Aheda Marie Obordo

 Chapter 1 The Problem and Its Scope Introduction Shortening of words due to the impact of social media is the rampant happening that the Senior High is up to. There has been a lot of advantages and disadvantages on this issue. Social media is making it easier than ever to contribute to the evolution of language. There has been a lot of acronyms, abbreviations, and neologisms that evolved around technological communication to others. On “internet relay chat”, acronyms help speed up a real-time typed conversation. The Senior high students are mostly using this kind of words which has also disadvantages because some people would have a hard time in understanding it. It may also have certain advantages which they can communicate abruptly. These students are highly expose to social media, causing them to use this sort of words. Social media has also prompted a more subtle revolution in the way we communicate. We share more personal information, but also communicate with larger audiences. Our communication styles consequently become more informal and more open, and this seeps into other areas of life and culture. The adults may have confusions in relating to this shortened words. Most especially to those people who are illiterate with the use of technology and even to those who have no idea about Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Also to the people residing in the rural areas. These platforms are based in short and snappy communication, so it makes sense for people to rely on the shortening of words, especially for common phrases. In this Digital Age, there were a list of emerging new-age abbreviations that begun to dominate the way social media users connect and communicate. It had grown from the days, it is short, simple and yet effective. Theoretical Framework of the Study According to Bihlal Amad, there is an ever-increasing speed of communication. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the most popular social media that the people are using today. Facebook lets you communicate quickly, effectively and, most importantly, efficiently because written exchanges are concise and shared between all the friends you are connected with, meaning you only need to write them once. On Twitter there’s a 140 character limit, so even if you’re not against the clock you are quite literally forced to make the statement brief. The use of acronyms (an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word) are now commonplace substitutes to whole sentences; LOL (laugh out loud), OMG (Oh my God), TTYL (talk to you later) are just a few that demonstrate how social media speeds things up by lessening the need to write longer phrases and reduces space. Emoticons (a representation of a facial expression such as a smile or frown, formed by various combinations of keyboard characters) and used to convey what the user is feeling or to express the intended tone without actually having to write it. You could argue that this is a lazy form of writing, but social media isn’t a process of creative writing (at least not in the traditional sense), it’s a fast and convenient way of interacting with an audience. Social Media Language Learning (SMLL) links interactive social media channels to language learning. This enables students to develop communication and language skills. Social media consist of interactive forms of media that allow users to interact with and publish to each other, generally by means of the internet. Daily observations and recent scholarly traditions suggest that a certain amount of learning takes place beyond the confines of the individual mind. Research has shown that language acquisition and learning is socially constructed and interactive in nature. According to the theory of language socialization, language learning is interwoven with cultural interaction and "mediated by linguistic and other symbolic activity". From this perspective, the use of technologies that facilitate communication and connection, particularly social media applications and programs, makes a lot of sense. Language learners are able to enhance their language skills due to the different avenues in which new social media have created. Social media provides the learner with the possibility of participating in actual, real-time, relevant conversations taking place online, and practicing the target language with or without the help of an experienced teacher by his or herside. Figure 1. Shows the schematic diagram of the study. It could be observed that the independent variable shows the advantages and disadvantages of shortening of words. The intervening variable showed the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender, annual family income and educational attainment of parents. The dependent variable shows the impact of social media in communication. Independent Variable Dependent Variable Intervening Variables Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of the Study Statement of the Problem The study will determine the advantages and disadvantages of Social Media on the communication skills of the Senior High School Students. This study will answer the following: 1. What is the profile of these senior high students in terms of? 1.1 Age 1.2 Gender; 1.3 Annual Family Income 1.4 Educational Attainment of the Parents 2. What are the advantages of social media on the communication skills among Senior High School students in Saint Vincents’s College? 3. What are the disadvantages of social media on the communication skills among Senior High School students in Saint Vincents’s College? 4. What is the importance of communication skills in the 5. Is there a significant relationship between the advantages of using social media and the personal profile of the respondents? 6. Is there a significant relationship between the disadvantages of using social media and the personal profile of the respondents? Hypothesis HO1. There is no significant relationship between the advantages of using shortened words and the personal profile of the respondents. HO2. There is no significant relationship between the disadvantages of using shortened words and the personal profile of the respondents. Significance of the Study This study will benefit the parents, students and the society. Parents. The result of the study will be a big help for the parents to be fully aware of the impact of social media to their children. The parents could also rely to it on how to deal with their children who are fed up by using these sorts of social media. Senior High Students. The result of the study will inform the students where the impact of social media will lead them to. Society. This study could also help the society on what are those new abbreviations that are dominating the young minds and are mostly used in social media. Scope and Limitations of the Study This study is mainly focused on the advantages and disadvantages of these shortened words. This will expose a lot of abbreviations, acronyms and neologisms so that the people in all ages would also be aware on this. The data gathering will be mostly focus on the Senior High students and will be conducted at Saint Vincent’s College, Dipolog City this Academic Year-. Operational Definition of Terms Disadvantages – something that causes difficulty Advantages – something better or more likely to succeed than others Abbreviations – a shortened form of a words or name Acronyms – a word formed from the first letters of each one of the words in a phrase Neologisms – a new word or expression or a new meaning of a word