Digital Culture and Social Media Slang of Gen Z

UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 Digital Culture and Social Media Slang of Gen Z Eliza M. Jeresano1 and Marigrace D. Carretero2 1,2 Sorsogon State University, Philippines Email: elizajeresano@gmail.com and 2nenne565@gmail.com 1 Abstract— Social media slang has been widespread due to fast emerging trend of online platforms. These slang in fact manifest the culture of the digital natives called the Gen Zers or those who belong to Generation Z. This study focused on digital culture and social media slang of Gen Z. It sought to determine the digital culture present in their language and its perceived effect to their conversational language and essay. This is a descriptive study which used quantitative and qualitative methods. Documentary analysis was used to determine the Gen Z slang used by the Grade 10 students of Pamurayan Integrated School, SY 2020-2021. The students’ Facebook posts and messages in Messenger were the corpora utilized in the analysis. Meanwhile, semi-structured interview and survey questionnaires were the tool utilized to gather the data and to investigate the perceived effects in conversational language and essays of students and how do teachers respond to it. It was found out that the Gen Z slang undergone specific and sometimes multiple morphological processes and reflect its digital culture. It also aids students in language fluency, communication skills and help gain confidence but create language barrier to older generation and have negative impact in their writing skills. Therefore, Gen Z slang was not encouraged during class discussions and in writing essays, but allowed when talking only among themselves. Based on the results of this study, the researcher developed a self-learning guide entitled Flexin’ the Trend to address the communication gap in the school community which is composed of different generation. Keywords— Digital Culture, Social Media Slang, Gen Z. INTRODUCTION Language plays an important role in human lives because it is the medium of expression in which people communicate. It is inseparable with social and cultural evolution in mankind. When society and culture undergo change, so as language which only confirms its adaptive phenomenon. Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. As long as the needs of language users continue to change, so will the language. It reflects our changing lives, culture and experiences. It also enables us to accommodate innovations through people’s creativity. English language has changed dramatically over the last millennium. Language change is affected by many factors such as social interaction, technology and lifestyle. For instance, technology and innovations can lead to emergence of new words. Constant communication within and across territorial boundaries can cause language alterations or borrowing. Language change is also affected by lifestyle in which how people live. One concrete example is the life during pandemic. There are many words that are officially added to Oxford Dictionary including Covid19, WFH, lockdown and many others. According to Global Language Monitor, around 5,400 new words are created every year; it’s only the 1000 are so deemed to be insufficiently widespread use that make it into print. In addition, Martini (2015) stated that generation by generation, pronunciations evolve, new All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. words are borrowed or invented and its rate of change varies. Furthermore, the majority of the changes that occur in our language often start with young adults and teens (Thump, 2016). They begin to focus on belonging to a self-organized group of peers, teammates and friends and becoming the “we” generation. As they interact, the language begins to grow differently and made them remarkably distinctive from the previous generations. For instance, the Generation Z are the nation’s youngest people. According to Sladek & Grabinger (2014), Gen Z are those born between 1996 to 2009. In addition, they are characterized as the most racially and ethnically diverse, and are on track to be the best educated, in U.S. history. The biggest distinction for Gen Zers is that technology is such a central part of their upbringing. It is the first generation to come of age with technological advances such as smartphone not as something new to be adopted, but simply as an accepted part of everyday life (LeDuc, 2019). According to Maghirang (2019), Filipino Gen Zers are characterized as cognizant of the power of technology, eager to share their knowledge and eager for more human interaction. Almost all of the time of young Filipino adults are consumed on their smartphones. They are well adept in executing results through the use of their gadgets. There were many applications that can be installed in their mobile phones like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the likes for social interaction. 11 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 More often than not, many terms that are unfamiliar outside of their generation are being encountered everyday not only on their posts but on how to write their comments and send messages with their families and friends. These new coined terms and phrases created by them are called Gen Z slang. They have come up with their own slang, much of it tied into the media culture they've grown up with. Gen Zers are undeniably the first digital natives that are born with estimable technological advances and are exposed to social media, smartphones and instant accesibility of information. Thus, technology is highly regarded as a major contribution to generation-shaping on the rapid development of how people communicate, interact and specifically, to language evolution. Moreover, the trending means of communication in this current generation is through the use of social platforms. Thus, it has even more intensified due to community lockdowns since physical distancing is highly recommended. Culture has started to be established digitally and so as language through the emergence of social media slang. According to DepEd K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, language learning involves recognizing, accepting, valuing and building on students’ existing language competence, including the use of non-standard forms of the language, and extending the range of language available to students. They learn to control and understand the target language to reflect on and critically analyze their own use of language and the language of others (https://www.deped.gov.ph). Therefore, DepEd is widely aware of the dynamics of language and that its main purpose is to have functional and critical literacy skills. It does not limit the learners in learning the conventions but be open to what is really happening around. Therefore, the emergence of this new language trend, Gen Z slang is one of the non-standard forms that learners must learn to critically analyze and utilize. Further, this language trend has reached the small barangay of Pamurayan in the city of Sorsogon. The older and the recent generation has sometimes fall into communication dispute due to the words often used by the Gen Zers. Moreover, it has been observed among the students especially in their FB (Facebook) posts that they are using other terminologies that are called Gen Z slang which creates language barrier between the teachers and the students of Pamurayan Integrated School (PIS). PIS is composed of 398 students, which 287 are junior high school students with 163 males and 124 females. 111 are All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. senior high school students; 57 males and 54 females. All of them belong to the Generation Z. As observed, nowadays, the only means of communication between the teachers and the students are online platforms like messengers and using text messaging. There are instances that the students unintentionally create communicative barrier when they use these slangs during informal conversations. There are also some instances that these words are even used in their formal writing which is read and assessed by the teachers. In this case, the teachers really need to seek some assistance to fully grasp what these words mean. Generation outside the Gen Z need to ask what do these mean to establish understanding. Thus, becoming familiar with Gen Z slang and being acquainted with their underlying meanings could help establish meaningful conversation between different generations of individuals in this institution. In response to the expanding social media slang and the language barrier that it may bring, it is with such premise the present study was conducted so as to determine the digital culture and social media slang of Gen Z. Likewise, this would also seek its effect on the language learning of students. This study determined the digital culture and social media slang of Gen Z. Specifically, it sought to answer the following inquiries: 1. 2. 3. 4. What are the Gen Z slang that students use on social media? What are the teachers’ perceptions on the effects of Gen Z slang on: a. Conversational Language Use b. Essay How do teachers respond to their use of Gen Z slang in the mentioned students’ variable? 4.What self-guide in learning Gen Z slang can be proposed? METHODOLOGY This study determined the digital culture and social media slang of Gen Z students in Pamurayan Integrated School and its effect to their language learning. This study focused mainly on Grade 10 junior high school students, school year 2020-2021. A mixed method of qualitative and quantitative method was used in the present study and is descriptive in nature. According to Creswell (2002), qualitative research is intended to deeply explore, understand and interpret social phenomena within its natural setting. By using a qualitative research methodology, researchers want to collect richer information and get more detailed picture 12 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 of issues, cases or events (Arora and Stoner 2009). Also, the students’ use of language is involved in this undertaking which is called the corpus of this study. Corpus is a collection of linguistic data used for research, scholarship and teaching (Nordquist, 2020). Therefore, the study used descriptive qualitative method for it requires in-depth analysis of the Gen Z slang attributes in their social media posts and messages on their social media posts, in which serves as the corpus. Moreover, analysis on the teachers’ responses regarding the use of Gen Z slang in conversational language and essays which was gathered through interview explained their justification in detail with the use of qualitative method. While descriptive quantitative research is defined as creating meaning through objectivity uncovered in the collected data through statistical analysis (Creswell, 2003). The perceived effects of Gen Z slang were gathered through survey questionnaires and were ranked from highest to lowest through the derived average per question. Highest value has the interpretation of strongly agree, and lowest value has strongly disagreed interpretation. Ranking is the relationship between two mathematical values where each value can be less than, greater than, or equal to the second value (Jackson,2021). Consequently, the data collected from quantitative method will validate the qualitative analysis which is subjective according to Jardim (2016). Therefore, the effects of Gen Z slang in conversational language and essays will cross validate the teachers’ responses which will be explored through quantitative method. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 1. Gen Z slang used on social media Language is always changing. We have seen that language changes across space and across social group. Language also varies across time. Here are the social media posts of the Grade 10 students of Pamurayan Integrated School in which they use the Gen Z slang. Table 1: Gen Z slang used by the Grade 10 students All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. 13 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 The above table shows the Gen Z slang, its morphological process and the actual usage of the term. There are fourteen morphological processes that have been observed from the data. These are initialism, initialism in a single word, spelling distortion, compounding, compounding of two different languages, fancy formation or new creation, suffixation, connotation, lighter connotation, multiple process, euphemism, reversed form, clipping, and lexical borrowing. In the next discussion would be the in-depth analysis of the morphological processes that are present in how Gen Z slang are created, how they use it and the digital culture that reflects it. Clipping It is the reductive process that shortens words and thus shortens the effort involved in speech and writing, albeit by a tiny increment (Postan, 2020). In the cited data below, the word clipped is actually from another language variety. Figure 1: Group chat excerpt as sample for clipping Figure 1 shows example of clipping, the term char and charot. These two terms share similar meaning. It is used as an expression when someone is just kidding. Charot is the original word created then it was evolved into char through clipping. It is Further, charot belongs to Gay Lingo (Rosales and Carretero, 2017). It further proves the previous findings that Gen Zers are adoptive and adaptive. On the other hand, in language teaching, the same with other slang processes, teachers must emphasize that these terms must be used in proper context because these may lead to misunderstanding. Connotation According to Cambridge Dictionary, connotation is the feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word although it need not be a part of the word’s meaning, or something suggested by an object or situation (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/). The cited example can be shown in the figure. Figure 2: Group chat excerpt as for connotation Figure 2 displays the word, kanser, pabuhat, and, nadurog. These are already Filipino terms that can be seen in the Filipino dictionary. However, as how they are used today, they have different meanings. The term kanser does not mean the disease kanser (cancer) but it is used to describe someone as who is not doing any good to the situation and adding trouble instead. Pabuhat does not have its denotative meaning but it pertains to someone that do not bring any help in a situation and is very dependent to others. Nadurog also has a connotative meaning in this context. It does not literally mean pulverized but lost in a competition badly. Since connotation is a feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word although it need not be a part of the word's meaning, or something suggested by an object or situation, this supports the idea of Lihawa, et.al, (2020) stated that Gen Zers modify word to hide its real meaning to exclude others from their conversation. Pradianti (2013) also agreed that they use them to confuse other people. In addtion, Yuliati (2013) added words can have more than one meaning. Compounding Another morphological process noted in the data is compounding. It is a way of creating new word with joining of two separate words into a single form to describe something new (Rahayu, 2014). Figure 3: Group chat excerpt as sample for compounding The term used in figure 3 is happy pill which pertains to a person that brings joy and happiness to someone. The All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. 14 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 process used to create this new word is compounding. It simply suggests that Gen Zers use compounding to form slang. Gime (2020) also added that they develop new words to change in meaning. Compounding of two different languages This process is the same with the compounding. However, the two terms joined together are from two different languages. As cited in the next figure, it is an English and Filipino term. search for milder alternatives to express their opinions whenever they feel their words might sound abrupt or offensive. This implies that aside from the other morphological processes in Gen Z slang, they also modify insensitive words to downsize its meaning and to make it more acceptable. This has a positive impact in language especially to those who are not used to using vulgar terms. Moreover, language pragmatics manifests what kind of culture a person possess and explains what kind of context he is in. This may help a person adjust his language according to its context and have a more successful communication. Fancy formation/ New creation It has been notably remarkable the rise of new terms in the present generation. This process is called new creation or fancy formation. Figure 4: Facebook post sample for compounding Figure 4 shows the gen z slang, sana all and its distorted form, sanaol. The word formation present in this gen z slang is compounding. However, what make it distinct from the compounding process, the words combined were from different language, English and Filipino. This implies the creativity of the present generation that includes the compounding of two different languages. It supports the survey created by Adobe poll, about the creativity of different generation, and it reveals that Gen Zers are considered as creative and most creative compared to other prior generations (Swain, 2020). Figure 6: Facebook post sample for fancy formation Figure 6 shows the gen z term jowa, it is new creation or fancy formation of word. It simply means boyfriend or girlfriend. It caters the fancy formation of words. This implies that Gen Zers are creative and still validates Swain (2020) stating that they are the most creative. Initialism Initialism is the process of creating new word with forming the initial letters of a set of other words. The newly newly-created words are pronounced not as a single word but separately (Lihawa, et.al, 2021). Euphemism Another process to be underscored if euphemism. As defined by Oxford dictionary, euphemism is the use of a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/). They create new term in order to omit the insensitive feeling of the word. Figure 7: Facebook post and group chat Sample for initialism Figure 5: Facebook post sample for euphemism Figure 5 shows the term shuta which is a euphemism of the word ‘tanga’. It is changing the first part of the word and remain the last part. According to Arif (2015) people All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Figure 7 shows the use of gen z slang- BTW, MBTC, OTW, and, pm. BTW means by the way, OTW means on the way, MBTC means more birthdays to come and PM means personal message. These words of Gen Z 15 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 slang follow the word formation process of initialism. As observed, the beginning of each word was taken to make the word shorter. The use of initialism implies that Gen Zers are more comfortable to shorten the words to easily convey the message and to adapt to fast pace communication online. Solano (2017) stated that they use their editing skills in order to convey messages within short character limitations. Initialism in a single word It is the same with the initialism morphological process. However, there is only single word and the letters lifted to make its initials, are the beginning letter and the letter in the middle part of the word as cited in the figure below. Figure 10 shows yawa which is a Visayan word which means devil. However, in Gen Z slang it is only expression when someone always engages in conflict. Hence, yawa was borrowed from Visayan dialect to their own slang then they make its meaning lighter. This may affect the dialect positively because it is widely used. Hence, this may help preserve the dialect when people constantly utter it in conversation. Lighter connotation There is another variation of connotation that has been analyzed from the data. It is lighter connotation. It bears almost the same meaning with the connotation but it does not depart totally from its original meaning. Figure 8: Sample initialism in a single word from Facebook post Figure 8 presented above used nf which means notification. In the process of word formation, it somehow used initialism however there is only one word and the middle letter was taken to add to the beginning letter. The beginning letter ‘n’ and middle letter ‘f’ were put together to shorten the word notification. It is an initialism in a single word. It also implies that even a single word can be shortened to respond to the demand of fast pace online communication. Initialism may aid the demand of quick responses occurring online. However, it may affect the beginning readers in absorbing the process of reading the words through the letters’ sound and not how it is called. This may cause add to complexity of learning the English language along with its other phonological complexities. Lexical borrowing Lexical borrowing has been evident too from the data gathered. It is defined as a process by which a word from one language is adapted for use in another (Nordquist, 2019). Figure 9: Sample lexical borrowing from a Facebook post All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Figure 10: Facebook post sample of lighter connotation Figure 10 exhibits the gen z terms legend which means someone is great at something, relate which means something is relatable, legit which means something is true, basic which means normal or conventional, and squad which means pertaining to a group of friends. These Gen Z terms are commonly used and have not totally alter the meaning of the original word but has lighter connotation and are being widely used to make it part of the Gen Z slang. Moreover, Lihawa,et.al. (2020) also agree that young generation used to use words from the past but integrate another meaning to it. This simply suggests that Gen Zers have been recycling other old words then attach connotation into it to make it part of their language generation. Moreover, connotation adds to the richness of language which makes reading even more stimulating and will motivate more readers. Multiple Process It has been noted as well from the data that some Gen Z terms evolved from one process to another. As shown in the figures below, the examples can have more than a 16 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 single morphological process and it is called multiple process. Figure 11: Facebook post sample for multiple process Figure 11 displays the term sorna which means sorry na, owshiee which means the expression oh shit, and awit means aw ang sakit (oh it’s painful). The word formation process used in the figure presented includes multiple process. It is a way of creating a new word with more than one processes. As observed the terms mentioned are composed of two words and some part of the words were clipped. The processes involved in the examples are clipping and compounding. Clipping is the process of reducing the elements of word while compounding is the process of joining two separate words into a single form to create new words (Rahayu, 2014). As observed the gen Z terms in the figures are clipped from sorry to sor, shit to shi/shie/it. Then these clipped words are joined to other words like na, ow and aw. Specifically, the word sorna was from compounding of Engalog (English and Tagalog) then clipped these words before compounding. This finding reveals that slang can be created using multiple process. Lihawa, et.al. (2020) agreed that multiple process is one of the morphological process present in Gen Z slang. This implies that Gen Zers are liberated in manipulating their language and owning it. This implication can be a teacher’s motivation in language learning. In figure 12, the reversed forms were sakalam, erp and lods. This is meant that words are pronounced backward and it presents different form when the words are read from forwards (Lihawa, et. al, 2021). In the exhibit shown, sakalam is a reversed form of the word malakas (strong) and erp is a reversed form of pre/pare which means male friend. In fact, the word pare is already an evolution of the word kumpare which means the godfather of someone’s child. Lods, on the other hand is developed and clipped from another gen z slang lodi and adding -s at the last part. Lodi is a reversed form of the word idol. The lods term can be categorized under miltiple process. Further, this reversed form morpholigical process is just a comeback during 60s (Lumabi, 2020). It only explians that Gen Zers are adoptive to the trend before and adaptive as well, by adding a little twist to this process and make them popularized today. These processes that occured in one word then create a new word again simply implies language is changing continuously. Lihawa, et.al, (2020) also mentioned that Gen Zers create new words from past slang to fulfill their language needs. This adds to richness of language because it shows the innovation and inventiveness of the present generation. However, language learners may be confused as to where and when these terms can be used appropriately. Spelling Distortion It is a process that involves the distortion of the original spelling. They misspelled the words not unconsciously but intentionally. Reversed form Reversed form is a process where words are created by reversing the way of reading the words. This process has been popularized in the past generation and just has been reappearing nowadays. Figure 12: Sample reversed form from group chat All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Figure 13: Sample spelling distortion from Facebook posts 17 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 Figures 13 manifests the words brad which comes from the English term brother and they use it in addressing a friend, hakdog which comes from the English term hotdog, and they use as a nonsensical meme expression, usually in response to "ha" to make fun of whatever their responding to, jwk which comes from the English term joke and it has the same meaning with the original term which means something is humorous, tenkyu which comes from the English term Thank you and used to express gratitude, and peyn which comes from the English term pain and express the same meaning. The above figure shows that gen z slang tried to distort the spelling of the original word to express a twist on the old word to make it somehow new. This implies that they spell the words as how they sound. It validates the findings of Nazman, et.al. (2020) which reveals that younger generation distorts spelling in terms of its inflections so as to fit some sounds. Distorted words were deliberately coined to appear trendy. However, it may affect the language learning of the students negatively especially to those who are not fully aware of its correct spelling and may be adopted and accepted by many as its correct form. Suffixation Another process that has been observed from the students’ language use is suffixation. It is the process which pertains to the process of adding suffixes in the roots or the bases. Figure 14: Facebook post sample for suffixation Figure 14 shows the gen z slang-galawan. It is from the root word “galaw” means movement but in this context, it means what the person is up to. Gen Z slang used familiar terms but put a different or additional meaning into it. It implies that Gen Zers add suffix to a root word to form new word and add another meaning into it. This process is called suffixation which pertains to the process of adding suffixes in the roots or the bases. Lihawa et.al. (2020) further confirms that Gen Zers create or modify slang due to fulfil their language needs. Compounding and suffixation alike add to the language evolution. Naturally, language is dynamic and it proves the emergence of these morphological processes. Martin (2018) initiates that anyone who does not accept the reality of language variation should not teach English. Change is siginificant because what is considered as appropriate in one situation may not apply in another. All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. The following findings reveal that slang is widely used by students. This has been affirmed by Arran (2017) stating that slang is widely used and that it is already part of students’ lives. Moreover, they also create their own language and includes different morphological processes that manifests their digital culture. Gime (2020) seconded that Gen Zers developed language transformation process of changing word to word change in meaning and creating expressions. The findings of Hashmi, et.al, (2019) also sustained the results of the present study as they found out that current generation develop slang words while talking via digital device. The morphological processes present in the slang exhibited in the study supported the idea of Lumabi (2020) when he explained that slang is created due to physical limitation in which it demands speed of typing and secondly, by internet culture. That is why the present generation creates specific code of symbols that bears meanings. Pradianti (2013) also agreed that they use slang to say something in an easy way. Further, the dynamism found out in the present study validated Barseghyan (2013) which mentioned that slangs added to new communicative dimensions. The findings imply that through the rapid development of technology, the transformation of the language had become extensive as well. Also, Gere (2008) further validated that digital culture was a result of rapid development of digital technologies. He added that digital culture and internet slang are interdisciplinary categories. 2. Teachers’ Perceptions of the Effects of Gen Z slang on conversational language and essay While most people in the present generation are perfectly capable of speaking like anybody else, many of them have adopted a new kind of language. It came with the advent of social media where messages tend to be written quickly. However, when this language is used in conversation with the older generation, for instance, with the teachers, a different effect may occur between interlocutors. 2.a. Teachers’ Perception on the Effects of Gen Z slang on their conversational language Teachers of Grade 10 students of Pamurayan Integrated School were given survey questionnaire after the interview. Based on the data the table shows the effects of Gen Z slang on students’ conversational language. Data presented were the average of the responses, its interpretation and its ranking relative to the questions on its effects on conversational language per se. 18 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 Table 2: Teachers’ Perception on the Effects of Gen Z slang on their conversational language Effects of Gen Z slang on conversational language Rank Students use slang to communicate to their classmates and friends. Students are more engaged in communication when using slang. Slang does not create barrier in the communication process among students. It aids students confidently speak more the language. Students use slang to communicate to their teacher and parents. It aids students in improving communication skills. It helps students improve vocabulary. It aids student’s language fluency. Slang does not create barrier in the communication process between teacher and students. Slang does not create barrier in the communication process between students and other older generation. 1 2 3 4.5 4.5 6 7.5 7.5 9.5 9.5 Table 2 shows the effects of Gen Z slang on conversational language. The first in rank is students use slang to communicate to their classmates and friends and it means that teachers strongly agree. Second in rank is students are more engaged in communication when using slang. Third in rank is slang does not create barrier in the communication process among students. Next in rank is, it aids students confidently speak more the language and students use slang to communicate to their teacher and parents. Sixth in rank is it aids students in improving communication skills. Next in rank is that Gen Z slang helps students improve vocabulary and it aids students’ language fluency. Last in rank is that it does not create barrier in the communication process between teacher and students, and between students and other older generation. The findings reveal that they actually use the language to communicate, more engaged in conversation if they are using it, and it aids to confidently speak the language. However, it not a guarantee that it helps in language fluency, improving communication skills, and vocabulary. Moreover, though it does not create barrier among students but it does create barrier between students and teachers, and between students and other older generations. It simply implies that Gen Z can be utilized to activate student’s interests in engaging in the lesson because it is relatable to them however, it also implies that the use of Gen Z slang should have limitation especially when talking to the teachers. All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Moreover, the results of the present study challenged the result of the study of Hasanah (2019) which states that colloquial words improve their vocabulary and the statement of Barseghyan (2013) that Internet language has increase the expressive richness of language. On the other hand, Monash University agreed on the results that slang is imprecise and is open to misinterpretation and can be inaccessible to non-native speakers that’s why teachers are neutral that it does not create communication barrier between students and teachers and students and other older generations. 2.b. Teachers’ Perception on the Effects of Gen Z slang on their essay Teachers of Grade 10 students of Pamurayan Integrated School were given survey questionnaire regarding the effects of Gen Z slang on their essay. Data presented in the table were the average of the responses, its interpretation and its ranking relative to the questions on its effects on essay. Table 3: Teachers’ Perception on the Effects of Gen Z slang on their essay Effects of Gen Z slang on essay Rank Students use slang in answering open- 1.5 ended questions in LAS. Students also use slang in their written 1.5 outputs like slogan, poems, script writing, stories, songs, etc. and not only in essays. Students are more engaged in writing 3 activities if they use slang. Students use Gen Z slang in writing 4 essay. Slang does not create barrier in the 5 communication process between teacher and students. It helps students improve spelling. 6.5 Students’ style of writing is influenced by this slang positively. It helps students improve grammar and sentence structure. 6.5 8 Table 3 shows the teachers’ perceptions on the effects of Gen Z slang on essay. Prior in rank, teachers agree that students use slang in answering open- ended questions in LAS and students also use slang in their written outputs like slogan, poems, script writing, stories, songs, etc. and not only in essays Next in rank is that students are more engaged in writing activities if they use slang. Fourth in rank is students use Gen Z slang in writing essay. Fifth in rank, slang does not create barrier in the communication process between teacher and students. 19 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 Next in rank are it helps students improve spelling and students’ style of writing is influenced by this slang positively. In the last rank, they disagreed that it helps students improve grammar and sentence structure. The findings reveal that teachers agree that students use slang in answering open- ended questions in LAS and in their written outputs like slogan, poems, script writing, stories, songs, etc. It also revealed that they are more engaged in writing activities if they are allowed to use slang. However, teachers are neutral that they use it in their essay and that it does not create communication barrier between teacher and students. In addition, they disagreed that Ge Z slang can affect students’ writing style positively, it helps students improve grammar and sentence structure. The results suggest students are absorbed by the language that they use it in their school-based outputs however, using it on their essays and written outputs have negative impact in their writing skills. It implies that Gen Z slang should be discouraged in their formal writing. The study of Hashmi et.al (2019) supported the present findings that use of slang has influenced their academic writing. On the other hand, the result of the present study contests the result of Sirivedin & Wongsothorn’s (2018) study that social media significantly improve writing skills. Wilson (2018) supported the results when he established that virtual platfroms have negative effects on spelling ability of the students which affects the conventional way of writing. 3. Teachers’ response on the use of Gen Z slang on conversational language and essay The present generation have long enjoyed creating secret languages and codes to communicate. The rise and ubiquity of Gen Z slang among teens has become its own sort of language. Older generations are often left either fascinated or confused whenever they read or heard a Gen Z term. Therefore, in this study, the researcher gathered the teachers’ responses on the use of Gen Z slang on conversational language and essay. 3.a. Teachers’ response on the use of Gen Z slang on conversational language A one-on-one interview was conducted to the Grade 10 teachers of Pamurayan Integrated School. They were asked about their responses on the use of Gen Z slang in conversational language. The given responses were collected from the participants as indicated in the cited interview below. They were also interviewed using semi-structured interview. All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. From the responses of the participants, findings are validated by presenting the result after the emerging themes. Table 4: Themes on the use of gen z slang on conversational language based on teachers’ response Acceptance Unacceptance Unacceptance on the Acceptance on the Use of Gen Z Use of Gen Z slang while talking to other slang on older generations like conversational teachers and parents language during teachinglearning discussion Acceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang on their social media Unacceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang in school related tasks The emerging themes on the use of Gen Z slang on conversational language based on teachers’ response is shown in Table 4. The themes have two major categories which are the responses under acceptance and unacceptance. In acceptance, teachers allow the use of Gen Z slang during teaching-learning discussions and on their social media while in unacceptance, teachers do not allow do not allow the use of slang when talking to older generations and in school related tasks. The discussions on the emerging themes are as follows based on their major category. The first category to be thoroughly analyzed is acceptance. Acceptance Acceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang on conversational language during teaching-learning discussion Some people say that classroom is a place where you teach the standards. Only formal language is accepted but there are teachers who are accepting the use of Gen Z slang during teaching-learning discussion. As Teacher Q said: Considering na amo na talaga ang usual, amo. (Considering that they use it, so be it.) Gen Z slang is also the typical form of language that they use in conversing with their friends and it motivates them to speak and express themselves more. When it comes to discussion, it is easier for students to affirm or negate someone’s idea and it would lead to meaningful exchange of thoughts and insights. At the end of the day, the by-product of education is being aware of the world 20 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 through learning. How can teachers stimulate meaningful conversation if they are not allowed to speak in the language they are comfortable with? Therefore, Teacher A’s response has been seconded by Teacher M when he said: Pero usually an ingagamit ninda relatable man sa aton. Sa pag monitor okay lang. Sa presentation sa klase okay lang para may interaction. (Some of what they use are relatable to us (teachers). While monitoring, it’s okay. In presentation in class, it is okay as well for interaction.) Teacher Q and Teacher M have accepted the use of gen z slang in conversational language during teachinglearning discussion. It is because, this is their language already and they feel belonged and part of the discussion when they use it. Their responses have been supported by Heiman (1967) mentioning that the excitement of students in using a slang dialect can be transferred to their learning. Acceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang on their social media Since Gen Z slang has been used widely in social media and daily conversation, teachers agreed on the use of Gen Z slang on their social media. Teacher J said: Sa mga fb welcome naman na yun mas nasasabutan kun nano talaga an gusto ninda na sabihon. (In FB (Facebook), it is welcomed because it is easier to understand what they really wanted to express). The response cited simply explained that Gen Z slang is acceptable when used in their social media because they can freely express what they truly feel. After all, social media is a place where you are free to express and share their status. Moreover, they have countless opportunities to engage with social media. It gives them an opportunity to engage virtually with the bigger world around them. They use social media in order to communicate to their friends, family, community and even to strangers. Especially, at this trying time that hinders face to face interaction, social media has become a great avenue to connect and reconnect. The next major category on the teachers’ response on the use of Gen Z slang on conversational language is unacceptance. It has been scrutinized in the following discussion. All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Unacceptance Unacceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang while talking to other older generations like teachers and parents Despite the acceptance of Gen Z slang to other teachers, there are still other teachers who did not accept the use of slang when talking to older generations. Teacher R said: Siguro kasi kung yun yung freedom of expression ninda. Kaya lang aram man dapat ninda kun sino an aadressan sada. Sa mga fb welcome naman na yun mas nasasabutan kun nano talaga an gusto ninda na sabihon. (Maybe because that is their freedom of expression. However, they should know whom to address their speech. In FB, it is already welcome because it is easier to understand what they wanted to say.) Teacher R clearly emphasized that students must know who they are talking to because this might cause confusion in the communication. Teacher E also agreed: Ayun nga dapat kung maggamit sila sinda sinda lang magkaeredad pero kun sa lola ngaya, dili nagkakasarabutan syempre lowgets. (If they are going to use it, they must use itonly among themselves for instance if they are going to use it converse to their grandmother, she will not be able to easily comprehend what they wanted to express). Teacher E said that they can use their language only among themselves but when they are talking to elders, they must be careful because they might not easily recognize what they wanted to say. Teacher D also affirmed Teacher E’s insight when it comes to using the slang in conversing to elders. She also emphasized that there is a chance of gap in communication as she mentioned: Sainda okay lang nagkakasarabutan sinda, kaya lang pag ang kausap ninda adult baga lain masyadong nakakagets mejo nagkakaron ng gap ang conversation. (It’s okay if they use it in their own group but if talking to adults, it isn’t because they will not easily understand and there will create gap in conversation.) Teacher D also agreed that they can only use it only among themselves but she also added that slang can not be used to communicating to elders but to teachers as well as reflected from what she said: Gamit lang para sa conversation nila pero hindi sa pakistoryahn sa teacher. (They can use it among themselves but not acceptable when used to talking to their teacher). 21 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 The responses transcribed clarified that it is acceptable to use Gen Z slang when they are conversing with the same group of generation who understand this slang but not acceptable when used to converse to older generations and to their teachers. This implies that students must learn to set parameters in using it. Unacceptance on the Use of Gen Z slang in school related tasks Teacher R insisted that slang is not acceptable in doing school-related tasks. It is apprarent in his response: Diri kay nagccreate sinda confusion lalo na sa mga classmates ninda na lain man aram lain man nagpaparagamit sada. Minsan maooffend ka sa ingamit ninda dili mo aram intitiawan ka na palan. Dapat ineexplain man ninda kun nano an ibig sabihon. (No, because they are creating confusion especially to their classmates who does not know these terms and those who are not acquainted of using these. Sometimes, you’ll feel offended because you do not know if they are already insulting you. They should have explained what do they really mean.) Teacher R clearly objects the use of Gen Z slang in school as he continued: Sa normal na pagistoryahan mawawara na an essense san communication. (In normal conversation, the real essence of conversation will vanish). Teacher R opposed and it has been agreed by teacher D when she said: Hindi kasi makakasanayan mahihirapan na tayong icorrect kapag palagi nilang ginagamit yun at least habang maaga pa nakukuha nanatin ang atensyon nila at naitatama ang dapat nilang gawin. (No, they will be used to it and it will be hard to correct them if they constantly use it. We should catch them as early as possible to correct them.) Teacher R and D both opposed the use of Gen Z slang in school-related tasks given that school is formal context where people should use formal language. When they become use to it, it will be hard to correct them. It would be better that as early as now, they know when use the language appropriately. Further, based on the narration, teachers object the use of Gen Z slang in school related tasks because other students who are not using these slangs cannot understand and the teachers most especially. The All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. findings revealed were affirmed by Monas University that slang is open to misinterpretation and Yuliati (2013) stated that slang could have more than one meaning. However, findings also revealed that it can be used when they are only conversing among themselves because they can understand each other well. Eble (2009) and Partridge (1935) agreed that they use it to create belongingness. To sum up, the results imply that students should refrain from using it during class discussions. However, slang is allowed to be used when talking only among themselves considering the freedom of speech. 3.b. Teachers’ response on the use of Gen Z slang on their essay A one-on-one interview was conducted to the Grade 10 teachers of Pamurayan Integrated School. They were asked about their response on the use of Gen Z slang in conversational language. The given responses were collected from the participants as indicated in the cited interview below. They were also interviewed using semi-structured interview. From the responses of the participants, findings are validated by presenting the result after the emerging themes. Table 5: Themes on the use of gen z slang on their essay based on teachers’ response Acceptance Unacceptance Acceptance if already Unacceptance on the Use used, but they still need of Gen Z Slang in essays to be reminded Acceptance in informal writing but not in formal writing The emerging themes on the use of Gen Z slang on their essay based on teachers’ response is shown in Table 5. The themes have two major categories which are the responses under acceptance and unacceptance. In acceptance, teachers accepted Gen Z slang if it is already used but they still need to be reminded and its acceptance in informal writing but not in informal writing while in unacceptance, teachers do not allow do not allow the use of slang in essays. The discussions on the emerging themes are as follows based on their major category. The first category to be thoroughly analyzed is acceptance. Acceptance Acceptance if already used, but they still need to be reminded 22 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 Teacher Q, on the other hand, cannot deny the fact that students nowadays tend to forget the standard and when given a task, that stimulates their interest, they just let their expression flow at the expense of using nonstandard language. Hence, Teacher Q considered the use of Gen Z slang when it is already included in their outputs but Teacher Q assures that she reminds her students on what is appropriate. She said: Pag yada na ireremind mo na lang (na hindi pwede) pero tatanggapon. (You will accept their output but you will remind them that it is unacceptable). Therefore, it is only accepted as form of consideration but they still need to prevent using it in formal writing. This has been affirmed by Solano (2017) that students use slang in their schoolwork. Acceptance in informal writing but not in formal writing Teacher M expressed her opinion that in informal writing, it can be considered but totally rejected when it comes to formal writing. She mentioned: Yun ang problem. Di man sya common. Pag essay baga formal. Pero sa Math wara man kay wara man essay. Kung sa express your own ngaya pwede iaccept pero pag formal writing di siguro. (That’s the problem, it is uncommon. In writing essay, it should be formal. But I don’t observe that in Math because essays are rare in Mathematics. However, if expressing own opinion it can be but in formal writing, no.) The response noted justified the use of gen z slang in informal writing but not in formal writing. There are some outputs that required from the students that are informal and really requires the use of it to emphasize certain impact in writing for instance in creative informal writing (stories and poems), free writing, journal writing and diaries. Thus, Ellis (2020) explained that in informal writing, slang can encourage the students to voice their opinion and share their views more openly. The next major category on the teachers’ response on the use of Gen Z slang on their essay is unacceptance. It has been scrutinized in the following discussion. Unacceptance Unacceptance on the Use of Gen Z Slang in essays Teachers are fully aware that informal is inappropriate to formal writing. Therefore, teacher J mentioned that she can observe Gen Z slang in essays but understanding these terms is quite a challenge as cited in her response: All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. Igwa sa mga essays, pero may term na di mo masabutan kun nano an gusto ninda na sabihon, so hindi. (Yes,in essays, there are terms that cannot be understood what they really mean so I don’t accept) Teacher E has strong perception that in formal writing, students should follow the standard but in the case of feature writing in which the purpose is to feature the slang itself, it can be considered. This can be proven in her transcribed answer: Kung formal writing lain sya mayad. Minsan amo na an may impact kay dapat may standard kita na insusunod. Sa formal writing negative pero kung feature writing ngaya okay lang. (In formal writing it is unacceptable, sometimes that’s the impact (of using Gen Z) because we have some criteria to follow. In formal writing, its effect is negative but in feature writing, it can be). Speaking of following standards, Teacher D, instead of ignoring these slangs, she tried to correct them as to follow what is acceptable. She said: Ay nako Ma’am marami akong napapansin n aganyan. Ang ginagawa ko itinatama ko nilalagyan ko talaga ng marka. Yung word namali yung spelling namali tapos nilalagay ko yung tama. ( I can observe (Gen Z slng) a lot. What I did is I correct them by putting some notes. I noted the misspelled word then write it correctly.) Teacher D also added that if not given enough attention, they can be used to it as she mentioned: Makakasanayan din nila. Namamali yung spelling. Hindi naman kasi yan pwede. (They will be get used to it. They tend to misspell the words and is unacceptable.) Teacher M also totally affirms Teacher D’s response when she said: Makakasanayan niya tapos makakalimutan na ang tamang spelling. Mawawara na an tama na spelling. di bale na lang kun iallow na san mga linguists. Nagviviolate ka sa grammar nan sa spelling. Dapat niyan pa lang icorrect na sa pormal. (They will get used to it and they will forget the right spelling. If allowed by the linguists, it can be. If not, students are violating the grammar and spelling and as early as now, it should be corrected in formal context.) Teacher J added that there is set of criteria when evaluating students’ output. Therefore, teachers have an 23 UIJRT | United International Journal for Research & Technology | Volume 03, Issue 04, 2022 | ISSN: 2582-6832 authority to reject the use of slangs in formal writing like essays. This has been revealed in her transcription: So far wara man ako napapansin sada sa Science kay wara man essay nakikita man yan sa mga ESP, Filipino ngaya. May criteria na ingagamit kaya, may rubric. (So far, I have not observed them, I don’t notice it either in Science because there is no essay. Maybe, it can be observed in ESP or Filipino). The responses above show conviction that teachers do not allow the use of Gen Z slang in formal writing, i.e. essays. It is because there are certain criteria and rubric that are used in evaluating the output. They will misspell the words and it can only be accepted if approved by the linguists to be part of the dictionary and can be used in formal writing. In conclusion, all the responses transcribed do not agree on using Gen Z slang in formal writing like essays. Moreover, there are certain criteria and rubric that are utilized in evaluating the output. They will misspell the words and it can only be accepted if approved by the linguists to be part of the dictionary and can be used in formal writing. Moreover, Wilson (2018) agreed to the findings when he said that the use of slang in language learning is solely negative and has negative effects in their spelling ability. It opposed the idea of Martin (2018) mentioning that slang can be a help to language learning. It only implies that students should refrain from using it in formal written works. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Slang is widely used by students. There are morphological processes present in the slang exhibited in the study. These are initialism, acronym, spelling distortion, compounding, fancy formation, suffixes, connotation, clipping, euphemism, reversed form, borrowing, and multiple processes. The used slang of the students revealed their digital culture which demands speed of typing or say something in an easy way, creates specific code of symbols that bears meanings to prove that they are part of a certain group, introduces new trends, shows their creativity, adoptability and adaptability as well. The use of Gen Z slang helps students to confidently speak the language but does not guarantee that it helps language fluency, communication skills, and vocabulary. It does not create barrier among students but impede successful communication between students and teachers, and between students and other older generations. Though students use Gen Z slang on their school-based outputs, teachers perceive that they have negative impact in their writing skills. Teachers object All rights are reserved by UIJRT.COM. in using Gen Z slang in their school related tasks but are free to use when talking to their peers who have knowledge about the slang. Teachers disagreed in using Gen Z slang in writing essays. A self-guide dictionary entitled Flexin’the Trend is proposed to be utilized in order to bridge the communication gap among intergeneration for effective conversation. It has been recommended that Gen Z slang may be used as a basis in understanding the behavior and culture of younger generation. Students may be allowed to use Gen Z in informal context but not in formal writing. Gen Z slang may be a tool for teachers to entice students’ interests in lessons but they must set parameters in using it. REFERENCES BOOKS [1] Arran, A. (2017, August). How does social media slang affect learning? United States of America. [2] Ellis, E. (2020). Is it acceptable to use slang in work and content? United Kingdom. [3] Gere, C. (2008). Digital Culture. 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