Number of Posts: 24
Posts 21 - 24
:) them or :( them, emojis make our messages feel more like us
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 14.6.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat
Summary | Some people are happy about the new 'emojify' feature that Apple offers, and some people don't like it and think that future generations won't be able to understand the English language. Famous cognitivist Stephen Pinker argues in favor of such communicative features; people adapt their language to the medium they use. If people text or tweet, it doesn't mean they won't be able to communicate in other ways; the same holds true for emojis. Emojis are useful to convey information that is hard to transmit via text (e.g. tone of voice, facial expressions). Having representative emojis (e.g. different skin colors) is also important since they help construct users' identity. Some people are not totally happy with the set of emojis offered now; they still convey certain ideologies and norms (e.g. about gender).
Image Description | Photograph of a woman in a room full of emojis; she has a big 'smiling face with sunglasses emoji' on her head.
Image Tags | emojis, female(s)
Studenten können nicht mehr richtig schreiben
(Students cannot write properly anymore)
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)
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)
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
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