There are many diverse ways in which people communicate depending on certain factors, such as who is speaking, who they’re talking to, what their purpose is and the mode. For example, people tend to use informal language and Non-standard English when speaking to their friends, whereas they will use more formal language in certain situations such as a job interview to show that they have a high status and are well-educated. Other factors which may affect the way we speak including our accent and dialect are; age, geography, heritage, gender, social class, occupation and sexuality.
The main differences between spoken and written language are that spoken language is ephemeral, usually informal and one can also use facial expressions, pitch, volume and pace to aid meaning. In contrast, writing is formal, has a permanence and it is more difficult to express oneself as you can only use punctuation and sentence structure to do this. Another vital difference is that speech is spontaneous because of its speed but writing is planned and prepared mainly because it is permanent.
Written language is often prepared and planned because once something is written down it has permanence and is static so therefore thought is required before writing. On the other hand, spontaneity and speed makes it more difficult to plan talk and because spoken language is ephemeral, it is also easy to repeat or reformulate what you have said if necessary. In Text A, non-fluency features like fillers are used by both participants which have several effects on the receiver and the fillers occur particularly when replying to a question. In the conversation, fillers such as ‘hmm’ and ‘ermm’ are used which would be seen as a way to allow the speaker some thinking time...
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...that digital communication allows them to enhance their literacy skills which has also been reinforced by scientists such as Psychologist Dr Clane Wood who said in a report for the daily mail that “Texting also appears to be a valuable form of contact between written English for many Children, which enables them to practice reading and spelling on a daily basis.” Parents and teachers Concerns
‘Britain’s rich fund of slang is fast dwindling.’ Vanessa Thorpe, From the Observer, October 1999
Conclusion:
Online talk is a type of multi-modal talk – it’s a written form that contains elements of spoken language.
In an article for Time Ideas, John McWhorter briefly sums up digital communications by stating that ‘texting properly isn’t writing at all — it’s actually more akin to spoken language. And it’s a spoken language that is getting richer and more complex by the year’
Writing, according to an article in Times Magazine titled “Is Texting Killing the English Language” by John McWhorter, is an art that has been around for about 5,500 years. Since writing is deliberate and takes more time to compose, it’s usually better thought out and sounds more sophisticated. Speech, on the other hand, is more of an “unconscious” practice.
Three years ago, linguist John McWhorter spoke at a Ted Talk conference about whether texting is killing language and went so far as to question the definition of language itself. His video, “John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!” distinguished to the reader the difference between writing and speaking and how texting was one in the form of another. Texting, he said, is a way of writing as one speaks, or specifically fingered speech, rather than as many believe, a mutilated version of the English language. According to McWhorter, texting is becoming a second language for many people, and those who do text are actually, in a sense, being bilingual. Texting itself is not very different from a foreign language, other than for its strong
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
Language primarily is a system of communication (Fellowes and Oakley, 2014. p. 16). It is a “socially shared code” meaning it is custom to a certain group of humans and the language is understood by all in the group (Suri, n.d.). At all stages of life, language is an expressive tool that humans’ use as a vehicle to express ones’ self, ideas and thoughts (Kilgour, 1999). When language is learnt, certain notions about what is appropriate depending on different context is learnt (Emmitt, Zbaracki, Komesaroff & Pollock, 2010. p. 73). These notions are reflective of M. Halliday’s language register, language is diverse and is representative of context of interaction, who the communication is between and the communitive purpose as well as the mode of communication [oral or written] (Fellowes and Oakley, 2014. p. 19 & 20). Variety of vernacular is a diverse language barrier that may affect a person at any stage of life; refers to our everyday language and slang that is different to another group or region (Casano, n.d.). An example would be, this language would be appropriate for friends and close family but a different variety of vernacular would be used amoung work
In his article, Crystal claimed that texting helps children to be better at their spelling and writing and they tend to score higher on test of reading and vocabulary because of the abbreviations used in their messages. Although Crystal provides ample evidence that texting is not linked to a drop in linguistic standard, Penn State News entitled ‘No LOL matter: Tween texting may lead to...
People always communicate using language. In communication, people share their feeling and thought through a system which makes their interlocutors understand what they speak. Wardhaugh (2006) state people constantly choose what they want to say, how they want to say it, and the use of specific linguistic items which best for the way they say things. People need to manage their relationships with the interlocutors as well. It makes them consider who their interlocutors are, the settings in which the communication occurs, and the appropriateness of language being used.
Because the basic communication process is the same in every situation, there are some similarities across all types of interactions. Just the same, each interaction remains distinct and therefore each rhetorical situation will be different. For example, think about how you communicate with another person in the library and at a party. In both cases, you are sending messages and reacting to feedback. But the rhetorical situation of the library means that you will be speaking in whispers, whereas at the party you will be speaking much louder and with more animated gestures.
Texting is killing language,” Ted starts off the video by saying that “The idea is that texting spells the decline and fall of any kind of serious literacy, or at least writing ability, among young people in the United States and now the whole world today (Ted, 2013). Throughout the film discussion, what stuck out to me the most was how drastic language has changed via technology.
Drouin, M., & Davis, C. (2009). R U Txting? Is the Use of Text Speak Hurting Your Literacy?. Journal of Literacy Research, 44(1), 46-67. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=texting+spelling+grammar&id=EJ862013
Drouin, Michelle, and Claire Davis. “R u txting? Is the Use of Text Speak Hurting Your Literacy?.” Journal of Literacy Research 41.1 (2009): 46-67. Humanities International Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.
Communication is extremely intricate. Although the general language used to communicate is fairly standardized for a given community there are definite variations within certain groups, including, regional, ethnic, gender, occupational, socioeconomic, and age groups. Among the variations are characteristics such as dialects, accents, and slang.
To facilitate or participate in any classroom activities requires the use of oral language. Talk is significantly important because "language that is heard must be understood before the language that is read can be decoded and understood" (McCandlish, 2012, pg. 9). Specifically, Halliday (1975) categorised language into seven different functions each with its own purpose, allowing students to comprehend that language like writing has different genres and can be formal or informal, depending on the audience, context or purpose.
The Features of Written Language and Speech In English language there are two different ways of actually presenting language. These are written language and speech. These two factors of speech both include many different features between themselves. These features are mostly opposite to each other as they are completely different ways of presenting language. Written language is structured into paragraphs unlike general speech which is hardly thought about before being said and is flowing naturally.
To start with, I do not want to narrowly define language as merely verbal communication. Language is far broader than that. In a few seconds a person walking past you on the street could tell you more about themselves with a sincere smile than they could with a few rushed words. Language encompasses all aspects of communication that enhance the level of our interaction. The tone in our voice demonstrating our feelings on a topic or our body language indicating our level of interest are just as important in interaction as verbally communicating content. There for I define language as any act that is involved in the interaction between two or more people.
People live in the world of communication. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (Moore, 1997), communication is defined as, “The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information”. The significance of communication can be found within the context of a human existing as a social being. As a human being manages his or her life in the course of the interaction between other members of the entire society, communication is inevitable. Communication occurs through the medium of a language and it is presented in two different forms which are written and spoken (Brown & Yule, 1983: 1-10). The importance of spoken performance of a language is becoming more prominent over the written performance capability. It is because the ability to speak a language reflects a person’s personality, self image, knowledge of the world, ability to reason, skill to express thoughts in real-time (Luoma, 2004: ix). These days, due to the global trend of internationalisation, the ability to communicate in English is needed as an essential skill. Whenever the international exchange happens, the use of spoken English entails. However, it is not always an easy task for people who use English as a second language to be able to speak to the level of a native speaker. They have to perfectly understand the sound system of English, have almost instant access to proper vocabulary and be able to place words together intelligibly without hesitation. Moreover, they also have to perceive what is being said to them and need to be able to respond appropriately to acquire amiable relations or to accomplish their communicative goals (Luoma, 2004: ix). Therefore, non-native English speakers encounter these barriers and they are subject to make mistakes often. In relation to this matter, this essay argues that there are socio-cultural factors as well as linguistic factors that affect non-native speakers’ communication in English. It provides analysis of several different situations when the use of spoken English has generated miscommunication problems in regards to author’s personal experience.