Language and Technology

TED Talk 1:
When deciding whether a word is acceptable or not, people often refer to grammar as their reasoning. However, there are two types of grammar: one of which being the innate grammar which is the unconscious rules that everyone follows when speaking English. These are learnt when you are a child, e.g. the use of plurals, and are similar to the laws of nature: hence, we do not need to be reminded to obey these rules when speaking English. In contrast, Usage is a rule-based form of grammar that is revolved more about manners than they are about nature. Many people use usage to discourage others from making new words as they do not deem vocabulary outside of the current norm to be grammatically correct. Hence, usage is a prominent explanation behind the minds of perspectivists who dislike the changing nature of the English language.

The speech explores development of new words and gives various techniques, like borrowing in the English language from other languages. Compounding also forms new words which is placing two English words together. Another technique is using blend words by which words are put together but some letters are dropped off in the process.  There is also functional shift, which is where the purpose of the word can shift over time. For example, ‘friend’s function can be shifted from a noun into a verb. Backformation is when you take a word and shorten the ending - e.g. edit came from editor. Acronyms are words formed when you take the first letter of each word in a phrase and place them together to create a word. Significantly, the speaker illustrates a very descriptivist attitude as she passionately advocates the development of new words in hope to expand the English language.

TED Talk 2:

Many hold the idea that texting spells decline in writing ability amongst young people globally; but this is a misconception. Texting and writing are not the same: just as speaking and writing are two different things. For example, speech is far more loose, telegraphic and casual: hence no one naturally speaks like they are writing unless they are delivering a formal speech. If you can speak like writing then it is logical for you to write like you speak. Instant messaging allows the convenience of delivering a message quickly, almost like speech. Texting allows fingered speech: so we can write like we talk, as no one worries about punctuation and grammar during every day casual speech, so this is reciprocated in text messages.

The TED Talk refers to ‘lol’ being a pragmatic particle, which illustrates how texting has evolved the meaning of the acronym from standing for ‘Laugh out Loud’ to a marker of empathy and understanding. New information markers are used in everyday speech when a new topic needs to brought up, therefore texting has evolved to accommodate these, which are also examples of pragmatic particles. Evidence shows that being bilingual or bi-dialectal is cognitively beneficial; therefore text messaging- in spite of its criticism- can help boost the linguistic repertoire amongst the youth of today. In spite of the opposing views to texting commonly found amongst his generation, the speaker- who is an adult- is a definite descriptivist as he supports the use of texting: believing it has a positive effect on both humans and the development of our language.

Analytical Task:
Within a Facebook group conversation, a variety of structural features have been used to demonstrate empathy and understanding between the group members. In particular, adjacency pairs maintain a level of respect between the members of the conversation. For instance, I opened with the greeting 'Yo' and received the response of 'Wagwaan', which immediately established a sense of consideration between me and my friend. The notable use of Jamaican dialect emphasises the acknowledgement of my culture- which highlights the level of solidarity within the conversation. In turn, this serves as a pragmatic particle because the group members- who are all of Afro-Carribean heritage- understand that this is also a way of saying hello rather than just its literal meaning that translates to 'What is going on?'.
Discourse markers are also consistently used so that the other group members can comprehend the intended emphasis that has been placed on a message because, unlike face-to-face conversation, it is impossible to vocally emphasise a point through text messaging. Therefore, words like 'Imagine', 'Listen' and 'Obviously' are used at the beginning of a message to immediately clarify to the other group members that an important or emotionally-fuelled message is being delivered.

The group conversation uses youth-associated lexis to establish an informal register. Evidently, colloquialisms are exchanged between group members to demonstrate the trendy, modern  nature of the conversation. Hence, slang words like 'buff' (an adjective to describe a good-looking person) and 'garms' (a plural noun for clothes) are used several times to emphasise that the whole group is aware of the latest lingual trends, that are distinct from the common vocabulary used by the older generation. Importantly, these colloquialisms are used instead of the Standard English equivalents because they set this group conversation apart from formal communication with family/teachers: giving this friendly conversation a uniqueness that offers comfort and informality.
Number homophones are used in the Facebook conversation as they replicate the pronunciation of the full word in vocal speech,but in a shorter and more convenient way. Just like colloquialisms, the number homophone 'some1' is used to set an informal tone, but also offers convenience to the writer as it is saves them time but the reader can still fully comprehend what they are saying.

Moreover, the spelling and grammar within the conversation conveys how young people purposely disobey the rules of Standard English in textspeak for ease and convenience. Ellision is used in the conversation to literally copy the way we speak in every day vocal speech. For instance, ellision is seen in the vague language 'sorta' as it offers speed and has a flowing effect on the tongue when said in person, so only seems natural and easier to follow this in conversations via text messaging.
Abbreviations are very common in textspeak and are seen as the main method of conveniently getting a point across. The abbreviation 'DPMO', standing for 'Don't P*ss Me Off', is used as it saves the user the hassle of writing the whole phrase. Significantly, capitalisation is used with the abbreviation to imitate a shouting volume in order to convey the user's aggression because -unlike face-to-face communication- there is no physical way to demonstrate an increase in volume via textspeak.

In terms of graphology, there are various methods used by the group members to convey their emotions. Sharing a similar purpose to capitalisation, emojis are used as a means to imitate the facial expressions of the group members because there isn't a physical way to express this  through textspeak. Therefore, the laughing face emoji is used to illustrate a humourous response to a message: compensating for the lack of face-to-face communication which would allow this comical reaction to instantly be acknowledged. Likewise, non-standard punctuation is used to compensate for the lack of a visual interface during textspeak.
The succession of question marks '?????' conveys an image of confusion to the other members of the conversation; whereas, the use of an interrobang '?!' suggests surprise or shock. As a consequence, non-standard punctuation is often used in text speak to exaggerate certain feelings or place emphasis on a image.