Transcript Oral report from Sept 27, 2007

The Internet and the
English Language
By
Eric Tindall
Overview
 With so many people using the Internet one would
expect peoples writing skills to improve.
 Peoples writing skills are actually getting worse because
of shorthand
 Example: A woman could type 80 wpm with perfect
grammar for her work.
 When it came to her e-mail she used net-jargon like thx,
how R U, and cul8r.
Evolution or Devolution
 The Internet was originally developed to transfer files
quickly.
 Nowadays people use the Internet to send e-mail and
chat with people from around the world.
 Communication between people is fast paced and this
leads to smaller words and abbreviations.
In Praise of Words
 Although communication on the Internet is written, the
way it sounds is closer to two people talking together.
 Internet users tend to “speak” in a loose and informal
tone.
 Internet users are now using a form of stenographers
shorthand by leaving out large word.
 Traditional secretarial contractions such as wrt (with
respect to) are now in the same league as <g> (grin) and
LOL (laugh out loud).
The “Invisible Person” Syndrome
 Most people are anonymous on the Internet.
 This leads to the mentality of why strive for perfect
English when no one knows or cares who you are.
Training and Tools
 A lack of computer training can be one cause of using
poor English.
 A person with good writing skills will start to cut corners
to save time so they can spend more time learning about
the Internet.
 Spell checkers are a good tool but they are not perfect.
 People tend to add words to the spell checker that are
incorrect leading to a dictionary with miss spelled words.
All Things Must Change

Language has always changed with time.

For example the medieval chariot started to be called a
carriage and now it is called a car.

Popular words and expressions become part of the
English language over time. This is how language
evolves.

People have their own set of writing rules when
communicating over the Internet. Whether this is good
or bad is yet to be determined.
 Any Questions
?