English Loanwords in the Language of Young, Contemporary Computer Gamers

Abstract

Abstract The following article is about the presence of English loanwords in the language used by young gamers. It is of research nature - it is based on the recognition, around the mother tongue, of primary and secondary school students. It emerges from survey research whose aim was to examine how the language of young Poles is influenced by information technology, especially computer games and films related to gaming. The most important aim of the research was to diagnose to what extent and in what form English vocabulary used in computer games penetrates everyday language of students. It was also important to establish the way in which Polish absorbs loaned vocabulary in natural communication and adjusts it to its rules (inflexion, syntax, word building). The questions prepared for the purpose of the survey examined linguistic intuition of students who had the possibility to choose the lexicon (English word and its Polish equivalent), as well as show the understanding of words typical of computer games which derive from English and are also changed in some way. The research tool also examined the student's lexical competence which was supposed to be directly related to the environment of new technology and computer games as well as examined the use of given lexicon in various syntactic constructs. The foundation for the described results and the topic discussed in this article were the thoughts regarding the role and the influence of new technological and socio-cultural reality and their influence on the changes in the language.