Comment on how technology affects language use

Comment on how technology affects language use

The genre of text J is communication through the use of emailing. Text J is a set of emails, sent between two males who subjectively converse about properties for sale. The register is informal, which can be shown through the use of capital letters and typos. The mode of the emails is written, as both the characters would have had to use technology to type their thoughts into the email. Text Js purpose is to inform the audience of the various properties up for rent.

Text J is an interactive piece of information, which can be opened, deleted or sent to others using technical devices, such as ipods, phones and computers. People around the world use email communication to contact those, who are of some distance away from them or to send attachments/notifications in a business environment.  Emails can be used to send attachments (e.g. documents, videos), write formal/informal letters to require an answer or to ask a question and to schedule meetings with people who may live in a different city, town or country. It’s software that is free to use and is effective when trying to contact others.

The text shows some structural elements, all of which form the basic layout of an email. Each email shown is structured so that the sender’s email, date and recipients email are stated first, before the content of the email (the sender’s thoughts) are entered. This structure is pragmatical as most people understand what each element is used for. In addition, those who read the emails understand how to locate the subject of the email as well as the sender’s address, in which they will use when replying. Furthermore, text J suggests that the two males are communicating through their professional work based emails. For example, ‘brian.fletcher@flintshiremedia.co.uk’. This infers that ‘Brian Fletcher’ may work for a multimedia company and so by using his work email to send personal data across to his friend, he is insufficiently using the system. Thus coming across as unprofessional and incapable of using the system correctly for work purposes.

When using email, you can see the other user’s response previous. This enables the recipient to relate their response back to what the sender had sent. It also states the time and the date in which the emails were sent/received. This is beneficial for the work environment. Text J is an email because it contains the structural elements that make up an email.  If the structure above, is written and followed carefully, then the recipient will know that it is an email to read and respond to.

The informality of the text does not correspond with the emails of both males. The text consists of emojis, for example, ‘=D’ and typos, ‘abotu’. Which if used for a working purpose can make both males seem unqualified and unfit for the job. Both males also use acronyms, for instance ‘lol’. This can show an emotional presence of laughing out loud, which infers that both males are humored over the matter of property availability.  

Finally, both men use capital letters to emphasise their feeling of importance. For instance, ‘I LOVE THIS ONE’. By emphasising their points, both men can focus the recipients attention solely on what they say. This supports the fact that technology has indeed changed the way people interact with one another. For example, in a real life situation, two men may not react as much as they say they had over text/email.

Therefore, the technological enhancements can mislead others into believing the reactions of the person they are talking to.

Hypothesis: According to Zimmerman and West, females tend to interrupt less than men. However, according to Pamela Fishman and Deborah Tannen, women tend to interrupt less because of how males respond.

Hypothesis: According to Zimmerman and West, females tend to interrupt less than men. However, according to Pamela Fishman and Deborah Tannen, women tend to interrupt less because of how males respond. 


Dominance Theory- Zimmerman & West

This is the theory that in mixed-sex conversations men are more likely to interrupt than women. It uses a fairly old study of a small sample of conversations, recorded by Don Zimmerman and Candace West at the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California in 1975. The subjects of the recording were white, middle class and under 35. Zimmerman and West produce in evidence 31 segments of conversation. They report that in 11 conversations between men and women, men used 46 interruptions, but women only two.

Pamela Fishman

Pamela Fishman argues in Interaction: the Work Women Do (1983) that conversation between the sexes sometimes fails, not because of anything inherent in the way women talk, but because of how men respond, or don't respond. In Conversational Insecurity (1990) Fishman questions Robin Lakoff's theories. Lakoff suggests that asking questions shows women's insecurity and hesitancy in communication, whereas Fishman looks at questions as an attribute of interactions: Women ask questions because of the power of these, not because of their personality weaknesses. Fishman also claims that in mixed-sex language interactions, men speak on average for twice as long as women.

Deborah Tannen

Professor Tannen has summarized her book You Just Don't Understand in an article in which she represents male and female language use in a series of six contrasts. These are:

• Status vs. support
• Independence vs. intimacy
• Advice vs. understanding
• Information vs. feelings
• Orders vs. proposals
• Conflict vs. compromise

In each case, the male characteristic (that is, the one that is judged to be more typically male) comes first. What are these distinctions?

Status versus support

Men grow up in a world in which conversation is competitive - they seek to achieve the upper hand or to prevent others from dominating them. For women, however, talking is often a way to gain confirmation and support for their ideas. Men see the world as a place where people try to gain status and keep it. Women see the world as “a network of connections seeking support and consensus”.

Independence versus intimacy

Women often think in terms of closeness and support, and struggle to preserve intimacy. Men, concerned with status, tend to focus more on independence. These traits can lead women and men to starkly different views of the same situation. Professor Tannen gives the example of a woman who would check with her husband before inviting a guest to stay - because she likes telling friends that she has to check with him. The man, meanwhile, invites a friend without asking his wife first, because to tell the friend he must check amounts to a loss of status. (Often, of course, the relationship is such that an annoyed wife will rebuke him later).

Advice versus understanding

Deborah Tannen claims that, to many men a complaint is a challenge to find a solution:

“When my mother tells my father she doesn't feel well, he invariably offers to take her to the doctor. Invariably, she is disappointed with his reaction. Like many men, he is focused on what he can do, whereas she wants sympathy.”

Information versus feelings

A young man makes a brief phone call. His mother overhears it as a series of grunts. Later she asks him about it - it emerges that he has arranged to go to a specific place, where he will play football with various people and he has to take the ball. A young woman makes a phone call - it lasts half an hour or more. The mother asks about it - it emerges that she has been talking “you know” “about stuff”. The conversation has been mostly grooming-talk and comment on feelings.

Historically, men's concerns were seen as more important than those of women, but today this situation may be reversed so that the giving of information and brevity of speech are considered of less value than sharing of emotions and elaboration. From the viewpoint of the language student neither is better (or worse) in any absolute sense.

Orders versus proposals

Women often suggest that people do things in indirect ways - “let's”, “why don't we?” or “wouldn't it be good, if we...?” Men may use, and prefer to hear, a direct imperative.

Conflict versus compromise

“In trying to prevent fights,” writes Professor Tannen “some women refuse to oppose the will of others openly. But sometimes it's far more effective for a woman to assert herself, even at the risk of conflict. ”

This situation is easily observed in work-situations where a management decision seems unattractive - men will often resist it vocally, while women may appear to accede, but complain subsequently. Of course, this is a broad generalization - and for every one of Deborah Tannen's oppositions, we will know of men and women who are exceptions to the norm.

I could use:

- Recordings of telephone conversations

- Pre-recorded Interviews

- Selection of emails

- Selection of tweets

I could use snippets of the episodes from Dinner Date on ITV. 

https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/dinner-date

I want to study the interruptions and responses made by females and males because the outcome would give us an insight on how one genders choice of words may affect the other gender and their choice of words. It can also be used to find out which gender exerts the most dominance in an ambiguous situation.

The Apprentice Transcript - Claire gets owned by Alan Sugar

The Apprentice Transcript:

Simon – I was the project manager I lost money but the reason I lost money and I could’ve made a fortune in that shopping centre this morning it would’ve started this morning.

Claire -                                                                                                         Yeah

Alan – Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve yeah that you didn’t (.) right

Simon – No Sir Alan I didn’t

Alan – No you didn’t yeah (3) I think I’ve heard enough for me to make a very very difficult decision today|

Claire – |Sir Alan may I say one more thing please (2)

Alan – If you insist

Claire – I think in this whole competition If you sit back and remain quiet and under the radar people assume they’re safe and I have been bold and I know I’m vocal and that puts me |

Alan - | oh you’ve been bold alright don’t worry |

Claire - | and it puts me in a vulnerable position (.) I’m sorry I’m sat here |

Nick - |trouble is you know you never back of |

Alan - |you know what I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do with you I’ll tell you what I’m going to do with you (.) I’m getting sick and tired of you do you know in all this you know (.) I’m sick of looking at you at the moment get out that door(2) get back to the bloody house (.) okay (.) get back to the house yeah because you’re gonna be the next team leader I’m sick of looking at you at the moment get out that door and get back to the house (13)

[Claire stands up and leaves the room]

Alan - Simon (.) If I ask you to build me a wall (.) you’d build me a wall I’m pretty sure of it If I asked you to dig me a trench and I’m not that sure (2) that if I gave you my investment portfolio I don’t think you’ll be able to run it that well

What is interesting about the data?

It is a type of communication which involves speaking and listening.

The data uses pauses that show the various lengths of time in which the participants stop talking. It is shown by a number or full stop in between the brackets eg. (13). 

The speakers tend to repeat phrases as this is a natural speech. The speech also uses overlapping/interruptions in which one participant speaks over another. This also occurs because the speech is natural and does not contain a high thought process, where works are usually planned before being spoken. However, the show 'The Apprentice' may be organised and the speech may be written specifically for the audiences entertainment. 

The text uses a specific jargon that links with the topic of business. Eg. It uses the words 'Competition', 'investment' and 'project manager'. This is specific to the purpose of the TV show. 

Another interesting point, is that I have used a paralinguistic to indicate the movement in which shows that Claire leaves the room. E.g. [Claire stands up and leaves the room]

What theory could you  use when analysing the transcript?

You could apply the Robin Lackoff deficit theory in which shows that women speak far less than men and that they use more apologetic requests. I'e, 'Claire- I'm sorry I'm sat here'. This suggested that the female language lack authority and remains insecure.

In addition, the term 'powerless language' could be applied to this text as it shows that insecurity and authority can be linked with social status. So, as Alan Sugar is of a higher status, his authority is shown through the elevated lexis. Ie. 'Investment portfolio'.

What other data could you collect that would compare with it?
You could collect a transcript from a radio show and compare the two. This would be good to see how two conversations of a similar genre can be used to perceive the level of power held by one gender over another.

What could you title an investigation into data like this?
'How does the level of authority effect the power of the speaker from the given text'

The level of authority does effect the power that the has during a certain situation. The amount of power the speaker beholds, can depend on the gender of the speaker.

What real data can you gather rather than just using you tube?
You could use telephone conversations and transcripts from radio shows.