Study On Gender Differences In The Use Of Student Netspeak Neologisms

Netspeak neologisms are the newly created lexical items and language usedonline. Netspeak has contributed to the most representative and unique languageform in human language history and has realized information exchange andcommunication over distance, time and space via a computer that is changingcommunication style, particularly among the younger generation.In sociolinguistic studies, gender, among factors like age, social status andeducation influences how people speak. Research on gender differentiation inlanguage started in the1960s with the Western Women s Liberation Movementand has since yielded results. Such studies started late in China and most of theexisting research studies are based on the western theoretical framework. Hencemore research studies in this field are warranted.Netspeak has attracted many studies in recent years. The research in Chinamainly explains certain gendered language expressions and communicationbehavior, while studies related to Netspeak neologism usually concentrate on howit has formed and gained popularity. But they rarely investigate the linguisticfeatures of Netspeak between men and women.To investigate the differences between men and women in the use of onlineneologisms, the author, based on the previous studies of gender differences inoff-line communication, takes university peer students as subjects, and studiestheir features from the perspective of the use of categorized neologisms: Netspeaklabels, vulgar language and the latest neologisms by a questionnaire.305collegestudents answered the questionnaire which covers the frequency, mode, reasonand psychology in students use of Netspeak neologisms.The findings indicate that females use these three types of neologisms morefrequently than males in various degrees, especially the so-called femalestaboos---vulgar neologism. Also men and women both use Netspeak neologisms in both cyberspace and real life. It can be inferred from the finding that Netspeakmay have been changing people s way of speaking in real life; females areprobably more open to new ideas and more eager to learn Neologisms than males.Moreover, both males and females have similar psychological motivation andfunctional needs in using ordinary Netspeaks, while their attitudes vary with theirindividual comprehension for special words especially those related to gender.Some new features and distinctive characteristics are also discovered. Both malesand females would describe others with the investigated Netspeak labels whiledislike the labels used on them. Also females are more carefree using the vulgaritems than they used to. Another finding is that males basically accept femalesusing vulgar neologisms in virtual communication. It is hoped the study can helpbetter understand gender differences in online and offline communication andexplain misunderstandings caused by gender differences in using neologisms,which may add data to gender research as well as Netspeak studies.