Teacher Discussion Forums

hello

please can any one guide me.

I want to write a dissertation about the discourse of the chatrooms.
i.e analyse the discourse of chatrooms.
what i want to know is that on what levels i can analyse this discourse?
what aspects can be analysed of the chat?

I mean, one can analyse either salutations/ greetings or logging off sentences of the chatters etc.

can anyone suggest something else?


ciao
damsel in distress

How about:

1) Treatment/coverage in ELT dictionaries/books/materials of this new medium. Is the ELT coverage sufficiently broad and accurate enough to reflect up-to-the-minute usage?

2) Are grammars up to the task of describing written English, let alone speech or this new seeming hybrid!?

3) Differences from "longhand typing" - do the new forms used in chat ever interfere with comprehensibility (that is, do users need to ask for clarification, or do they all seem "competent" enough)?

4) Level of education of chat users - do educated people persist in typing long forms? And do those who use short forms exhibit consistency in their "spelling" (sound-form correspondances)?

5) Differences between chat discourse in English and other languages - does the medium result in a (superficial?) similarity across languages?

6) How well do the chatters know each other? What is the proportion of familiar vs. unfamiliar chatters? How is this reflected in not only their salutations, but in how they treat each other? How much e.g ice-breaking, irreverance, sarcasm, irony, humour etc is there? (I reckon there must be at least as much as there is in speech, because the chatroom enables people to feel a community quicker, but also to test the limits of that community spirit quicker; anonymity can be maintained, and a quick escape is always possible).

7) Is there a lot of "repair" work needing to be done? As much if not more than in face-to-face conversation?

8 ) How is the "floor" passed? Explicitly?

9) Extent to which chat overlaps between (n) number of speakers.

10) Number of topics (in relation to number of speakers); estimated length of time (or text) between topic nomination and "uptake"; and are topics "dropped", and if so, why?

Just a few thoughts. Will try to think of more soon! Good luck!

You might like to look at:

Alphabet to Email
Naomi S. Baron

Here's a review from Amazon.co.uk:

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Avg. Customer Review: *****
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Should Formal English Always Merge with Spoken English?, May 18, 2004

Reviewer: happypatriotsfaninboston from a happy Patriots fan in Boston

Alphabet to Email is the history of the development of written English from the adoption of the current alphabet to the present day. The book is written in a simple, clear style that makes the points easy to understand, and the argument is well structured. Written at a level the layperson can easily comprehend, the book provides many helpful insights into the current trends in written expression towards a more emotional, briefer colloquial style. The book raises important questions about the potential future for traditional, formally written English that will be of interest to most readers.

Those who like to understand more about language will definitely enjoy this book. Those who are interested in developing a more literate society will also find this book a must read. People who are unsure about when to be more formal and when to be less so will probably get a number of valuable ideas from this book. Those who do not like to read formal English will wonder why anyone would write or read such a book.

The book's basic thesis is that English started as an oral language with only primitive written capabilities until the current alphabet was applied. During the Middle Ages, written English developed to record oral English both as an "aide memoire" but also to create permanency where that was important. Beginning in the 17th century, written English began to take on its own, separate form and developed the rules as we know them today. That evolution continued until around 1950 in the United States, when written English began to increasingly mimic spoken English. E-mail is the latest expression of this trend, often replacing telephone calls, voice mail, and letters but in a form closer to voice mail than to the others.

Ms. Baron characterizes the current state of this convergence as being quite far along. She wonders if students and teachers will at some point simply stop reading formal English, despite knowing that it exists. Certainly, that process is far along. Reading lists for classes are very brief now, and yet many students listen to tapes, watch videos, or read summaries.

Ms. Baron notes that the purpose of writing is degenerating into simply being an information carrier, in the simplest form possible. She also observes that individual writing is merging into collective writing where "individual authorship, responsibility for telling the truth, and intellectual property rights are coming under fire." The mass forms of electronic writing mean that writing is becoming malleable over time, rather than a fixed product. Spencer Johnson rewrote each printing of "Who Moved My Cheese?" in response to reader reactions, for example. That would never have occurred in an earlier period.

Book reviews on Amazon came to mind as I read the book. The people who write these reviews are a tiny minority of all people who buy and read books. The reviews mostly fall into a few categories. Most reviews are from people saying that agree with the book, and that it made them feel good to read it. This is a classic oral communication form. The next most common category is a review that focuses on the usefulness of the material in the book for some purpose. That is clearly close to oral communication, like a tip you give people you know. Another category is one where people focus on the writing style in the book. Content usually gets little attention. Although ostensibly about the written word, the form of the review is usually to state a few simple conclusions without examples and is rather like the tips mentioned above. Many other reviews are brief summaries of the book and simple comparisons to well known books that seem to be based solely on reading the jacket copy. These are also informational of the verbal sort. Another subset involves disagreeing with the author and explaining why. These reflect formal thought, but are usually informally conveyed in terms of language and sentence structure. Rarely does one see a review of the sort that would appear in a newspaper or magazine, even though every writer of these reviews is familiar with that form.

Clearly, the future belongs to Hemingway. If you want an audience, you'd better make it simple and brief. I learned that I should shorten up my reviews on Amazon from reading this book. This echoed a recent conversation with a well-regarded publisher in which he told me that business books should be half the length of my latest one. That was quite an epiphany for me!

After you finish reading this valuable book, I suggest you make a conscious decision about which writing styles (and lengths) you will use when and where. That will lead you further back into what you are trying to accomplish by writing. In some cases, an e-mail is faster than a visit or a call. In some cases, it is more likely to get to the person. In other cases, formal writing can have an impact for which nothing else can substitute. Being conscious of what you are trying to accomplish can make all the difference! --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


I am sure that e.g. David Crystal will have something to say about the form and implications of email in his various publications, most obviously Language and the Internet.

There other books on Amazon that might be helpful, for example:

The Language of Websites
Mark Boardman
Publisher: Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Lt
ISBN: 0415328543
Category(ies): Reference & Languages , Computers & Internet
Other Editions: Hardcover
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 96,316

Synopsis
The Language of Websites : explores the ways in which websites use and present language covers many different types of web-based interaction, from buying online and auction sites, to search engines, email links and chatrooms considers the structures of language online, such as audience interaction and how hypertext alters narrative structure features a full glossary.

Hello Duncan
thanks aaaaaaa lottttttttt for your help. I really appreciate it and you dont know how much your replies are helping me in my work

thanks once again