A Study Of The Social Functions Of Campus Slang

Campus slang is an informal idiom which is created and widely used on campus in the oral communication of students. With the specific features of dependent economy, temporary identity and immature age, students do not have a fixed right of speech in the mainstream society, and they belong to the social marginalized group. Therefore, by creating and using campus slang, they have a particular way to express their thoughts.For a long time, many scholars focused their researches on the study of campus slang from the perspectives of linguistic features, the relationship between the use of campus slang and social development, the restraining factors and so on. And these studies provide rich findings. However, little attention is paid to the social functions of campus slang. Therefore, based on the theories of grammatical metaphor, interpersonal function and register, the framework for the analysis of social functions of campus slang is constructed in the present research. Firstly, campus slang expresses emotions of the students, including congruent and metaphorical realization in both the form and the function. The congruent realization of emotions includes positive emotions expressed by positive expressions and negative emotions expressed by negative expressions. Positive emotions mainly include the emotions of displaying deference, the pursuit of individuality and creativity, and the vision of the future. Negative emotions include the emotions of showing dissatisfaction, regret and confusion. The metaphorical realization of emotions includes positive emotions expressed by negative expressions and negative emotions expressed by positive expressions. Positive emotions contain extending admiration and showing intimacy. Negative emotions mainly include the emotions of expressing dissatisfaction, hatred, ridicule and disdain. Secondly, campus slang constructs students’identity, including collective identity and social identity. The part of social identity consists of solidifying and alienating social relationships. In solidifying social relationships, the functions of campus slang can be divided into two parts: maximizing solidarity and minimizing power. In alienating social relationships, campus slang mainly functions in two parts:minimizing solidarity and maximizing power. In a sense, campus slang adjusts social relationships. Campus slang, as a special form of language, is widely used in campus oral interactions. On the one hand, it is helpful for students to express their emotions and adjust ego in the way it promotes them to participate into collective and enhance the collective solidarity. On the other hand, the language form of campus slang is irregular and it often expresses a negative meaning. Therefore, an implication can be drawn from this research: students should be guided to use standardized and positive campus slang to form correct social values. It will be helpful to the establishment of students’ perfect personality and social stability.