Language and Technology

The main lingustic features associated with texting include:

• Phonetic spelling;
• Variant spelling;
• Little/no punctuation;
• Vowel omission;
• Initialisms;
• Incomplete clauses;
• Acronyms;
• Simple sentences.

Some of the reasons why such features occur in text messages:

• There are sometimes constraints on the number of characters allowed in each text which has shaped 'Text Speak.'
• 'Text Speak' is the language used when sending text messages and has evolved due to the need to communicate quickly.

Features of webpages include:

• Synthetic personalisation (Look out for the use of personal pronouns and direct address such as 'you' and 'me');
• House-Style;
• Updated throughout the day;
• More dynamic that traditional writing;
• Side bars;
• Interactive;
• Hyperlinks;
• More permanent than traditional speech.

The main features of TV language include:

• Long pauses;
• Support of visual cues;
• Incomplete sentences;
• Minimal information;
• Initiatives to increase audience participation;
• Asymmetrical power structure.

The mains features of Radio language include:

• One-to-many interaction;
• Demagogic medium;
• Full sentences;
• Listeners have to rely on what is being said;
• Aysymmetrical power structure;
• Lots of information.

Radio Call ins:

• Minor sentences;
• Elliptical forms;
• Phatic tokens;
• Politeness theory;
• Co-operative principles/ Conversations Maxims;
• Simple and Undemanding vocabulary;
• Pauses are rare.

 Sports Commentaries:

• Spontaneous and instantaneous;
• Minor sentences;
• Article omission;
• Elliptical forms;
• Swap between present and past tense;
• Audience expected to understand reference to rules/ use of surnames;
• Verbal Auxillaries. 

The main features of E-mails include:

• Lack of punctuation;
• Turn-taking discourse;
• Graphological features to convey feelings/emotions;
• Very similar to texting;
• Used for phatic conversation;
• Deixis;
• Framing;
• Register depends on discourse;
• Time delayed dialougue;
• Alloes fast communication.

The main features of Telephony include:

• Synchronous discourse;
• Accomodation;
• Turn-taking;
• Adjaceny pairs;
• Few pauses;
• Non-verbal aspects of speech such as intonation;
• Non-fluency features such as fillers;
• Ellipsis;
• Dyadic medium;
• Supportive overlap;
• Shares many features of face-to-face interaction.

Features of Social Networking, Chat Rooms and Internet Relay Chat include:

•  Messages displayed as threads;
• Trolling;
• Asynchronous discourse;
• Lexical accomodation;
• Easy to use interface;
• Multiple overlap is common;
• Turn-taking;
• Opening sequences;
• Lack of punctuation;
• Paralinguistic markers.

Nettiquette: Respecting the privacy of others on the internet.

Neteracy: Literacy of the interenet.

David Crystal stated that internet communication is becoming more and more informal due to capitalisation omission and the lack of punctuation.