Abstract:

Slang has always been a part of the daily language. Teenagers tend to use a colourful variety of slang words with higher frequency in comparison to that of the adults'. Teachers find it difficult to deal with the widespread use of slang in high schools. Teenagers' tendency to overuse slang is regarded as part of identity formation and their way of interacting with others. This study aimed to understand how a group of high school students (n:93), studying in a Turkish vocational-technical state school, perceived the use of slang in daily life. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire and an interview protocol. The questionnaire data were analysed using Independent Samples t-Test and frequenciesdescriptive statistics. The researchers determined the repeated themes in the interview data, and these were used as the supporting source of information to answer the research questions. The findings indicated that male and female student groups differed in their perception of slang. It was found that while male students mostly used slang to show that they belonged to a group, female students thought that it was a habit. The female students' answers showed that they also tended to think about their group when they used slang. For both groups, efforts for fitting in with the social group played an important role. Female students also reported being more affected by social media. It was found that there was a relationship between the male students' slang use habit and the educational background of their fathers. The students, whose fathers were more educated, did not use slang words as frequently as the ones whose fathers had less education. Those students, whose fathers had sent longer time in the education system tended to blame their peers. However, others whose fathers had spent less time in the education system tended to blame their family environment and social media. 

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