Number of Posts: 10
Posts 1 - 10
La police du fun n'aime pas vous savoir seul
(The police of "fun" doesn't like to know that you're feeling lonely)
Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 26.8.2017
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, texting
Summary | When you type a text and specific words, you can see emojis pop up. If you type "alone" for instance, a sad-looking emoji appears. However, can't the word "alone" mean something else? Does it have to be something bad?
Image Description | Portrait of the author.
Image Tags | male(s)
Die Putzfrau ist schuld
(It's the cleaning lady's fault)
Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 15.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | texting, youth
Summary | The visitors of the carneval in Basel carry around lanterns on which they traditionally write political statements which are significant to them. One observer remarks that those political messages on the lanterns have become shorter in the past years, especially with youths. They resemble texting language.
Image Description | Image of the interviewee.
Image Tags | male(s)
Per SMS-Alarm ans Obligatorische
(Text message alarm to remind of compulsory (shooting practice))
Newspaper | Tagblatt (Thurgau)
Date | 21.5.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | texting
Summary | Frauenfeld’s shooting club president, Damian Schlatter, has launched a text message alarm service to remind military recruits of their obligatory shooting practice. Because fines for missed shooting practices are very high, this text message alarm is very popular. This is also a good way to better the shooting club’s image as being for old people only and transporting it into the 21st century.
Image Description | Photograph in black and white of Damian Schlatter.
Image Tags | male(s)
Studenten können nicht mehr richtig schreiben
(Students cannot write properly anymore)
Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 21.1.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, school, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | Students' writing skills are poorer than in previous years. It may be due to the fact that elementary schools no longer correct every spelling mistake in first and second grade but rather value content over form. Another reason that can explain students' lower writing skills is new media use. Most of young people's writing and reading is done through new media nowadays, and informal writing is prevalent in those digital spheres. The increasing informalization of language on social media is seen as a threat to our language.
Image Description | Photograph taken from behind of an elementary classroom with children.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), school
Der Punkt stirbt aus – wegen Messengern
(The period is dying out – because of messenger)
Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 12.6.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, texting
Summary | Most people do not put a period at the end of their messages. It is pretty self-evident where sentences end in text messages, argues linguist David Crystal. When a user does add a period at the end of a message, it is a way to give the message more weight, to convey irony or discontent. An opposing trend can also be observed, namely over-punctualization by adding several exclamation or question marks. Teachers are being advised to be very cautious when correcting their students in cases like these.
Image Description | Series of two photographs: WhatsApp conversation and picture of Linguist David Crystal.
Image Tags | male(s), WhatsApp
Rédigez des mails pour être lu
(Write emails to be read)
Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 27.11.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, spelling, texting
Summary | Emails are very important, especially in a professional setting. Thus, it is important to follow certain rules. For example, abbreviations and spelling mistakes should not be permitted. Moreover, emails should be clear, precise, and to the point. People should leave emoticons for personal messages.
Image Description | Photograph of the author of the article.
Image Tags | male(s)
Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor
(Young people write – more than ever)
Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 29.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, smartphone, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | Ever since the Swiss youth did poorly in the PISA survey of 2000, critics have been blaming new technologies for deteriorating young people's linguistic skills. English literature lecturer Mario Andreotti however outlines that today's teens write more than previous generations, albeit less formally, because they use their phones to write rather than talk. Because texting does not follow the rigid formal rules of writing but rather is just spoken discourse written down, some experts assume that these relaxed writing habits may worsen students’ writing skills in general.
Image Description | Photograph of three teenagers who are not interacting: two of them are looking at their phones.
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone
WhatsAppitis
(WhatsAppitis)
Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 15.4.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | (mental) health, texting, WhatsApp
Summary | A myriad of new illnesses named after new technologies are reported in the media and in scientific journals. WhatsAppitis, for instance, is the tendinitis of the thumb. There is also the so-called text-neck and many other more or less serious neologisms like that.
Image Description | Photograph of the author Peter Abegglen.
Image Tags | male(s)
Il faut archiver nos vies pour que l’histoire vivante ne s’arrête pas
(We need to archive our lives so that history does not stop)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 26.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | Some people claim that writing with abbreviations is harmful for standard language. Others claim that it does not; some studies demonstrate that students can perfectly write abbreviations and their "standard" equivalent. Moreover, a study showed that students who are skilled in text message language have also better spelling skills in general. Writing is part of our culture; we write more and more. Thus, our practices resemble our forefathers’. The only difference is that nowadays it is more difficult to save and record our texts, whereas in the past people used to keep their letters and messages.
Image Description | Photograph of Benjamin Chaix, the author of the opinion piece.
Image Tags | male(s)
"La génération du baby-boom prend l’avenir en otage"
("The baby boom generation is taking the future hostage")
Newspaper | Le Matin Dimanche
Date | 13.4.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | Interview with Patrick Nussbaum, one of the authors of the book “C’était mieux avant” (“It was better in the past”). Nussbaum doesn’t like the way the baby boomer generation cultivates nostalgia and thinks that current and future generations will have a terrible destiny. Unlike what older people claim, younger people are not that scared about their future. In his book, he also talks about spelling, claiming that writing is constantly changing. New technologies offer new ways of expression, but do not kill language. Also, young people use new technologies for sociability and solidarity, which are two important values.
Image Description | Photograph of the interviewee: Patrick Nussbaum.
Image Tags | male(s)
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