How is the Internet influencing our use of English?

ESL lesson plans usually include the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, listening. The English language teacher, trainer or consultant adjusts the content for these skills according to the level of the ESL student(s) in question.  

However, English language linguist are bringing to our attention a new fact: the impact of the internet on English. 

David Crystal, a world-renowned authority on the English language, in his book, Language and the Internet (Cambridge,2001), holds that a new variety of language has been born from the internet; he calls this new language form, “Netspeak”.  

Netspeak or computer-mediated communications (CMC) is “a type of language displaying features that are unique to the Internet … arising out of its character as a medium which is electronic, global and interactive” (18). 

This new communication medium offers elements from all the traditional 4 skills. In his book,  Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together (Routledge, 2000), Neil Mercer highlights the fact that computer-mediated-communications (CMC) has the benefit from speech of rapid interaction and informality, while uniting these with the advantages of the written medium: the communicated message lasts. That is, we can reread the text, draft replies, copy piece of text we wish to share with others, etc. (127) 

I’ll talk more about this topic in future posts, but for now let me know: 

-  if you have noticed the influence of the internet in your use of English, or for that matter, other languages? If so, how? 

- Have you noticed yourself using computer and/or internet terminology in your written and spoken communications?  

- Do you expect instant replies to your comments or queries? 

-Do you notice any differences between CMC/Netspeak and face-to-face conversations?  

- What about internet “body language”… are you able to pick up emotions, moods, etc. when conversing on the internet – as we are now?  

Thanks for dropping by; I look forward to your comments.  

Eileen