company colleagues and consultants, and foreign friends. The participants will answer the close-ended questions first and followed by the open-ended questions. The interviewee will be audio recorded. The length of the interview and survey is designed for 20 to 30 minutes. By analyzing the slang terms from dictionaries and observing the perception of the slang words from different participants, we expect to understand the changes and developments of American slang, and the relationship between slang and culture.