Pop Culture

Suggested Topics:

• Informal English or non-Standard English is sometimes considered bad, lazy English, but all Americans use slang and non-standard English, whether they realize it or not.
• Non-standard varieties of English DO have rules. What non-standard varieties of your language exist? What kinds of rules do they have?

 

Discussion Questions:

• Do you follow celebrity news? Why or why not?
• What is your favorite genre? Use vocabulary list to guide the student.
• Are celebrities loved and/or respected in your country? Why or why not?

 

Activity:

Slang words and nonstandard English phrases are often added to English dictionaries and officially made part of the English language.

Take a look at some recently added words (from 2012-2014). How many do you know? Discuss with a Conversation Partner.

 

Bling

selfie

babymoon

flash mob

young adult

beatboxer

bestie

buff

vacay

buzzworthy

ohmigosh

senioritis

dance-off

 

 

See http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/recent-updates-to-the-oed/ for more dictionary updates.

See “OMG, FYI, LOL Added to Oxford Dictionary”, an ESL lesson plan on Breaking News English: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1103/110326-omg.html

Activity 2:

Decide what the difference is between each phrase in the pairs below. Which ones are formal? Which ones are informal? In what situations do we use each one?

1. Hey guys

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen

2. Would you care for a drink?

Whatcha wanna drink?

3. I promise.

You betcha.

4. Could you show it to me?

Lemme see it!

5. Please give my phone back to me.

Gimme that!

Additional Resources:

• Comprehensive List of Common Slang Words:
  • http://www.manythings.org/slang/
• Informal Contractions (Gonna, Wanna, Coulda):
• http://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/200109.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vocabulary List: Slang and Pop Culture

Word	Meaning	Context
Vernacular English
Like	In vernacular English, “like” is used as a discourse marker, or a divider between parts of the sentence.  It can also be a “placeholder” like “um” or “uh”	I have, like, ten million things to do. She was like, “Don’t do that!”
Ain’t	Ain’t is used as a negative contraction to replace “isn’t” or “not”	I ain’t no cook. She ain’t playing.
Be	In vernacular English, it replaces the conjugation of “to be” (am, is, was, were)	She be looking at me all funny. I be scared when the lights go out.
Informal Contractions
Gonna, wanna	Going to and want to	Are you gonna go? You wanna come with me?
Gotta	Got to	I gotta go.
Coulda, shoulda	Could have, should have	I shoulda studied last night.
Whatchu	What are you	Whatchu doin?  (What are you doing?)
Pop Culture
Genre	A type or category, used for movies, books, and TV	Drama, comedy, romance, science fiction, documentary Books include these genres and more:  memoir, true crime, fiction and non-fiction,
Tabloid	A magazine about celebrity gossip or that has unreliable news	People magazine writes about celeb gossip.  Some people call it a tabloid.
One hit wonder	Someone who has one famous song or movie, and then falls out of the spotlight (is no longer famous)	She was a one hit wonder.  After that movie, she never acted again.
Steal the spotlight	To take the attention or fame away from someone else	We use spotlight, star, and limelight to refer to both celebrities and our own notions of fame and attention-getting.

Expressions:

How you been?                   Meaning:  A shortened form of “How have you been?” or “How have you been doing?”

Where you at?     Meaning:  Where are you?

Long time no see! Meaning: I haven’t seen you in a long time.