This study was set out to investigate if gender influences the usage of Standard English on the internet.
"What r u doing 2day? :)" "I do not know. Do you want to watch a movie with me?" It is not difficult to identify both sentences as examples of the English language; nevertheless, upon taking a closer look a few differences are still noticeable. English is ranking the second place of the most spoken languages in the world and is known to be widely spread due several reasons, like globalisation and thereby spreading communication around the world. However, there are many different situations in which English can be used for and different degrees to how well it might be spoken. For instance, the English variety used on the internet in blogs or on other websites, might vary from the English that is used in the news and official documents and might as well contain slang words or grammatical mistakes. Therefore, it is divided into a form of Standard English and Non-Standard English.
One of these factors that may influence the correctness of the English language is the aforementioned internet. The internet usage has increased in the last two decades and leads to people communicating with each other from different places, most of the times with English as the main language. In order to communicate as quickly as possible, as well as accurate as possible, certain patterns have been established throughout the years, such as abbreviations or emoticons, like they were used in the first example.
Since previous research has shown that women tend to pay more attention to the correctness of their language than men do, this term paper is set out to investigate if there are indeed distinctions between men and women concerning Standard and Non-Standard English, based on communications on the internet. Does gender play a decisive role in influencing the use of grammatical correctness on the internet? In order to gather information and data, this research project has asked a number of native English speaking people to respond to short instant messages. This procedure and its results however, will be further explained in the following chapters.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Definition of Standard English
2. Previous Research
3. Methodology
4. Analysing Results
4.1 Standard and Non-Standard English
4.1.1 Punctuation
4.1.2 Use of Capital and small initial letters
4.1.3 Abbreviations
4.1.4 Emoticons
4.1.5 Errors and grammatical Incorrectness
4.1.6 Further Observations
5. Discussion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Research Objectives & Topics
This paper investigates whether gender influences the adherence to grammatical correctness and Standard English in internet-based communication. By analyzing responses to instant messages from both Standard and Non-Standard English surveys, it seeks to determine if participants adjust their linguistic output based on context or if gender-specific patterns in orthography, abbreviation, and emoticon usage persist despite the medium.
- Correlation between gender and linguistic accuracy in online communication
- Distinctions between Standard and Non-Standard English usage on the internet
- The role of social context and input style in shaping communicative patterns
- Analysis of specific orthographical elements: punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, and emoticons
Excerpt from the Book
4.1.1 Punctuation
Punctuation is a part of Standard English, and refers to the marks used in writing, which separate sentences and/or their elements (English Oxford Living Dictionaries). Either as a full stop, comma or bracket, punctuation is often used to clarify meaning. For instance, there is a well-known example to represent a case in which the initial meaning is compromised simply by leaving out the punctuation: “Let’s eat, grandma” and “Let’s eat grandma” (Woodward English). Whereas the first example suggests that somebody wants to eat with his or her grandmother, the second one describes a scenario in which the grandmother shall be eaten (Woodward English). Therefore, the meaning has changed entirely.
Since there are seldom face-to-face interactions in online chats, it is important for the true meaning to be conveyed to the other person. However, as previously mentioned in the last few chapters, the language on the internet has changed and does not necessarily stick to orthographical rules as much as formal documents are forced to take into consideration.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Outlines the rise of internet communication and sets the research focus on investigating gender differences regarding Standard vs. Non-Standard English usage.
1. Definition of Standard English: Establishes the theoretical framework for defining language standardization and the unique linguistic environment of the internet.
2. Previous Research: Reviews existing literature on online communication, focusing on emoticon usage and gender-based linguistic studies.
3. Methodology: Describes the survey design, involving 40 university students responding to instant messages to test gender influence on grammatical correctness.
4. Analysing Results: Presents the empirical data evaluating punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, emoticons, and grammatical errors across the two survey groups.
5. Discussion: Synthesizes the findings, concluding that gender influences the specific types of errors rather than the total count, and highlights the lack of significant gender-based differences.
Conclusion: Summarizes that gender and incoming message style do not play a decisive role in determining the correctness of a participant's response.
Bibliography: Lists the academic sources and internet references used for the study.
Keywords
Standard English, Non-Standard English, internet language, gender differences, online communication, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, emoticons, grammatical correctness, sociolinguistics, digital discourse, instant messaging, language standardization, orthography.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this research?
The research examines how men and women adhere to rules of Standard English when communicating via the internet, specifically focusing on grammatical correctness.
What are the primary thematic fields?
The work explores digital communication patterns, the impact of gender on language, social context in online interactions, and the transition between Standard and Non-Standard linguistic varieties.
What is the central research question?
The study aims to determine if gender plays a decisive role in influencing grammatical correctness in internet-based communication and if this differs between Standard and Non-Standard stimuli.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author employs a quantitative online survey approach, where 40 native English-speaking university students were asked to respond to specific instant messages to gather comparative data.
What is covered in the main section?
The main section analyzes empirical results regarding specific linguistic markers, including punctuation, capitalization, the use of abbreviations, and the frequency of emoticons.
How would you summarize the key findings?
The study concludes that there is no statistically significant difference in the total number of errors between genders, though gender does influence the specific types of "errors" or stylistic variations chosen.
Do previous messages influence a writer's output?
The study found that the style of incoming messages acts as a trigger but does not force the responder to adapt their own writing style to match the sender.
Why is the distinction between punctuation and meaning important in this context?
The author highlights that the omission of punctuation in informal settings can lead to significant misunderstandings, illustrating this with the classic "Let's eat grandma" example.
- Quote paper
- Leonie Quicker (Author), 2018, How Men and Women are Violating the Rules of Standard English on the Internet, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1367022
