communication technologies are damaging English language

Question 1

paragraph 1

Answer 1

• yes because they are limited
• initialisms and abbreviations lead to smombies who have spelling laziness
• Sellen and Harper theory - technology lacks Prosodic features - the volume, tone and sound of what’s being said - HOW it’s being said
• supercharged typographic icon “X” (Sharon goodman)
• John Humphreys “vandals who are doing to our language what gingham khan did to his neighbours 800 years ago”

Question 2

paragraph 2

Answer 2

• however these may not be limitations, they could actually improve language
• David Crystal (2002) there is a ‘linguistic economy’ where language is more practical than formal thus initialisms and abbreviations are practical.
• DC also argues that language is dialogic thus asynchronous language exchanges are more efficient
• also in 1476 with printing press

Question 3

paragraph 3

Answer 3

• has affordances
• David Crystal 2008 - telephony constraints of texting through screen limitation, but recognised the affordances through its users’ creative adaptation of language
• Netspeak - David Crystal: multimodal text and language which came about because of the internet
• Emoticons/emojis - express feelings; the laughing/crying emoji was the OED’s word of the year 2015
• Textspeak - the new language which has evolved due to texting
• Technological determinism - it’s the belief that technology is an agent of social change McLuhan technology is evolving language