Number of Posts: 76
Posts 71 - 76
Der Punkt stirbt aus – wegen Messengern
(The period is dying out – because of messenger)
Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 12.6.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, texting
Summary | Most people do not put a period at the end of their messages. It is pretty self-evident where sentences end in text messages, argues linguist David Crystal. When a user does add a period at the end of a message, it is a way to give the message more weight, to convey irony or discontent. An opposing trend can also be observed, namely over-punctualization by adding several exclamation or question marks. Teachers are being advised to be very cautious when correcting their students in cases like these.
Image Description | Series of two photographs: WhatsApp conversation and picture of Linguist David Crystal.
Image Tags | male(s), WhatsApp
Wir wollen zeigen, dass wir gut Englisch können
(We want to show that we are good at English)
Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 29.4.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | anglicisms, code-switching, emojis, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | Young people increasingly communicate in English with each other (especially digitally). This has become a way to imitate their idols, who are largely English-speakers, and to exclude adults from their communicative code. Linguists are delighted by young people's creativity; they use different languages and emojis available to them even though their competence may not be perfect.
Image Description | Series of four screenshots of WhatsAspp conversations showing English/Swiss-German code-switching.
Image Tags | WhatsApp
Les jeunes parlent romand
(Young people speak Romand (Swiss French))
Newspaper | Le Matin
Date | 18.5.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, research/study, texting, What's up Switzerland, WhatsApp
Summary | Interview with Federica Diémoz at the University of Neuchâtel. She talks about a study related to the different expressions used in the Swiss French part of Switzerland. People also use their local expressions in text messages. The "What's up Switzerland" project is going to analyze WhatsApp messages. From what researchers have observed so far, people sometimes use regional expressions and don't always write the same way. They also add emoticons and images that replace words.
Image Description | Photograph of the interviewee, Federica Diémoz.
Image Tags | female(s)
Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor
(Young people write – more than ever)
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
“Deutschkurs 20.16”
(German class 20.16)
Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 8.4.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | grammar, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | A list of nine texting grammar rules or tips for adults is compiled to enable them to blend in with teenagers in digital communication media. These rules include alternative spellings, elisions of words as well as usage of anglicisms.
Image Description | Photograph in black and white of Silvia Fritsche, author of the article.
Image Tags | female(s)
Les émojis, ces drôles de petites bêtes virtuelles
(Emojis, those funny little virtual creatures)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 6.2.2016
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | emojis, language threat, research/study, texting
Summary | Emojis are becoming a “global” phenomenon. For example, Facebook recently introduced a set of emojis, companies use them in their advertisement campaigns, and some people would like to create a “language” with emojis. Should we fear an impoverishment of “traditional languages”? Some linguists claim that emojis do not replace words but serve as complements in our communication. They can substitute a gesture or an intonation that we usually have in our oral exchanges. Another study concluded that text messages are not a threat to orthography, and that we have always used images to express ourselves.
Image Description | Digital image representing different emojis: sick emoji, cowboy emoji, tongue-out emoji, winking eye emoji etc.
Image Tags | emojis
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