The Use of English ….. (Muhartoyo; Baby Samantha Wijaya)
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THE USE OF ENGLISH SLANG WORDS IN INFORMAL
COMMUNICATION AMONG 8
th
SEMESTER STUDENTS
OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT IN BINUS UNIVERSITY
Muhartoyo; Baby Samantha Wijaya
English Departement, Faculty of Humanities, BINUS University
Jln. Kemanggisan Ilir III No. 45, Kemanggisan – Palmerah, Jakarta 11480
ymuhartoyo@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
English slang is often used in informal communication. The purposes of this study are to find out the
reason of using English slang, how students acquire English slang, and what kind of slang that they mostly use.
This study uses qualitative method with the paradigm of experimental design to obtain quantitative data which
are then analyzed using interpretative analysis. To collect the data, writers distributed questionnaire to 30
respondents randomly. The findings show that more than half of the respondents say that the reason behind the
usage of English slang words is to cut down the time when talking, texting, or tweeting. TV and film are the most
frequently used source for acquiring English slang words. The type of slang word which is most frequently used
by the respondents is acronym. The result of the analysis also shows that although all respondents say that they
know and think English slang words are interesting, more than a half of respondents say that they seldom use
English slang words in communication. They still use standard words in informal communication. It is also
found that English slang words that they acquire are not many. When they were ordered to write other English
slang words they know and use, many respondents answered just one or two words; and even three respondents
wrote nothing
.
