THE STATUS OF JEJEMON LANGUAGE: IT’S IMPACT TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE LEARNERS

INTRODUCTION The jejemon phenomenon has stirred emotions and raging debates. And whether it is a menace to language or the wellspring of youthful creativity, it pays to take a moment or two of objective reflection before simply declaring it as just another nuisance that must be stamped out. The jejemon culture spreads rapidly bringing out both good and bad reactions in the educational setting. As a new language that is made up of mostly symbols and phonetics, it alarmed the Department of Education in the Philippines. Mona Valisno, a representative of DepEd told parents to keep their kids from falling into the Jejemontrap before they forget how to spell the actual words in English or Filipino. As a conclusion to this remark on jejemon, the issue became the center of educational debate especially in the secondary education particularly the public schools in the Philippines. The term jejemon is derived from “jejeje” and Pokemon. “Jejeje” is the linguistic representation of laughter in Spanish. The “jejeje” variant is preferred among Jejemons as they use it in their text messges rather than the typical “hehehe” variant. The”mon” in Jejemon is borrowed from Pokemon. According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and Urban Dictinoary, a Jejemon belongs to a new breed of hipster who have not only developed their own fashion and stereotype, but also subverted the English language to the point of incomprehensibility. This change in language often results in general confusion between Jejemons and other people who are used to normal English or Filipino. In a society where misunderstandings are commonplace, the effects of being a Jejemon on spelling and grammar have an important role in basic communication. Nevertheless, individual differences must be considered when determining whether