LINGUIST List 17.3403

Mon Nov 20 2006

Books: Sociolinguistics: Gao

Editor for this issue: Maria Moreno-Rollins <marialinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Ulrich Lueders, Chinese Internet Language: Gao
Message 1: Chinese Internet Language: Gao
Date: 14-Nov-2006
From: Ulrich Lueders <lincom.europat-online.de>
Subject: Chinese Internet Language: Gao


Title: Chinese Internet Language Subtitle: A Study of Identity Constructions Series Title: LINCOM Studies in Chinese Linguistics 02 Published: 2006 Publisher: Lincom GmbH
                http://www.lincom.eu

Author: Liwei Gao Paperback: ISBN: 9783895863820 Pages: 187 Price: Europe EURO 62.00
Abstract:

Over the past decade, the rapid development of Internet communication inmainland China has resulted in a new variety of Chinese, which is generallytermed the Chinese Internet language (Henceforth CIL). The majority ofInternet consumers in China are aged between eighteen and twenty-four, whoare studying in two- or four-year colleges. This dissertation examinesidentity construction in the use of CIL by young Chinese netizens. Itargues that the employment of CIL is not only attributable to such externalfactors as constraints from computers as a medium of communication butalso, perhaps equally importantly, to such internal factors as netizens'desire to construct various personal identities.

To make the argument, this dissertation first analyzes objective linguisticdata, CIL usages on the lexical, sentential, and discursive level that werecollected primarily from five Internet situations - BBS's, chatrooms,Internet literature, personal e-mails, and public web sites. It thenexamines the subjective data collected through a questionnaire surveyconducted in mainland China. The survey results strongly support theargument that CIL is oftentimes utilized for the purpose of identityconstruction. The types of identities that the survey participants wouldlike to construct include those characterized with being 1) entertainingand interesting, 2) technologically well informed and being able to keep upwith social developments, 3) modern, fashionable and cool, 4)internationally oriented or transnational, 5) unconventional and evenrebellious, and/or 6) young, fresh and innocent.

This study contributes to the understanding of the interaction betweenlanguage use and identity construction in the Internet arena. Aside fromdocumenting a new type of language contact and convergence in the digitalage, this dissertation also informs research on the social andtechnological factors responsible for language variation and change.Moreover, this dissertation study sheds light on such topics as languageand culture, functions of language, and language attitudes.

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics
Written In: English (eng )

See this book announcement on our website: http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=22298


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