Résumé:
This dissertation investigates the slang used by second year EFL students at Larbi Tebessi
University; it aims at testing whether this variety is systematic or an instance of free variation
through identifying the factors that shape it along with the semantic and phonological
processes that govern it. Three assumptions underlay this study. First, the current slang is
primarily affected by media and age. Second, the semantic processes applied in the creation
of slang terms are simile, widening, and metaphor. Lastly, the phonological processes used to
create slang terms include consonant deletion and cluster reduction. This study was
conducted on 38 participants from the aforementioned population; they were given a
questionnaire that targets a variety of factors, which are later correlated with the frequency of
slang use, so as to test the first assumption. Besides, the same respondents were interviewed
relying on Labov’s (1966) sociolinguistic interview; their productions were analyzed
qualitatively and qualitatively as part of a correlational descriptive design in order to test the
second and third assumptions. Various results were obtained following the statistical analysis
of the findings. The main results indicate that the factors affecting the investigated variety are
gender, affiliation to sports team groups, the use of Facebook, and playing video games,
particularly Pubg. Furthermore, the semantic processes utilized in creating slang terms are
simile, metaphor, narrowing and widening of meaning. Lastly, the phonological processes
mostly used fall under four categories, which are assimilation, syllable structure, weakening
and strengthening and substitution processes in addition to vowel substitution.
