Are modern electronic media, such as blogs, changing our language usage, especially of the English language? And if so, how and to what extent do they do this? This paper will answer these questions.
Electronic media, including the devices that were brought along, did become a changing power of society. While dealing with this changing power more closely, it becomes conspicuous that the Internet functions as a significant force. More precisely, it appears as an engine that keeps electronic media development going. Furthermore, the Internet stands for another massive influence concerning any human being on earth that is in favor of being connected to others: Language. To make it more specific there is talk of language change.
When the Internet’s power is evaluated from a superficial perspective the thoughts that the Internet creates new words, makes prevailing words disappear, uses abbreviations instead and spreads the results on weblogs or other social media sites, comes to mind easily.
However, the Internet brought various changes. One of its obvious ones is the way people talk to each other due to modern technology; looking on a phone screen has replaced looking into other people’s eyes. Besides, the society is not forced to leave their safe homes anymore because anything that might be needed is available on the Internet, ready to be clicked on.
It seems like this medium has made life easier but what is also mandatory to take into consideration are all the negative side effects that electronic media brought along: The loss of punctuation and spelling skills due to texting and the need of including as much information as possible in as little text as possible or the standardization of using abbreviations.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Internet and Language Change
2.1 The Function of Online Language
3. How Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Influences our Lives
3.1 Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Communication Media
3.2 Linguistic Aspects of Speech vs. Writing
4. Syntactic Properties of Computer-Mediated Language
5. Sample Analysis of a Blog
6. The Influential Power of the Internet
7. Conclusion
Objectives & Core Themes
The primary objective of this paper is to examine the impact of the Internet and electronic media on contemporary language usage. It explores whether the evolution of computer-mediated communication (CMC) constitutes a destructive force for language standards or acts as a neutral medium for natural linguistic development.
- The role of the Internet in driving language change and the creation of neologisms.
- Categorization of communication media based on synchronous and asynchronous properties.
- Linguistic distinctions between traditional speech and writing in the digital age.
- Syntactic deviations in computer-mediated communication, including abbreviations and acronyms.
- A practical analysis of blog content to demonstrate how digital features influence writing styles.
Excerpt from the Book
Example 1:
Hello guys ♡ better late than neveeeer. Finally managed to upload all my Instagram outfits that I wore in LA with the exact shopping links :) Hope you can now find everything you were looking for! But unfortunately I can't tell you where the swimsuits of the 2 photo shootings are from, 'cause the photographers brought them and I can't remember the brand :(
And I'm aaalmost done shooting all of the pictures for my book! So much work and I was literally shooting every day since I came to LA but it's so worth it!! There will be over 100 pictures that are exclusively for the book and that I've never posted before. Exciting, right?
Anyways, happy Wednesday everyone!! Aaaaand happy shopping!
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the shift in society due to electronic media and defines the research question regarding whether the Internet destroys language or acts as a neutral influence.
2. The Internet and Language Change: This section details how technology triggers neologisms and changes, referencing external and internal factors of linguistic evolution.
3. How Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Influences our Lives: The chapter explores the role of various communication platforms and addresses the controversy regarding the perceived deterioration of language skills.
4. Syntactic Properties of Computer-Mediated Language: This part analyzes the structural differences between digital communication and institutional language, highlighting common abbreviations and syntactic shifts.
5. Sample Analysis of a Blog: A case study of a specific lifestyle blog provides a visual and linguistic analysis of how digital content creators express emotion and use non-standard syntax.
6. The Influential Power of the Internet: This chapter discusses how the Internet promotes specific trends like compounding and how tools like spell-check influence linguistic precision and laziness.
7. Conclusion: The paper concludes that humanity, not the Internet, drives language change, and that digital platforms serve as mirrors for evolving communication standards.
Keywords
Internet Linguistics, Language Change, Computer-Mediated Communication, CMC, Online Language, Synchronous Communication, Asynchronous Communication, Digital Media, Neologisms, Syntactic Properties, Blogging, Social Media, Speech and Writing, Linguistic Evolution, Internet Influence
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper investigates the influence of the Internet and electronic media on the development and usage of modern language.
What are the central thematic areas?
The focus lies on the mechanism of language change, the distinction between synchronous and asynchronous communication, the comparison of speech and writing, and the analysis of digital writing styles.
What is the primary research question?
The paper seeks to answer whether the Internet acts as a destructive force for language or serves primarily as an innocent platform that merely facilitates and reflects natural linguistic change.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The research relies on literature reviews of established linguists like David Crystal and Naomi Baron, combined with a practical, qualitative sample analysis of a lifestyle blog.
What does the main body cover?
It covers the definition of online language, categorization of digital communication tools, syntactic analysis of web-based text, and a discussion on the influential power of digital tools like spell-check.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Language Change, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), Synchronous/Asynchronous communication, and Internet Linguistics.
How are blogs categorized in this work?
Blogs are categorized as an asynchronous, one-to-many form of communication, where responses are not expected to be immediate.
Why does the author analyze a specific blog?
The analysis serves to demonstrate how linguistic features like symbols, abbreviations, and informal grammar are used creatively in real-world digital environments.
- Quote paper
- Miriam B. (Author), 2019, The Influence of Modern Electronic Media on the Usage of the English Language, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/468191
