Lang. Virtual World Exam 1

Lang. Virtual World Exam 1

1. Linguistic and Digital Vocab

   • Standard Lang. - Formal, educated understanding/practice of English; higher social status
     • Non-standard Lang. - Casual, uneducated understanding/practice of English; lower social status, 2nd language, dialects, class, ethnicity
   • Covert Prestige - Social conformity by groups in similar language communities; non-standard English
     • Overt Prestige - Higher status/recognition when using standard English (ext: higher educational institutions)
     • High Solidarity - Use of non-standard English to create feelings of friendship
   • Prescriptive Grammar - Language usage commanded as right or wrong
     • Descriptive Grammar - Describes the real usage of language by people (no right or wrong)
   • Spontaneous Spoken Speech - Effortless production, less cognitive effort, simplicity, frequent use of pronouns, shorter phrases, accessible language, impermanence (quick and not easily preserved)
     • Formal Writing - Effortful creation, requires more cognitive effort/skill, complex structures, varied vocab., less repetition, permanent record, lasting form of communication
   • Reason Persuasion - Logical persuasion (logos)
     • Tickle Persuasion - Emotional, drawn in persuasion (pathos)
   • Audience Design - The audiences' role in lang. choices; convergence or divergence in lang.
   • Code-switching - Alternation betw. different lang. or dialects within conversations; comes from diverse backgrounds; often within 2+ lang. (ex: English to Spanish)
   • Style-shifting - Speakers adjust their lang. based on context/audience, influencing forms and choices; within one lang. (ex: English)
   • Device Attention - How often/routine an indiv. checks/uses device; interactions based on social contexts and dynamics
   • Polymedia Repertoire - collection of communicative resources across various media (platforms - Instagram, SMS messages, FB), modes, ling.)

2. Research Studies

   • Dayter and Messerli - Language Register used in Reddit posts; found no register difference
   • Labov New York City Study - 3 dept. store workers and how they pronounced their "r's", R-Full (prestigious) vs. R-Less (non-prestigious) ; changed their pronunciation to match what their audience would use
   • Dippold - Audience Design in Conversational AI - Findings showed that users exhibit strategies to navigate comms. when interacting with chatbots; often there were misunderstandings with chatbot lang. and humans; lang. divergence; negative impact on user experience
     • Participant Miriam - Relationship focus and polite lang.; Lang. Divergence with chatbot; caused misunderstandings, negative experience, unhelpfulness
     • Participant John - Task focused and brief, straightforward lang.; Lang. Convergence; understanding, positive experience, helpfulness
   • Gumperz Heathrow Airport Study - cafeteria workers were immigrants from India/Pakistan, and people thought the workers were being "rude"; the workers had a down inflection when asking questions instead of an up inflection; language divergence from standard English
   • Spencer and Oatey Business Communication Study; Chinese and UK businessmen engaged in small talk with lots of pausing; UK viewed as awkward/uncomfortable, Chinese viewed as normal/comfortable; audience expectations, cultural differences

3. Features of Classifying Texts Ch. 2 pg. 34 Table

   • Situational - The setting, participants, channel, and purpose of communication.
   • Register - Variations in language use based on situational context (ext: in/formal, affective vs. informational)
   • Genre - Conventional linguistic features/structures that define a kind of text (ext. recipes, resumes, academic essays)
   • Style - Personal choices in language use to convey voice, effectiveness, and intent (ext: diction, rhetorical devices, literary devices, punctuation, grammar)

4. Course Connections

   • High Solidarity is an example of affective language and social audience design.
   • Standard Lang. and prescriptive grammar typically relate in formal writing

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