May 14, 2008
OMG, Teens' Online Chatting Is Linguistically Sophisticated
Despite the worries of their parents (and professors), teenagers’ use of language online is surprisingly sophisticated.
That’s the conclusion of two researchers from the University of Toronto, who looked at spoken and IM communications of 72 people ages 15 to 20. Instant messaging represented, they said, “an expansive new linguistic renaissance.”
The research will appear in a future issue of American Speech, and was reported first by New Scientist.
Sali A. Tagliamonte, a professor of linguistics, and Derek Denis, her student, found that instant messages mix up colloquial with formal language, creating a complex hybrid.
What’s more, teenagers are more likely to say “He was like, ‘What’s up?’” than to IM it. Online, their parents may be relieved to know, they tend to type “He said, ‘What’s up?’”—Lila Guterman
Posted on Wednesday May 14, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Dood! Im like impresd!
— Al May 15, 11:00 AM #
The IM text would read “he’s like zup?”. LOL
— Jay May 15, 11:51 AM #
I can has cheezburger?
— PPP May 15, 12:46 PM #
While I easily fall outside the study’s age range, I still text and IM avidly and use complete sentences with punctuation while doing so. Am I alone? I have found faculty quite my senior who respond to emails using sophomoric emoticons and abbreviations, i.e. “can u w8 in my offiz for 2 min? b right bak.” Anyone else?
— SC May 15, 04:20 PM #
I haven’t experienced colleagues writing emails with emoticons, abbreviations, etc., but I do see some people in academia who don’t seem to know about things like: the difference between “i.e.” and “e.g.”; when to use “emeritus” and when to use “emerita”; or that a CV is a curriculum vitae.
— Steve May 15, 05:41 PM #
Re #4, I’m a 40-something and TXT and IM constantly. I use all the same abbreviations our students use when I do so because it’s just too hard to create great prose in that channel. But my e-mails and other non-instantaneous, saveable business correspondence employ appropriate punctuation and grammar. I apply rules to media based on my perception of convention. I’ve seen e-mails get shorter and shorter, but haven’t yet seen IM grammar and spelling conventions invade e-mail as SC has. Maybe that will be the norm someday, but it strikes me as premature to begin now. Especially since e-mail is still largely the domain of the post 20-something generation (see http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i07/07a02701.htm).
— Allen May 15, 06:31 PM #
Per #4
Perhaps they are responding to your email from their phone. I get emails from friends texting on their phones and they are noticeably less redundant, more efficient. I do suspect, however, that there is some difference between texting in an efficient manner vs. texting in a fashionable manner.
— Kelly Aune May 15, 07:36 PM #
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— AJAY BIJORE May 17, 06:45 AM #