I found the PDF document on “Language and the Internet” the be the most fascinating. In the document,
David
Crystal explores how the internet is impacting language. In the
Linguistics Perspective section,
Crystal writes about how language has adjusted and over the years and what the
internet could mean to language. Crystal
recognizes, “The
electronic medium, to begin with, presents us with a channel which facilitates
and constrains our ability to communicate in ways that are fundamentally
different from those found in other semiotic situations” (2004, p. 5). He further states that the internet has been called a “global
Village” where he questions, “whether the Internet is emerging as a homogenous
linguistic medium, whether it is a collection of distinct dialects, reflecting
the different backgrounds, needs, purposes, and attitudes of its users” (Crystal, 2004, p. 6)
The document is
addressing the cultural dimension of Green’s 3D Model of Literacy. Our language has been evolving for
years. As a 70's child I have seen a
large number of language modifications, the deprecation of old terms and introduction
of new terms alike. Because of the
internet, we are becoming more aware of these linguistic modifications, when we
hear the list of “new” words are being added to the dictionary. While I was reading the documents, I found myself
remembering creating terms such as “Cool Beans” and when these terms started to
become mainstream. We heard some of
these terms in the You Tube Video on Networks,
Power, and Democracy, Sassen discusses the terms, Blogosphere and Civil Society
sphere and mentions that these are participatory cultures. A term most of us were introduced to in
Jenkins whitepaper on Participatory Cultures (Jenkins, 2008).
“This
is the first such technology to be conventionally identified with an initial
capital.
We
do not give typographical enhancement to such developments as ‘Printing’,
‘Publishing’, ‘Broadcasting’, ‘Radio’, or ‘Television’, but we do write
‘Internet’ and ‘Net’ (Crystal, 2004, p. 3).
I have no doubts that the internet will continue to change our language,
as language has been evolving for years, it will be interesting to see the “new”
words from the Net.
References:
Crystal, D. (2004).
Language and the Internet. Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins,
H. (2008, October 19). White Paper: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory
Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century by Henry Jenkins — MacArthur
Foundation. Retrieved May 23, 2016, from
https://www.macfound.org/press/publications/white-paper-confronting-the-challenges-of-participatory-culture-media-education-for-the-21st-century-by-henry-jenkins/
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that language has changed over the years and will continue to evolve with the use of the Internet. The explosion of new phrases, words and acronyms that have developed via the internet is amazing. My students will often use words that I am not familiar with or write in text speech. As an educator it is important to stay informed about the new language. I have found that google is my friend since I can type in a phrase or acronym and quickly find their meaning. The capitalization of the word Internet is interesting as well. I guess it shows just how important it is to our society.
Google is my best friend.
DeleteYes - David Crystal’s “Language and The Internet” was a very interesting read! Language has changed throughout time, yet it is amazing how the internet has shaped our language so rapidly and how we have adapted our language usage to it whether through email, chatrooms, MUDS or synchronous and asynchronous discussions. I think it is a combination of both a homogeneous and heterogeneous medium. Take all of the suffixes and prefixes it has created or the loss of using vowels in words in order to save time using keyboards strokes – this seems to be something everyone has naturally evolved to do. This seems to be universally accepted now. Yet some groups use very specific habits (such as the MUDs) to communicate which newcomers joining these groups might have a hard time understanding since they have unique and distinct rules.
ReplyDeleteAs an ESL teacher, this book got me thinking a lot. Today so many English words haven’t been translated into other languages yet online. There are so many English loanwords being used now due to the proliferation of the digital world. (223) English still dominates the language online, however I think it will be interesting to see what happens as more countries and different languages get online. So much of the world is learning English as a Second Language right now and it is seen as the Lingua Franca. (227) I wonder what direction language learning will take when the day comes when we can have the computer do all the translating for us. When he addressed whether or not people will continue to learn second languages, it got me wondering. I think being bilingual is so important and learning another language is something that everyone should do. I hope this doesn’t get lost.
How interesting that the Internet is shaping language and language can influence the Internet. What also strikes me as interesting is how quickly this language change has happened. What may have taken decades prior to this technological age to change language now happens almost daily.
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