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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Background of the Study

The term Internet meme refers to the phenomenon of content or concepts

that spread rapidly among Internet users. It alludes to a theory by Dawkin (1976)

who postulates memes as a cultural analogon of genes in order to explain how

rumors, catch phrases, melodies, or fashion trends replicate through a population.

The most popular Internet memes are image macros; most of these digital

images are combined with text, i.e. captions. Memes propagated among people

through email, blogs, forums, and text messaging. But the emergence of social

networking sites in the past decade catapulted memes as a new form of

communication that transcends beyond age, gender, and social class. Memes

nowadays are now viewed as an artform with websites like knowyourmeme.com,

memedump.com, and memebase.com growing in rapid pace.

Huntington (2017) Internet memes are one form of user-generated, digital

media content that may have real-world effects on those who view them. She

added that internet memes influence how people feel about certain issues, internet

memes also shape how people view the world, and ultimately, can change

people’s vocabulary and how they communicate.

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Memes serve many purposes and functions, but at a fundamental level,

they serve as an expression of people’s opinions and emotions hence Foster

(2014) noted that memes are an ideal communication tool for the younger

generation as they tend to follow the latest trend- setting vocabularies on the

internet.

Among the demographics that is most affected by the popularity of internet

memes are Pangasinan State University- AB English (PSU-ABEL) students. Every

day, ABEL students interact with their peers integrating memes in their vocabulary.

With the popularity of memes among students, the researchers believed that this

new form of communication will have an effect on the day to day vocabulary or

students. This study will focus on the effects of internet memes on the vocabulary

of PSU ABEL students.

Facebook, the leading social networking website, is also the most popular

website to share internet memes. This study will focus solely on the memes shared

on Facebook since the sheer number of ABEL students that use Facebook will

give use a more accurate data.

Furthermore, the findings of this study would help the ABEL students and

educators to further enhance the good aspects of the effects of internet memes on

the vocabulary of students and correct the bad aspects that it brings.

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Statement of the Problem

This study will determine the internet meme usage of AB English students

and the types of memes they use. The study also aims to determine whether such

usage of internet memes is affecting their vocabulary by integrating memes with

their day-to-day communication.

Specifically, this paper will seek answers to the following questions.

1. What are the most common memes that ABEL students use?

2. How are internet memes affecting the vocabulary of ABEL students?

3. Are there any notable differences in vocabulary between ABEL students who

use different memes?

4. What pedagogical implications can be drawn from the analysis of the effects of

memes in the vocabulary of ABEL students?

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Scope and Delimitation

The study will be limited to the visible effects of Internet Memes on the

conversational vocabulary of ABEL students. The memes included in the study will

be taken from prominent social media pages on Facebook and will need to have

passed a threshold of popularity measured in post reach/ reactions to maintain the

natural effect of memes. In this study the researches will make the use of a

questionnaire to gather data among the ABEL students.

Significance of the Study

The results of this study will determine the importance of memes and

internet culture to the vocabulary, and language use of ABEL students.

The study will be of importance to:

Language Teachers. Teachers will find that this study will provide new

avenues and techniques in teaching students that belong to the newer generation

by incorporating relatable and entertaining content into their lessons.

Students. Students will benefit by being able to receive a much more

relatable curriculum and will possibly gain more initiative to participate in their

curricular endeavors more.

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Definition of Terms

For a broader understanding of this research, the following terms are

defined:

Internet Meme. More commonly known as meme, is an idea that spreads

"virally" from one person to another via the Internet. The present study will

determine the extent of usage and effects of internet memes in the vocabulary of

ABEL student.

AB English students. This pertains to the respondents of the present

study.

Analogon. The perception that is necessary for the process of imagination

to take place. In this study, it pertains to the creativity on how ABEL students use

memes and integrate it to their vocabulary.

Vocabulary. The set of familiar words within someone’s language. This

study will determine the extent of internet memes’ effects on ABEL student’s

vocabulary.

Viral. It pertains to the quick and widely spread phenomena through the

internet. This study will identify the most common and viral internet memes that

ABEL students use.