Is My Blog Post on Fleek? - TESL 0110 - Reflections

A Funner Way to See How Language is Evolving  

I was having a discussion with a classmate in an online course forum that got me thinking about technology and how it is changing our language.  It's amazing how times have changed our language needs.  When you think that only 142 years ago there were no telephones and the written word was the only way in which we sent messages to others.  Long written letters which needed proper grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures to convey meaning.  So communication was simply conducted in 2 forms:  face-to face speaking and writing.

The invention of the telephone brought a new and improved way to communicate immediately and from a distance.  Speaking on the telephone, while losing some quality in the non-verbal cues available in face to face communication, was a fast way to communicate to others over a distance.  I wonder if people were worried back then that letter writing was going to be lost art?

With the emergence of the internet, so emerged a plethora of new ways to communicate with others from all over the world.  Email was the first to come.  It merged the immediacy of the telephone, with the written word.  Online conversations became the norm and writing needn't be long and comprehensive to convey meaning, because you were able give and receive a timely reply, either asking for clarification, or adding to your initial email.  The shorter writing text of an email prompted the use of more acronyms, abbreviations.  We could share photos and jokes and videos to supplement our messages.  The email was a huge innovation that seriously changed the way we communicate.

So I continued to poke around the internet to see how language has been change by the internet. I'm amazed at how it has evolved, with the emergence of 1000s of new vocabulary words, emojis, acronyms, abbreviations.  An interesting article by the Oxford Royale Academy outlines 4 Ways the Internet Has Changed the English Language.  Here is a brief summary.

1.  Addition of 1000s of words of new vocabulary - Telegraphese of the internet and text acronyms and abbreviations like 4COL, AYSOS, GHM or TYL (either Text you Later or Thank You Lord).  Internet vocabulary belongs to the category of slang or Jargon, but it serves a particular need in certain groups (ie: professional slang).

2.  We're getting to grips with dialect we otherwise wouldn't encounter.  There are so many people that now learn english as a 3rd or 4th language that there are new dialect popping up all the time.  According to the article, there are 400 million native English speakers, however, perhaps as many as 2 billion non-native speakers of English.  As in the title, the word 'funner' for example is not a standard English word, however, has become a perfectly fine word in the Indian English dialect.

3.  Online communities have their own new dialects.  Tumblrese and Reddit-speak are two examples of online community dialect.  Phrases like "I can't even"  or "having all the feels" are fascinating to me and have been born out of needs within a specific community, yet are used between members of different communities.

4.  We're learning new grammar instead of losing our ability to speak English.  I've heard people express their concern that the written form of language is in danger of being lost and forgotten.  But it seems that what they've found is that speakers "learn to switch confidently and accurately between the two (dialects), borrowing words from on to the other as seems appropriate, to the lexical enhancement of both."  4-ways-internet-english-language.html

So why does this matter?  I think for ESL teaching, we as teachers need to realize that there is a place for new dialects, new vocabulary, and abbreviations in the classroom, mostly because it has become a very common way in which people communicate.  While learning how to write using proper grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure will be important basis for English teaching, we can't ignore the fact that our students will likely be using slang and an English dialect for communication, and thus might need to be part of our curriculum.

Resources:

Oxford Royale Academy. 4 Ways the Internet Has Changed the English Language.  October 13, 2016

https://www.urbandictionary.com