Controlled AssessmentTexting and Internet Language

Differences between written and spoken language

Written : encyclopedia entry Spoken : phone call

Visual (it’s read) Aural (it’s heard)

Permanent – can be checked and re-read

Temporary – only retained in the memory

Impersonal: the audience is not known

Personal: directed towards a known audience

Distant – can be accessed at any time

Immediate – restricted to the time of the call

Can you think of anything else?

Language forms aren’t always one or the other – some fall in between the extremes. Where on the continuum would you place the following?

Visual (it’s read)

Permanent – can be checked and re-read

Impersonal: the audience is not known

Distant – can be accessed at any time

Aural (it’s heard)

Temporary – only retained in the memory

Personal: directed towards a known audience

Immediate – restricted to the time of the call

The BibleA classroom discussionAn internet chat roomA Shakespeare playA ‘tweet’Text message advertAn episode of Eastenders

A shopping listText message from a friend

Mixed mode texts

Mixed mode texts share features with both written and spoken language.

Two examples of mixed modes are texting and ‘internet communication’ (the variety of language used by different people to send emails and communicate on forums, instant messaging software like MSN and post in internet chat rooms).

You receive this text from a friend...

Write a fairly brief reply using a style that you would usually use when texting a good friend. Don’t alter your style.

hi how ru gd wknd?

Public attitudes to spoken language varieties

Band 5:sophisticated analysis and evaluation of key issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 4confident analysis of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 3exploration of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Wots ur ati2d to txt slng?Wot othr ati2dz av u hrd?Wot abt slng in gnrl? Do u uz bare sik wurdz?Or do you prefer Standard English? Why/ why not?

1.Read the first four paragraphs and make a note of the different attitudes to texting that are mentioned.

2.Try to come up with as many different ideas for who which groups in society may have each attitude and why. Make a note of ideas so you can feed back to class.

3.3. Read to the bottom of page 2. Discuss the reasons why David Crystal disagrees with negative attitudes to texting.

4.4. Read from “Why abbreviate?” on p3 up to the text poems. Discuss why people abbreviate texts (remember texts used to be expensive) and play with language. (Remember Ludo?)

Txting: frNd or foe?Read the appropriate sections of the text and then discuss the following questions in your groups:

Plenary hi nan i will be round at 4ish ok? Speak to you then xx

What might a grandma’s thoughts on this text be and why?Analyse possible attitudes to specific linguistic features.

Standard English: the form of English accepted as the national norm; everyone understands it. It is often considered to be the ‘correct’ form. It has higher prestige than other dialects. It is taught in school.

Dialect: a variation of language spoken by a group, generally geographical. There is some overlap with the term sociolect.

Sociolect: the language variety associated with any particular group in society.

Age The pastimes and leisure activities that people take part in will affect language

use.

Gender Who, where and why a person is talking to someone else will affect language use.

Hobbies Where a person is from (geographically) will affect language use as well as accent

Ethnicity The job or career that a person does will affect language use.

Deviance The social, educational and economic position that people are born into / live in will affect

language use.

occupation Any ‘less savoury’ activities that an individual is involved in will affect language use e.g. Bumping people off or doing porridge

Region A person’s ethnic background (for example, British Asian) will affect language use.

Social class How old or young a person is will affect language use.

context Whether you are male or female will affect language use.

In your book, write down examples of words and phrases which may be used due to each of the factors belowAge e.g. tracks, records, choons, musicGenderHobbiesEthnicityDevianceoccupationRegionSocial classcontext

Accommodation theoryWho proposed this idea? Howard Giles

What is it? Giles proposed that when speakers seek approval in a social situation they are likely to (consciously or unconsciously) change their speech so that it is similar to their listener. However, if the speaker wants to disassociate him / herself from the speaker, they may change their speech to show that they are different.

Task: In pairs, try to think of situations at school, real or invented, which could be explained by this theory.

How many different internet acronyms and initialisms do you know?

e.g. LOL, BRB

Features of language used in texts and on the internet

Feature Description Example Purpose(s)

Acronym A word formed from the initial letters of a phrase. Pronounced as a word.

LOL

Initialism The initial letters of a phrase. Not pronounced as a word.

GCSE, BRB

Clipping Omitting last letter/ letters of words

Teaching - teachin

Contraction/ elision

Vowels missing in the middle of words

But – btMetaphor – mtphr

Features of language used in texts and on the internet

Spot the mistake

Feature Description Example Purpose(s)

Smiley/ emoticon A face/ image created with keyboard characters

:-)

Phonetic spelling Words spelt as they are pronounced

What - wot

Substitution Words or letters are replaced by other symbols which sound like them

R u there?Tru d@2 l8 m8

Ellipsis Words left out of sentences

I will be round your house at six. I will bring the books. – Will be round at six. Will bring books.

Non standard punctuation and capitalisation

Missing/ extra punctuation or capitals

R U OKNo way michael!!??!

Read the example text

Which features can you find?

Example analysisB replies to A’s question “hows u?” with the response “gud thanx, u?” Firstly, B uses a non-standard

feature, not using a capital letter. This is slightly quicker and easier than using a capital letter as she doesn’t need to press the shift key. It is also very informal. Whilst internet communication is often less formal than other forms of writing, this is so informal that it suggests A and B are good friends with each other. Secondly, both “gud” and “thanx” are spelt phonetically, which could be seen as something done for brevity, as both words have one less letter than usual and again, it suggests informality.

However, this kind of phonetic representation is fashionable among teenagers (age suggested by “History coursework”,) and this may be an example of B adapting her language because of her age and fashion, probably unconsciously. Additionally, phonetic features such as this can be interpreted as an attempt to represent the sounds of natural speech in order to make the conversation seem more like a real conversation. As a multi modal text, the conversation shares features with both written and spoken texts, and this phonological feature may be an attempt, probably unconscious again, to make the conversation seem closer to speech.

Finally, the non Standard spelling is mildly subversive: this type of language may be used so heavily by teenagers because it is almost a form of rebellion. It rejects Standard English, and teenagers may be taking the opportunity to rebel in a new way at an age when rebellion is so attractive to them. It is a way of rejecting the habits of adults. A and B and many teenagers might see the use of such features as fun and a way of expressing themselves. However, other people see it as a threat to the language and literacy. They believe a generation is growing up unable to spell correctly because of SMS messages and the internet. Alternatively they may think that as with speech, Non Standard forms suggest that a person is uneducated or of a low class. This seems over the top and unfair to say the least! In fact, there are other people, such as David Crystal, who believe that...

Spoken Language StudyControlled Assessment CriteriaUnderstand variations in spoken language, explaining why language changes in relation to contexts.Evaluate the impact of spoken language choices in their own and others’ use.

Band 5 17–20 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Sophisticated, perceptive analysis and evaluation of aspects of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposesImpressive’ sustained and sophisticated interpretations of key features found in spoken language datasophisticated analysis and evaluation of key issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 4 13–16 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Confident explanation and analysis of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposes confident analysis and reflection on features found in some spoken language dataconfident analysis of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 3 9–12 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Clear, Consistent’ explanation of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposesexploration of features found in some spoken language dataexploration of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 2 5–8 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Some’ some awareness of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposessome understanding of significant features found in some spoken language datasome awareness of public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

TaskSelect one quotation which contains an

interesting example(s) of language used in internet communication.

1 Explain and analyse how the feature has been used.

2 Consider how the feature relates to ordinary speech – would it be used? Why/ why not?

3 Consider possible attitudes to the feature – what might different people think?

How many different spoken language features can you identify using the correct terminology?

The exam board said: “The candidate's notes do not seem particularly brief. The concern, however, might be that they are not very useful because of the considerable amount of technical terminology that covers the page. The candidate's response, at about 1400 words, is significantly longer than is suggested in the specification and while there is no penalty for this, it may be worth discussing whether the length of the response works in the candidate's interest, and whether the large amount of detail in the notes is a contributory factor to this length.”

Why does the examiner think the notes were unhelpful?

What should you put on an effective notes page?

AQA said: “In responding to the first data set the candidate confidently identifies, names and comments on a range of features. (B4) The focus is always on the task title and although it may seem a little like a list in the way features are identified, there is some confident explanation (B4), for example of the use of 'x'.”

What do you think makes the comments on ‘x’ “confident”?

Spoken Language StudyControlled Assessment CriteriaUnderstand variations in spoken language, explaining why language changes in relation to contexts.Evaluate the impact of spoken language choices in their own and others’ use.

Band 5 17–20 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Sophisticated, perceptive analysis and evaluation of aspects of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposesImpressive’ sustained and sophisticated interpretations of key features found in spoken language datasophisticated analysis and evaluation of key issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 4 13–16 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Confident explanation and analysis of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposes confident analysis and reflection on features found in some spoken language dataconfident analysis of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 3 9–12 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Clear, Consistent’ explanation of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposesexploration of features found in some spoken language dataexploration of some issues arising from public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

Band 2 5–8 marks Candidates demonstrate‘Some’ some awareness of how they and others use and adapt spoken language for specific purposessome understanding of significant features found in some spoken language datasome awareness of public attitudes to spoken language varieties.

An essay to explore how I use different forms of language when I use multimodal communication such as texting, tweeting and blogging to communicate with a range of different people. Write about the following: a)      What different types of multimodal forms of communication they use, explain why they like using them.b)      How they would classify themselves as a case study – are they typical teens ( using texts and social networking sites to communicate) or are they unusual in the way they use them?c)       How does their background, age, gender, ethnicity influence the sites they use/forms of multi modal communication sites they visit regularly?d)      The language they have used in three transcripts- analysing how they and their peers/others use and adapt spoken language for different purposes (What is the effect of these choices?  PEE from their transcripts and explain/explore the language used by them.  Hopefully one text transcript will be to a peer, one an adult, one a person they hold in respect eg a teacher – using standard English in a formal way even though it is an email…  This is the body of the essay )e)      Their analysis of how texting is a positive/negative way of communicating… what is lost/gained?  What do they think about public attitudes towards the way teenagers text/tweet and use new idiolect?  How do they see the future evolution of multi modal technologies?  Will the spoken word ever stop evolving?