Saturday, April 02, 2011

A thesis txt spk: 2b/not 2b?

I'm finding voice, and negotiating whose voices gets heard in the thesis.
Mine own being one part of this.
Since a major component of my thesis has been the take over of a youth counselling network by text, culd i jus txt?

Seth Godin states

"My take: the smaller the screen, the more hurried and less informed the decision ends up being.

Yes, there's more currency, more immediacy, more with-you-right-now-all-the-time and more data being collected. But......

If you're working with a spreadsheet or a thread of correspondence or a set of data, I'm not sure you're doing your best work if you're doing it on an iPhone."

Seth

Guess that's why the phd wont be submitted in txt spk


Nonetheless,
the writing off a medium as less useful for good works is a bit offhand.
And Godin uses twitter himself to point to very short blog postings.
The good works still occur.

But what is useful here is that he has identified consideration for what suits from what does not.
Some digital literacy is called for in such choices.
Lankshear and Knowbel, challenge understandings of literacy and of digital literacy especially:
texts evoke interpretation on all kinds of levels that may only partially be ‘tappable’or ‘accessible’ linguistically...The significance of the new technical stuff largely has to do with how it enables people to build and participate in literacy practices that involve different kinds of values.

An appreciation then of media effects, in what ways are values reshaped?
Leads me to consider questions of power and influence, and to know how technology has influence.

Or to use Kevin Kelly's phrases, its about having consideration for what technology wants.
And then negotiating this.

A first step would be to increase awareness of what technology asks people to do; so I have listened for it. And being informed by Bruno Latour's Actor-network approach, I interview the technologies involved: Have them submit their cvs, ask them about their best practice, do some performance based questioning, and some performance review in observing practice

And following wot apears to b a hostile tkeova,

The thesis i am negotiating wnt b
txt spk

wuld b 2 tight & probly trite

:-#

2L8

4 comments:

  1. I have never seen text in anything but American English so I never realized it has an "accent" (tkeova).

    One thing I'm always stressing to my students is the importance of audience and appropriate register. You'll want to make sure you include the work done in social- and anthro-linguistics.

    You also might find some good research in bilingual research as register and social conventions are the most difficult areas for bilingual students. Texting and formal written English really is a difference in discourse communities, which is an area that researchers, especially in the US, have addressed in studying those problem areas for bilingual speakers.

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  2. New Zealand has some oddities in using prepay much more than in the USA or even Australia. The use is pretty much idiosynctratic, dropped vowels are common, but there are also playful use of words leading to ambiguities. Typically words used are because of fewer key presses being needed on a numerical key pad which is still the most common cheap mobile phones used by young people here.

    But also there definitely are 'accents' and words that have dual meanings lol for lots of love or lots of laughter.
    The use of asian emoticons is a further clear example of texting with accent such as ^^ happy or >< wishing/thinking/squinting/cringing not crying....

    I agree sociolinguistice would be a further possible use of the data and area i am studying , but i might save that for my post doc life or maybe a joint publication if you are interested when the thesis is completed :)

    Meantime I'll stay with actor-network theory in studying the material-semiotics involved.

    Thanks for dropping by, Im more than happy to chat further .
    ailsa

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  3. I understand completely about the post degree research. I keep reminding myself to stay focused with what I have as I write my dissertation (but it's hard!). When do you expect to finish?

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