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Exploring College Slang

Exploring College Slang. Joe McVeigh Ann Wintergerst. Slang—an active introduction. tot wastey face fives boo own slammin. Here’s a little context. A: Did you see her hair? You can tell she did that dye job herself! B: Tot !

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Exploring College Slang

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  1. Exploring College Slang Joe McVeigh Ann Wintergerst

  2. Slang—an active introduction tot wastey face fives boo own slammin

  3. Here’s a little context • A: Did you see her hair? You can tell she did that dye job herself! B: Tot! • I got wastey face in the basement last night after my first bottle of wine. • I call fives! I’m just going to the bathroom. • From now on it’s all about you Boo, all about you. • Dude, my snowboard completely owns yours. • Did you see that girl?  She was slammin!

  4. Here’s what the students said tot (adv) abbreviation for totally. Used in agreement wastey face (adj) very intoxicated OR noun; a person who is very intoxicated. Synonyms: hammered, wasted, drunk fives (n) an exclamation to lay claim to a seat when you are leaving for a few minutes, presumably five minutes. Synonyms: be right back, brb boo (n) a name for a lover, derived from the french word “beau” which roughly means beautiful. Synonyms: girlfriend, boyfriend. own (v) 1. to be superior to. Synonyms: to rock, to rule. Usage: comparing similar objects. slammin (adj) very attractive.  Synonyms: hot, good looking. 

  5. What is slang? • Informal, one or two words, considered non-standard • Varies by age, region, or other demographic factors • May relate to illicit activities or may be vulgar or vituperative • Over time may change to standard status

  6. Student difficulties with slang • Undergraduate international students with high levels of English

  7. Origins of the project • New first-year international students at Middlebury • William Safire article in New York Times • Checking with NS undergraduate informants

  8. New York Times September 30, 2007 On Language: Campusspeak by William Safire • Sketchy about the lingo being spoken by today’s adultalescents? • Word-blending is big in campuspeak. “He’s sort of a nerd, but he’s just so adorkable” combines adorable with dork, the amalgam defined as “endearing though socially inept” … Another blend is fauxhawk, combining faux, “artificial,” and Mohawk, defined as a “hairstyle achieved by combing all of the hair to the center to give the appearance of a Mohawk without shaving the head.” • Yet another is ginormous, blending gigantic with enormous A new slang blend is chillax, from the adjective chill, “easygoing,” and the verb relax, the combo meaning “do nothing in particular,” an activity widely practiced in centers of learning throughout the nation.

  9. Methodology • Slang Collection assignment in undergrad TESOL methodology course • Results of the initial collection • Problems with the initial collection • Forming of project team • Alexis Mussomeli—editor • Ellie Molyneux & Natalie Sammarco—surveys • Katie Moon & Uma Tantri—web design

  10. Project – Initial EditAlexis Mussomeli • Duplicates • Idioms • Non-local items • Standardization of definitions

  11. Project – SurveyEllie Molyneux & Natalie Sammarco • Smaller lists of words • Survey construction • Email requests • Responses • Survey results

  12. Survey Objectives • Obtain demographic information • First language, friend group, affiliations • Determine frequency of slang use • “How often do you hear this…” vs. “say” • Determine variability in slang meaning • Investigate correlations between demographics and reported slang frequency

  13. Hypotheses • International and ESL students with less interaction with NSs probably hear and are aware of fewer slang terms • Variations in frequency • Most students would be aware of the words in the survey

  14. Method • 4 surveys • 39 words per survey • 156 words total • Randomly distributed

  15. Participant Origins and First Languages N = 203 17.7% internationalstudents 15.2% ESL students 81.7% domestic students 84.7% native English speakers Middlebury 2007: 10% international

  16. Is there a connection between reported slang frequency and . . . . . . social house residence ? . . . class year ? . . . gender ? . . . international student status ?

  17. Results Is there a connection between reported slang frequency and social house residence?

  18. Percentage of first years vs. seniors who often hear or very often hear the word…

  19. Percentage of men vs. women who often or very often hear the word… Sausage Bangin’ Fest

  20. Percentage of NNS vs. NS students who never hear the word… Facebook stalk ferreal fives fo’ shizzle

  21. Survey Limitations • Relatively small sample size • Confirmation bias, fatigue, correlation vs. causality • Self-reporting vs. discourse analysis approach

  22. Project – Web ImplementationKatie Moon & Uma Tantri • Dictionary – navigable or downloadable • Categories • Audio files • Resources • Practice materials

  23. The Web Site https://segue.middlebury.edu/index.php?action=site&site=slang-glos • Or go to www.joemcveigh.org and look for the link to the Middlebury Slang Project • You will find: • Definitions and example sentences • A downloadable dictionary • Sound files • Electronic resources • Learning suggestions

  24. Project – Idioms Team • Dictionary of idioms with definitions • Downloadable from web site • Sophie Elphick & Ley Lacbawan

  25. Slang and Idioms • How is slang different from idioms and colloquial language? • Idioms under the weather to kick the bucket to bite the dust • Colloquial language shut up • Slang babe, chick, dude, hunk wired, mellow

  26. Purposes of slang • To identify members of a group • To change the level of discourse in the direction of informality • To oppose established authority

  27. Slang and idioms • Idiom processing strategies by L2 learners of English (Cooper 1999) • Guessing from context (28%) • Discussing literal meanings (19%) • Using the literal meaning (19%) • Other strategies (29%) • L2 learners employ a variety of strategies based on what works for them

  28. Slang and idioms • Corpus analysis of Am. Eng. Idioms (Liu 2003) • Aimed at identifying most frequent idioms in academic contexts • Difficult to capture low-frequency idioms that could be important to students

  29. General learning strategies • Converse with native English speakers.  A lot of slang can be picked up easily if the first time you hear it or use it, you can personally relate to it.  • Watch American sitcoms or movies.  Slowly you will be able to understand more and more slang by picking up on context clues.  • Listen to American music.  American music is one of the mediums through which many slang words are created and shared.

  30. Activities for Teaching Slang • Fill in the blank dialogs • Listening fill in the blank • Sentence matching exercises • Crossword puzzle • Campus research projects

  31. Campus research projects

  32. Specific steps for classroom teachers • Compile a list of slang expressions that would be useful for your students and that are level-appropriate. • Ask students if they have heard of any of these slang expressions on the list. • Give them an example of each one in a sentence either orally, on the board, or on a handout because additional context is usually helpful in figuring out the meaning. • Distribute the handout with the slang expressions, definitions, and example sentences and review these with them. • Create activities such as the ones you just participated in to help them learn, understand, and practice these slang expressions.

  33. Specific steps for classroom teachers • Ask students to work in pairs/groups on these activities. • After checking the answers, have each pair/group prepare a short skit in which they use any of the newly learned slang expressions. • Have students perform these role plays in front of the class. • For homework, assign them to listen for slang expressions used by Americans on or off campus, on television, in the movies, or in songs and bring these to the next class. The first five minutes of each class will be a mini-lesson on slang expressions and feature the slang expressions of 2-3 students. • Ask students to keep a running list of new slang expressions. By the end of the course, their slang vocabulary will have increased tremendously.

  34. Electronic Resources • Middlebury College Slang Project https://segue.middlebury.edu/sites/slang-glos • Introduction to TESOL Course Web Site https://segue.middlebury.edu/?&action=site&site=intd1028a-w08 • Joe McVeigh dot org – presentation resources www.joemcveigh.org • Urban Dictionary www.urbandictionary.com • The Online Slang Dictionary www.onlineslangdictionary.com • The Internet Slang Dictionary www.noslang.com/dictionary.php

  35. Published resources Owen Hargreaves David Burke

  36. Questions and Discussion

  37. Thank you

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