Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 3
Posts 1 - 3

Vong diesem Mann her kommt 1 neue Sprache

(Fromg this man comes 1 new language)

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Newspaper | Welt
Date | 16.6.2017
Language | German
Country | Germany
Topic Tags | language threat, meme, social media, spelling
Summary | A meme is floating around in social media spaces. The "Vong" language is parodying serious language by incorporation orthographical and grammatical mistakes as well as tautology. It has become incredibly popular on social media and has even appeared in Germans' spoken language and advertisements. Common features of it are replacing the indefinite articles "eine/ein" ("a") with a "1" and adding the phrase "vong... her" usually including a redundant tautalogical statement and the misspelled preposition "von". An example would be: "The weather is really nice, sun-wise." Here, the "sun-wise" is the tautological statement and it would also include an orthographical error in "Vong" language.
Image Description | N/A

Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor

(Youths write - more than ever)

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Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 29.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | code-switching, language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, social media, spelling, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | There is a public hysteria about how youths are no longer capable of spelling correctly or writing appropriately and skillfully. All this is seen to be caused by new media such as smartphones. BUt young people today write far more than previous generations did: they post on social media and text every day. The only difference is that this writing culture is very informal and colloquial. Researchers however assume that one cannot simply state that this spoils their writing skills generally, most students are easily capable of code-switching from informal registers to a formal register appropriate for school.
Image Description | N/A

Studenten können nicht mehr richtig schreiben

(Students cannot write properly anymore)

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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

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