Students’ Digital Writing and its Impact on Academic Language

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the type of language associated with Computer Mediated Communication applications and its impact on standard written language. Thus, the present research will contribute to the controversial debate regarding whether the frequent use of the digital language will have a beneficial or a harmful impact on the academic language that students are required to use in university classrooms. In the data collection process, mixed method research was followed: quantitative questionnaire for students together with the qualitative content analysis. The latter consists of a sample of students‟ electronic language and another sample of their written classroom assignments. Mixed methods methodology is chosen in order to have an in-depth understanding, and to overcome the shortcomings of each method when used alone. The results of the questionnaire and the findings of the content analysis of the electronic and the handwritten corpus show that the electronic discourse is characterized by having a set of specific linguistic features which typify it as a new discourse type. These features are of a hybrid nature, displaying a mixture of spoken and written traits. Finally, since the students‟ written assignments do not show a significant evidence of the presence of the features that are used when writing on computer screens, it is concluded that there is no negative impact of netspeak on the traditional written language. Our sample students proved that they have not lost their ability to adjust language according to situation; they are still context-conscious users of the language.