21st century english - concepts and issues Flashcards
Informalisation
Where some examples of electronic English adopt a formal tenor there has generally been a stylistic shift towards spoken features in writing (informality and non-standard features are less likely to be stigmatised).
Characteristics of Informalization:
“Linguistically, [informalization involves) shortened terms of address, contractions of negatives and auxiliary verbs, the use of active rather than passive sentence constructions, colloquial language and slang. It can also involve the adoption of regional accents (as opposed to say Standard English) or increased amounts of self-disclosure of private feelings in public contexts.
Functions of written/spoken mode
Referential: utterances that provide information.
Expressive: utterances that express a speaker’s feelings.
Transactional: verbal exchanges in which the main emphasis is on getting something done.
Interactional: verbal exchanges in which the main emphasis is on social relationship between participants.
Phatic: small talk, which is devoid of serious content and plays an important role in establishing or maintaining relationships.
Conative: influencing the behaviour and/or beliefs of others.
Dialect levelling
Dialect words are spreading across the nation thanks to social networking. Dr. Eric Schleef, lecturer in English Sociolinguistics at the University of Manchester, said:
‘Twitter, Facebook and texting all encourage speed and immediacy of understanding, meaning users type as they speak. We are all becoming exposed to words we may not have otherwise encountered.’
“He said that Welsh terms like tidy and lush have spread nationwide thanks to social networking .. ..” (lan Tucker, “Twitter Spreads Regional Slang, Claims an Academic.” The’Observer, September 4, 2010
Generational differences in 21st century language
Dutch researchers at the University of Twente found that young tweeters were more apt to type all-capital words and to use expressive lengthening, like writing ‘niiifice instead of ‘nice.’ The older crowd is more apt to tweet phatic collocations like good morning and take care, to send longer tweets and to use more prepositions.
Trolls/Trolling
Insults can easily be made on social media platforms due to the anonymity of the medium - users can create fake accounts and remain anonymous.
Context
When considering context, the purpose, location, audience and text type are vital (PLAT) but you should also consider other contextual factors such as a user’s occupation, a user’s education, perhaps what was sent or written before or after, and also real world events.
When analysing micro-messaging, particularly tweets, it is worth noting that the number of tweets peaks in relation to real world events. The tenor (levels of formality) and style (lexical and grammatical choices) vary according to the source of the tweet (individual or professional account holder; official organisation; brand), the occasion (public or private), the intended audience (private for personal contacts; public for twitter followers) and its purpose (social interaction; sharing information; commenting).
Anonymity
Anonymity is the state in which your account on the Internet cannot be identified with you. In other words, when people cannot understand who is sitting on the other side of the monitor. The simplest reason for wanting anonymity on the Internet is the freedom that comes with it.
Users may use pseudonyms to remain anonymous and protect their identities from online harassment or consequences associated with their name.
Identity
Lexis may be determined by group belonging, for example there are distinctive
Twitter ‘tribes’ who use language to mark group identity.
Prof Vincent Jansen from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, the institution which polished the Word Usage Mirrors Community Structure in the Online Social Network Twitter report with Princeton University, explained:
Interestingly, just as people have varying regional accents, we also found that communities would misspell words in different ways. The Justin Bieber fans have a habit of ending words in ‘ee’, as in ‘pleasee!’ (orthographical variation)
