Number of Posts: 8
Posts 1 - 8
Se parler pour de vrai
(To talk to each other for real)
Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 25.6.2017
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, social media, spelling, texting
Summary | We constantly 'click' and 'follow', but we don't talk to each other anymore. As a result, some people are trying to find new ways to make people talk again.
Image Description | N/A
Erik Orsenna: «N'oublions jamais qu'une langue est un cadeau!»
(Erik Orsenna: "Let's never forget that a language is a gift!")
Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 9.3.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | language threat, spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | Writer Erik Orsenna talks about language and why it shapes us. He talks about the new French spelling reforms, the French Academy, the relationship between language and people's identity, rap music, useless anglicisms, and texting.
Image Description | Photograph of interviewee Erik Orsenna
Image Tags | male(s)
«Nous n'avons jamais autant écrit à travers l'histoire de l'humanité»
("We have never written so much through the history of mankind")
Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 27.7.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | emojis, grammar, language threat, social media, spelling, word/writing
Summary | Linguist Louise-Amélie Cougnon answers some questions related to digital language and language threat. She talks about social media language and emojis, and claims that we should not worry about the spread of digital language. Also, research does not show a link between digital language use and language impoverishment. However, it seems that pupils have lower spelling and grammar skills than before.
Image Description | N/A
Apple transforme son emoji pêche
(Apple transforms its peach emoji)
Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 3.11.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, spelling
Summary | Not everyone agrees with the new iOS update; some emojis have disappeared. For instance, the old peach emoji was replaced by another emoji that looks more like an apricot. Changing emojis is another way of saying "you should write this way and not that way", which is similar to a spelling reform. Emojis are becoming political. Finally, emojis are not a threat to language; they are a way to complement it.
Image Description | Images of the old and new peach emojis, and photograph of a cap with the message "make peach (picture of the new peach emoji) peach (picture of the old peach emoji) again".
Image Tags | emojis
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
La bataille de l'orthographe
(The spelling battle)
Newspaper | PME Magazine
Date | 30.9.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, marketing, spelling, texting
Summary | Spelling mistakes are everywhere around us. One of the reasons that can explain the invasion of spelling mistakes is the global usage of new technologies: now people write more. The phenomenon touches every social and professional classes. This leads to problems in the work space; people write their emails or resumes with a lot of mistakes. As a result, some companies now offer spelling classes to their employees in France and in Switzerland.
Image Description | N/A
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