An Analysis of English Slang Words Discussed by Slang Content Creators on TikTok and Its Contribution to Language Learning

Abstract

This study discusses the analysis of the meaning and types of English slang words used by English speaking people on TikTok. This study also discusses the contribution of English slang words in language learning. There are 50 data that have been analyzed by researchers. The methodology of this research was qualitative research. The data sources in this study are some contents and comments by English speaking people which contain slang words on TikTok. The instrument in this study is the researcher itself as a human instrument and a smartphone as a nonhuman instrument. The data were taken in September 2021. The study consisted of three steps, they were; reading, selecting, and classifying the data. To identify the types of slang words, the researcher used the theory of Michael Munro (2007). The researcher also used online and manual to find the meaning of English slang words. Researchers found six out of eight types of slang words on TikTok. They are United States slang, Canadian slang, Australian slang, New Zealand slang, South African slang, and Irish slang. The researcher did not find slang words that belong to the type of Caribbean slang and South Asian slang. There are 16 United States slang words, 3 Canadian slang words, 11 Australian slang words, 10 New Zealand slang words, 5 South African slang words, and 5 Irish slang words. The United States slang type dominates the type of slang used by English speaking people on TikTok.Keywords: slang, type, language, tiktok, social media.