Effect of modern technology texting and languages in academic communication language The advancement of technology has brought revolutionary changes in the world. One of the most notable changes is the way language in everyday communication has changed as a result of the use of abbreviations and slang in text messaging, chatting, and communication on social media. These days, electronic communication has gained a lot of popularity among the adolescents. Most American adolescents use electronic communication in one form or another every day. Instant messaging is amongst the most popular electronic communication forms for the adolescents. While it is frequently argued that the use of contractions, slang, and icons in text messaging is a signal for the development of a new language, the fact is that it signalizes death of appreciation of the written language because of its complexities.
Modern technology texting and language is defined by traits and qualities that are significantly different from those of the academic communication that is otherwise carried out every day. “ Short-cuts, including abbreviations, acronyms, and unique spellings [are] most prevalent in the instant message conversation, followed by pragmatic signals, such use of emoticons, emotion words, and punctuation, and typographical and spelling errors were relatively uncommon” (Varnhagen et al, 2010, p. 719). Unlike that, academic communication employs the use of proper grammar, sentence construction, and the quality of writing is governed by such factors as flow of writing, and smooth transition of ideas from one paragraph to another.
There are certain factors behind the death of appreciation of written language. The first among these is the time. Typing is more time-consuming than speaking. Accuracy is another element. Typing is more prone to errors than is speaking (Herring, 2003). In an attempt to compensate for such issues, young generation communicating through the instant messaging has developed short cuts. An example of such short cuts is writing “ l8r” instead of “ later”. In addition to that, acronyms are frequently used in place of common phrases, e. g. use of acronym “ brb” in place of the phrase “ be right back” (Werry, 1996). Another quality that provides spoken language with an edge over the written language is the ease of expression of emotions in the former unlike the latter. Users of text messaging have developed the graphic pragmatic devices in support of the communication functions. Examples of these include smileys or use of expressions like “ YW” in place of “ you’re welcome”.
New ways of communication that have surfaced with the advancement of technology and increase in the popularity and use of social media are convenient. “ All of these new ways of communicating are making communication easier. It may be impersonal, but thats because most of the text messages we send are about impersonal subjects anyway” (Lunsford, 2008). My native language is English. For one, I know that it becomes very convenient and time-saving when I use slang and abbreviation in text messaging. I don’t think using slang affects my skills of academic writing. I write according to the context and setting I am in. I know when I have to deter from using slang e. g. in school work and when I am free to use it e. g. chatting with my friends on Facebook.
References:
Herring, SC 2003, Computer-mediated communication on the internet, In S. B. Barnes (Ed.),
Computer-mediated communication: Human to human communication across the internet (pp. 109–168), Boston: Pearson Education.
Lunsford, P 2008, Communicating in text-message style: Is it ruining real communication?, [Online] Available at http://www. helium. com/debates/137425-communicating-in-text-message-style-is-it-ruining-real-communication/side_by_side? page= 13 [accessed: 9 March 2013].
Varnhagen, CK et al 2010, lol: new language and spelling in instant messaging, Read Writ, Vol. 23, pp. 719-733, [Online] Available at http://www. psych. ualberta. ca/~varn/Documents/VarnhagenMcFall2010. pdf [accessed: 9 March 2013].
Werry, CC 1996, Linguistic and interactional features of internet relay chat, Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins Publishing.
