Torty, Ogbonne (2026) MEME GRAMMAR AND DIGITAL INFORMALITY: INVESTIGATING THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA LANGUAGE ON GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE AMONG GEN Z UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. GOUNI INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND PEDAGOGY (GIJELP), 1 (1). pp. 86-97.
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Abstract
The expansion of social media communication has introduced new linguistic practices among Generation Z students, particularly through meme culture, digital shorthand, and informal grammatical expressions. This study examines the influence of social media language on the grammatical competence of Gen Z university students, focusing on the use of meme-based expressions and digital shorthand in academic writing. The study is guided by three objectives: to examine the presence of meme-based expressions in students’ writing, determine the frequency of digital shorthand in academic texts, and evaluate students’ grammatical competence through structured tests. Anchored on the Sociolinguistic Theory of Language Variation, the study adopts a descriptive survey design combined with corpus-based textual analysis. The research was conducted among 200– 400 level Mass Communication students at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State, Nigeria, with a sample of 120 students selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using a Grammar Proficiency Test and a corpus of student essays, and analysed using descriptive statistics alongside qualitative linguistic analysis. Findings reveal that meme-based expressions occasionally appear in student writing, while digital shorthand occurs at a relatively low frequency in formal academic scripts. Although students demonstrate functional grammatical competence, recurring errors in subject–verb agreement, tense consistency, and sentence construction persist. The study concludes that social media language influences students’ linguistic behaviour but does not undermine their awareness of standard academic conventions, recommending stronger integration of digital literacy into university curricula.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PD Germanic languages |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Faculty of Law > Faculty of Management and Social Sciences > Faculty of Education |
| Depositing User: | Uchenna Eneogwe |
| Date Deposited: | 06 May 2026 09:40 |
| Last Modified: | 06 May 2026 09:40 |
| URI: | http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/5643 |
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