Is Texting Destroying Our Language or Creating a New One?

TL;DR

Texting is not destroying language; it's a new form of communication known as 'fingered speech,' allowing people to write as they speak. The conventions of texting, like using 'LOL' as an empathy marker, illustrate its emergent complexity. Texting enhances linguistic skills, demonstrating young people's ability to balance traditional writing with modern forms of expression.

Transcript

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Key Insights

• 📚 Texting is not the decline of literacy but rather a new form of emergent complexity in language, allowing us to write the way we speak.
• 🤔 LOL has evolved from meaning "laughing out loud" to being a marker of empathy and accommodation in texting.
• 📱 Texting is a form of "fingered speech" that allows us to write the way we talk, creating a new kind of language with its own structure.
• 💬 Texting has developed new constructions, such as using "slash" to change the topic, showing the development of linguistic nuances in this medium.
• 🖋️ Historical evidence shows that concerns about declining writing skills have existed for centuries, but the planet continues to spin.
• 🔤 Texting is evidence of young people's expansion of their linguistic repertoire, as they balance their abilities to write in different forms.
• 📚 Being bidialectal, in terms of writing, is cognitively beneficial, and texting is a new form of bilingualism for young people.
• 🤔 The language used in texting has developed into a whole new language among young people, which may not be understood by previous generations.

Questions & Answers

Q: Is texting a form of writing or speech?

According to the speaker, texting is a form of fingered speech rather than writing. It allows people to write the way they talk, with a looser structure and a lack of concern for capital letters and punctuation.

Q: How does texting differ from casual speech?

Texting differs from casual speech in that it allows for the use of new constructions and evolving language conventions. It has its own markers, such as LOL (which has evolved to indicate empathy) and slash (which is used to change the topic). These markers create a new structure within texting.

Q: Is there evidence of language evolving through texting?

Yes, there is evidence of language evolving through texting. The speaker mentions examples of how LOL has evolved to become a marker of empathy, rather than just indicating laughter. Additionally, the use of slash has developed into a way of changing the topic while texting.

Q: What benefits does texting provide in terms of language skills?

Texting allows young people to develop a new way of writing, alongside their ordinary writing skills. This expands their linguistic repertoire and makes them bilingual in terms of writing. Being bilingual or bidialectal is cognitively beneficial, and texting contributes to this balance of skills. Young people are able to navigate between different writing styles and languages.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Texting is often seen as a decline in literacy, but it is actually a new form of language that is emerging, known as "fingered speech."

• Texting has its own conventions and structures, such as the use of LOL as a marker of empathy and slash as a way to change topics.

• Being able to text alongside traditional writing skills is evidence of a bilingual and bidialectal linguistic repertoire in young people.