Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 60
Posts 51 - 60

Emoji: the first truly global language?

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 31.8.2014
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | diversity, emojis, word/writing
Summary | The author of the article explains how sometimes sending an emoji can convey more than words, in just one click. Emojis have come a long way since their origin, and today one of the major concerns about emojis is diversity. The authors claims that if we're building a new language, we want to include everyone and everything. Emojis are also being used in other contexts (e.g. video clip, book). Words can express a lot but they can also create misunderstandings; emojis can thus be a way of freeing oneself from the limitations of language.
Image Description | Digital image representing different emojis.
Image Tags | emojis

Por primera vez, la palabra del año es un emoji

(For the first time, the word of the year is an emoji)

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Newspaper | infobae
Date | 18.11.2015
Language | Spanish
Country | Argentina
Topic Tags | emojis, word/writing
Summary | The Oxford Dictionary chose an emoji as the word of the year because it reflects people's state of mind and preocupations in 2015. Emojis are not only used by young people; it is also a new form of expression that can break down language barriers.
Image Description | Image of the Oxford Dictionary word of the year: the face with tears of joy emoji
Image Tags | emojis

Emoji is named as Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year

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Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 17.11.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, word/writing
Summary | The "face with tears of joy" emoji was named word of the joy by the Oxford Dictionary. Emojis are symbols of today's culture and communication, and are replacing traditional forms of communication. There is nowadays a focus on visual communication. Emojis are a new form of communication that allow people to express their emotions, and to go beyond linguistic barriers.
Image Description | Digital image of the "face with tears of joy" emoji, and photograph of a man reading the Oxford Dictionary of English.
Image Tags | dictionary, emojis, male(s)

How English Became English by Simon Horobin review – ‘OMG’ was first used 100 years ago

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Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 31.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | word/writing
Summary | Simon Horobin's new book is about language change. He traces the history of the English language while explaining the notions of language standard and prescriptivism. Horobin argues that some linguistic forms such as "OMG" are not new; for instance, the acronym OMG first appeared in 1917. Horobin also praises the possibility of being linguistically creative, which is something new technologies offer.
Image Description | Photograph of British comedian Jack Whitehall wearing a Hooters t-shirt and a bra.
Image Tags | male(s)

Why Handwriting Is Still Important

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Newspaper | The New York Times
Date | 31.8.2016
Language | English
Country | U.S.
Topic Tags | childhood, texting, word/writing
Summary | People are outraged after a journalist claims that handwriting is becoming a useless skill. Opponents are referencing instances where writing is unavoidable, such as signing a legal document, or is more appropriate, such as writing love letters or letters of condolence. Learning to write longhand is also very important for children to develop various skills.
Image Description | Black and white staged photograph from Getty: hand holding a pen and writing on a piece of paper.
Image Tags | hand(s)

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)

Schriftliche Forschheiten: Vom Niedergang der Höflichkeit

(Written briskness: On the demise of politeness)

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Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness, school, texting, WhatsApp, word/writing
Summary | Communication researchers agree that politeness in professional writing has decreased with the rise of digital communication. Rules of formal writing are omitted: what was“Honored Professor So-and-so” is now a simple “Hello”. Both students and also professors are reported to have a relaxed level of formality in email exchanges. This is usually seen as an influence of texting, where traditional messages of respect are omitted, but it can also be argued that the new brief communication style is a form of respecting the addressee’s time by writing efficiently.
Image Description | Photograph of a female texting; the shot does not show the person's face but emphasizes the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text

Kritiken

(Critiques)

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Newspaper | die Weltwoche
Date | 19.11.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, word/writing
Summary | This year, the Oxford English Dictionary has proclaimed a non-word the word of the year: the laughing emoji with tears of joy. The reason why a non-word has been chosen as word of the year is that emojis have become a significant part of contemporary communication and that they overcome language barriers.
Image Description | N/A

Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor

(Young people write – more than ever)

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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

L'usage des mots

(The use of words)

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Newspaper | Le Temps
Date | 13.2.2015
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | texting, threat, word/writing
Summary | People tend to misuse certain words in order to be politically correct, but this is not necessarily a good thing. For example, saying “Daech” instead of “Islamic state” leads to a denial of any religious affiliation –in this case: Islam. People also intentionally misuse certain words, which is the consequence of a shrunken vocabulary imbued with text message features. As a result, emotions and thoughts are not as rich.
Image Description | N/A
Image Tags | female(s)

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