engleski

A Contribution to Reconsidering the Role of Slang and Colloquialisms in Contemporary Foreign Language Teaching

Register, including slang and colloquialisms, is an essential part of everyday communication, but it is generally neglected in language teaching. This is particularly important in the context of EFL (also ESL) teaching because of the increasing role of English (mostly AE) as an international language. Learners around the globe are now exposed to the different styles and registers of English through various media, and it can be argued that these items should be included in EFL classrooms. Although slang and colloquialisms are generally associated with spoken rather than written language, there have been recent exceptions. Assuming that they are not an integral part of EFL teaching in Croatia, the study aimed at gaining insight into the knowledge of our university students of these types of expression in the context of EFL reading, and their perceived use of them. The study is based on the following hypotheses: 1) participants will score better on AE reading task ; 2) they will be more familiar with AE slang and colloquialisms ; 3) they will perceive that they use them more frequently in AE. The sample included 89 students, and instruments (questionnaires and cloze-tests) were constructed for the purpose of the study. Each hypothesis was confirmed, indicating that the AE variety prevails in this population, but that students generally lack knowledge of slang and colloquial expressions. The paper may contribute to reconsidering the role of this vocabulary in (E)FL teaching, esp. due to its importance in popular media as part of young people’s urban culture today.

slang, American English, British English, reading comprehension

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