Language Change - Technology Flashcards
Different Types of technology
1) William Caxton, Printing Press in 1476 -published many literary works from his London printing press, making the London dialect the standard.
2) Samuel Johnson, Dictionary in 1755 - brought in standardisation of the English language and had 40,000 entries
3) The internet became used worldwide in the 1980s, bringing social media and new terms e.g. chatroom and hashtag
Negatives of technology
1) The printing press was ‘faulted for disrupting the natural, almost spiritual connection between the writer and the page’ – Baron
2) The typewriter was seen as too noisy and a bad influence on handwriting skills
3) The mechanism of writing technologies brought fear that people would lose their jobs to machinery
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) - AFFORDANCES & CONSTRAINTS
AFFORDANCES:
1) Synchronicity – CMC is an instantaneous form of communication
2) Plasticity – Users can re-work text relatively easily in little time
3) Virtuality – CMC allows users to interact without being constrained by location –> users can interact instantly with anyone anywhere
CONSTRAINTS:
1) Security – communication lacks the privacy of face-to-face interaction
2) Physical Constraints – the act of inputting text on a device is restrictive because of factors like access to computer equipment for example
3) Cost – access to the internet costs money
Text Speak
SMS (short messaging service)
Limited to 160 characters per text and expensive to use
Therefore texts are often made use on non-standard features like initialisms, acronyms and shortenings to save space and money
