大学生社交媒体英语缩略词使用特征研究_英语论文

A Study of College Students’ Use of English Abbreviations in Social Media

摘要

自从互联网二十世纪被人类发明以来，它已经深深地融入了人们的日常生活点滴之中。当今，各种以互联网为载体的社交媒体层出不穷，其中，人们在上面交流所使用的语言引起了学者们的广泛关注。随着社交媒体的发展，一种新的语言变体出现了：英语缩略语。

本文主要利用数据调查法，通过多渠道、多角度收集出现在各种大学生社交平台聊天里面的英语缩略词的相关数据，分析大学生社交平台聊天里面一些英语缩略词的分类与特点。本研究将以我们东南大学的在校大学生作为调查群体，涵盖不同年龄、性别、专业、网龄的同学，通过真实的数据，反映社交媒体英语缩略词的使用特点。

这篇论文以问卷的形式收集关于社交媒体上英语缩略词使用情况的相关数据。同时，它对这些缩略词加以分类并分析它们的特点。一共有两份问卷发放给大学生。50位学生填写了第一份问卷。第一份问卷的目的在于收集这些学生在社交媒体上所使用过的所有英语缩略词。435位学生填写了第二份问卷。第二份问卷目的在于研究第一份问卷所收集到的英语缩略词的使用频率。通过数据收集和数据分析，本文通过真实的数据反映了大学生在社交媒体上使用的英语缩略词的特征。

关键词：英语缩略语；社交媒体；分类；特点 

Abstract

Since the Internet was invented in the twentieth century, it has penetrated deep in every corner of people’s daily life. These days, a great number of social media which are all based on the Internet have loomed up wide public concern. With the development of social media, a new kind of language variation called English abbreviations appears.

By analyzing the specific features of English abbreviations in social media, this thesis aims to improve Internet users’ understanding of English abbreviations and familiarize people with different sorts of English abbreviations. This can increase people’s typing speed and efficiency in social media so that people can communicate with one another more conveniently. Besides, through the analysis of these abbreviations, users can be more familiar with their differences from Standard English in order to keep them from being mixed.

This thesis uses questionnaires to collect relevant data of the use of English abbreviations in social media. Also, it classifies the English abbreviations in social media and analyzes their features. There are two questionnaires distributed to students in University. The first one was filled out by 50 students. It aimed to collect English abbreviations these students have used in social media. The second one was filled out by 435 students. It aimed to study the frequency of the use of English abbreviations collected by the first questionnaire. Through data collecting and data analyzing, this thesis reflects the features of college students’ use of English abbreviations with authentic data.

Keywords：English Abbreviations；Social Media；Classifications；Features

Contents

Acknowledgements 4

English Abstract 5

Chinese Abstract 6

Chapter One Introduction 7

1.1 Research Background 7

1.2 Research Purpose 7

1.3 Thesis Layout 8

Chapter Two Literature Review 9

2.1 The Rise of Research on English Abbreviations in Social Media 9

2.2 Limitations of Previous Research 10

Chapter Three Methodology 12

3.1 Research Questions 12

3.2 Participants 12

3.3 Research Instruments 13

3.4 Data Collection and Analysis 13

Chapter Four Results and Discussion 15

4.1 General Features of College Students’ Use of English Abbreviations in Social Media 15

4.1.1 Classifications of English Abbreviations 15

4.1.2 Efficiency and Convenience 18

4.1.3 Casualness 19

4.2 Features of Age, Gender, Major and Net Age of English Abbreviations 19

4.2.1 Features of Age 20

4.2.2 Features of Gender 20

4.2.3 Features of Major 20

4.2.4 Features of Net Age 21

4.3 Discussion 21

Chapter Five Conclusions 22

5.1. Major Findings 22

5.2 Implications 22

5.3 Limitations 23

5.4 Future Research 24

References 25

Appendix I 26

Appendix II 27