Tiktok and Gen Z Slang: The Functions and Its Effects on English Language Proficiency
Abstract
The widespread use of social media platforms has significantly influenced the way Gen Z communicates, specifically new slang expressions. The focus of this study was to determine the functions of TikTok-derived Gen Z slang and its impact on the English language proficiency of LG240 students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam. The research aimed to find out which of the slang terms were more commonly used based on Callahan’s Generation Z Dictionary (Lihawa et al., 2021) and to investigate the functions of Gen Z slang in students’ daily communication based on the theory of Allan and Burridge (2006). Therefore, a mixed method approach was used in this study. The quantitative data from the questionnaires were complemented with qualitative content analysis to elicit rich data. The findings indicated that Gen Z slang can be used as a powerful tool for casual and expressive communication. It was recommended that future research should also be extended to establish how the utilisation of Gen Z slang affected the professional writing proficiency of university students, especially in internship, employment application, and organisational interactions, because it could also establish the perception of employers and the possibility of the need for remedial training to reduce communication gaps.