The Student Room Group

AS English Language 2nd June

Does anyone have any predictions of what sort of extract will come up for Technology? e.g. website/radio/ etc?
Also, any theorists I could reference for technology?
GENERAL THEORY: Fairclough & Kress (Informalisation)
There is an informalisation process within synchronous communication
There is less formality e.g. more colloquialisms
There is also greater intimacy, due to the mixture of public/private
GENERAL THEORY: Halliday (Subcultures)
Internet subcultures use certain language features that rather resemble an online sociolect, which are less acceptable in spoken language
Taboo breaking/swearing is more accepted
Overstatement e.g. LOL, ROTFL
Relexicalisation: using old words for new meanings e.g. porridge (jail time)
Shibboleths marks such as symbols for cultural identity
GENERAL THEORY: Werry (Responses)
Screen size / typing speed / fast response time leads to shorter responses / abbreviation
Letter homophones e.g. RU are you
Binding letter homophones to make homophone phrases e.g. IMHO
GENERAL THEORY: Herring & Chandler (Confessional Behaviour)
Herring said that the internet leads to confessional behaviour and a lack of restraint that helps to relax social inhibitions
Chandler says that asynchronous chat encourages personal disclosure. People online are uninhibited when they are not talking in person because face needs are subsequently less important
GENERAL THEORY: Kollock & Smith (Tactic Code)
There is a tactic code of conduct on the internet
It is expected that you will reply quickly to any form of communication
This means there’s greater tolerance of typos/non-standard English etc
WEBSITE THEORY: Mark Boardman
Websites form a complex hyper-narrative
There is a building metaphor exemplified through navigation tabs that resemble signposts

Hypertext allows for linking/tagging
It electronically makes links that humans do e.g. from a glossary
Effective hyperlinks are an affordance
Ineffective hyperlinks are a limitation

Websites feature syntactic minimalism: the use of short imperatives to reduce word count E.g. “Buy now”
Websites feature graphological minimalism: this is the adoption of a simple colour/layout/font to appear uncluttered/uncomplicated
If either is not minimalized, this is because the text producer is aiming the website at a specific audience

Branding uses graphological features to market a product (((Tie into Language & Power through advertising))))
EMAIL THEORY: Helen Petrie (Emotion)
There are various ways to show emotion in emails
Pseudoprosodic features give the text a lighter tone e.g. brackets, trailing dots, emoticions/emojis
Emotion can also be conveyed through non-conventional publication (!!!) and the excessive use of rhetorical interrogatives & exclamations
Non-standard spelling and informality convey a close social relationship
SNS / IM THEORY: Crandall
On Social Networking Sites we pay attention to how we present ourselves
This is called the presentational culture, where visibility is more important than privacy
In some cases this constructs a ‘digital double’
We increasingly publish lots about our personal lives
SNS / IM THEORY: Baron
Turn-taking process is complicated
Difficult to know when using instant messaging when it is your turn
Further complication when you speak in chunks rather than 1 message
SNS / IM THEORY: Goddard & Gresin
Multi-party conversations require participants to handle multiple topics
Often a need to directly address any speakers in a multi-party chat
SNS / IM THEORY: Werry
Participants in synchronous chat have to pay extra attention to addressivity in order to regulate turn-taking
The average turn is around six words long

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