Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8
A table tout le monde!
(Dinner time everybody!)
Newspaper | Le Matin Dimanche
Date | 30.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | The author talks about her experiences at home; she created a dinner schedule so that her kids would notify her of whether or not they would be home for dinner. But the kids would never notify her in advance; they would text her at 19:00 saying they would not come home. Thus, one of the kids created a WhatsApp group for the family. It's fun! There are "ribs emojis" and "spaghetti emojis". They laugh a lot on WhatsApp, so she doesn't even realize that she is eating dinner by herself.
Image Description | Photograph of the author of the article.
Les mamans 2.0 ont tous les trucs pour garder leurs enfants à l'oeil
(Moms 2.0 have all the tricks to keep an eye on their kids)
Newspaper | Le Matin Dimanche
Date | 11.5.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, smartphone, technology-free, texting, threat, youth
Summary | New technologies are changing family relations. Mothers think that giving their kids a phone will allow them to always keep in touch with them. However, the sooner children get a phone, the faster they grow apart from their parents. New technologies also change relations of authority in a family. Parents should not prohibit the use of screens; they should always talk to their kids about new media use. Parents who are not interested in new technologies are making a mistake; they are missing occasions to communicate with their kids and their authority is compromised.
Image Description | Illustration of a mother reading a "Happy Mother's day" text and being nostalgic of old times.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone, text
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)
Non, le langage “sms” ne nuit pas à l’orthographe!
(No, text message language does not harm spelling!)
Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 22.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, texting, youth
Summary | Some people are worried that the new language of text messages is going to replace grammar, and that our children might forget how to write words properly. According to a study published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, the answer is no. The results of the study show that 48% of the words are spelled according to standard spelling. The research also shows that there is no link between traditional spelling skills and text message features. Finally, they claim that the best students are the ones who use text message features the most. Other similar studies prove the same point.
Image Description | N/A
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)
Tout fout le camp, même l’orthographe!
(It’s all falling apart, even spelling)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 28.5.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | The author states that she is having a hard time deciphering the new language of text messages. Young people don’t know how to write anymore. She references an essay “C’était mieux avant” (“It was better in the past”) that explains the phenomenon against the backdrop of nostalgia. The essay criticizes the idea that everything was better before. The author also claims that new technologies (Facebook, text messages, WhatsApp etc.) are in part responsible for reinventing language.
Image Description | N/A
Le langage sms, éternel accusé de tous les maux des mots
(Text message language, always blamed for the ills of the words)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 30.8.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, texting, youth
Summary | Although we can now send unlimited texts on our smartphones using the spellcheck feature, text message language is still widely used, especially among the younger generation. Should we be worried about that? Researchers claim that we shouldn’t be worried; texting does not threaten the French language. According to a study, young students can make the difference between a text message and a written school assignment; they can adapt their language according to the medium. Although no study has demonstrated that text messages have any deleterious effect on spelling skills, more research is needed.
Image Description | N/A
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