Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 3
Posts 1 - 3

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

Schreiben: Die Handschrift verkümmert

(Writing: Handwriting is hampered)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.3.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, texting, word/writing
Summary | We are living in an age writing renaissance; no generation before us has written this profusely. We are always texting someone or updating our social media statuses and yet, ironically, we are losing a staple of writing culture: our handwriting. Researchers are debating whether this is a problem or not, but the fact is that many neuroscientific studies show that humans learn better while writing by hand rather than typing. The abbreviated, informal, emoticon-filled writing style of WhatsApp and co. may be corrupting writing culture at large.
Image Description | Photograph of a young child (girl) typing on a laptop.
Image Tags | computer/laptop, female(s)

Eine literarische Revolution ;-)

(A literary revolution ;-))

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Newspaper | Tages-Anzeiger
Date | 10.2.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, translation
Summary | Originating in the late 1990s in Japan, emojis have gained huge popularity worldwide. Some say they are destroying our language, others use emojis for poetic endeavors. Fred Benenson has for instance re-written the classic story of Moby Dick using emojis. The project was crowd funded and is called “Emoji Dick”. Apple has recently put into action an online petition calling for more ethnic diversity among emojis.
Image Description | Digital image representing 180 different emojis.
Image Tags | emojis

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