Bidialectal Super Humans

As society goes through the usual motions of conversing through a screen, they are unaware of the, “Linguistic miracle happening right under our noses” (McWhorter, 2013). A new breed of bidialectal super humans have risen, coming from young generations who have control over language use online.

Phrases such as ‘information superhighway’ and ‘cyber space’ are used to help people establish and imagine a digital place such as Tumblr. The use of language to create place is an effective indication of its power, especially in a technological world where we have become more, “Sight-centred instead of sound-centred” (Kuttainen, 2016). Society is swayed by a technocratic mind-frame, absorbing information from the internet like a sponge, which in turn influences their view of reality. (Tuan, 1991).

              Text talk is intertwined with face-to-face interaction. 

Therefore, the way language is used online has merged with the way people communicate in person. The virtual vocabulary can be defined as, “An alphabet soup of acronyms, abbreviations, and neologisms” (Reed, 2014). Common terms such as LOL (laugh out loud) and BRB (be right back) are shortened statements used to reply faster and efficiently. This particular ontology allows online users to communicate with words they are familiar with, understand and create a sense of place within the social network and furthermore construct their own personal identity.

In his TED talk presentation ‘Txtng is killing language. JK!’ John McWhorter reveals how having the balance of ‘looser’ internet and ordinary language skills can prove ‘cognitively beneficial’. As society expands their ‘linguistic repertoire’ in a cyber domain they are familiar with, they become empowered and skilled at recognising a sense of place both in virtual and physical reality.

References: 

Tuan, Y. (1991) Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

[Image] Claywell, C. (2016) Love to Know. Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Social_Networking 

Reed, J. (2014) Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved from http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/06/social-media-changing-language/ 

McWhorter, J. (2013) Txtng is killing language. JK!!! Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk/transcript?language=en#t-147362