<html>
Hello,<br>
<br>
I have been lurking on the list for some time now but when Marco Massara
posted his introduction saying he was interested in Internet discourse, I
was motivated to respond. I answered him off-list privately, and now I
would like to see if others have been working on this topic as
well.<br>
<br>
Marco sent me an article entitled 'An Electric Language, an Introduction
to the Socio-Linguistics of the Internet', which shows that IRC
communication is much more like spoken language than written. IRC
or chatting is one area that has begun to be researched, not only for
discourse but in terms of its sociology and psychology and so on.
However, I have found very little litterature on Internet discourse to
date (maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places?) Most of what is
out there is focussing on 'real time' communication, synchronous
electronic conversation. Personally, I am more interested in
asynchronous communication, personal email and email discussion
lists. I know that there are certainly interesting things happening
in chat sessions, but I think that the time delay in asynchronous
communication creates some interesting adaptations to the communication
process.<br>
<br>
What I have found in my very limited work is that personal email messages
tend to be very informal and very much like spoken discourse with two
major differences. One is that the type of dialogue is completely
different from any other (please correct me when I go astray!).
Here we find an embedded dialogue where each speaker embeds his or her
'speech' into the others. Turn taking changes completely so that
you have each participant taking several turns in sequence,
uninterrupted, and then the next speaker, choosing where he or she would
like to respond, or add new information. What we end up with is a
naturally recursive text. If I'm not mistaken, this is a first.<br>
<br>
I would like to know if anyone has references on research on asynchronous
email texts. I would also like to know if others are interested in this
type of dialogue. <br>
<br>
I have just completed a text analysis for my Masters coursework, where I
have chosen an email text. I am including a link to it here if it
is of interest to anyone.
<a href="http://www.teaser.fr/~lfontaine/discussion.pdf" eudora="autourl">http://www.teaser.fr/~lfontaine/discussion.pdf</a>
the appendix is separate at:
<a href="http://www.teaser.fr/~lfontaine/appendix.pdf" eudora="autourl">http://www.teaser.fr/~lfontaine/appendix.pdf</a><br>
<br>
I have included the Conclusion of my assignment here below in case it
interests anyone, if not, delete now!<br>
<br>
best wishes,<br>
<br>
Lise<br>
<br>
Conclusion<br>
The analysis of the text, <i>Tylenol 3 is my Friend</i>, has shown that
even a simple email message to a friend can be full of interesting
linguistic information. The speakers are engaged in an informal,
personal conversation and the linguistic choices they made reflect their
needs very well. An emphasis on the personal is maintained through
the use of first person pronouns. All important and new information
is placed in the Rheme, weighting it with multiple functions. And
finally, the conversational style is maintained despite the written or
electronic medium. This text is more like a transcription of a
conversation than a written text. The use of embedded dialogue and the
resulting recursive text provide rich grounds for further study.<br>
<br>
When Halliday answers the question <i>Why is speech important?</i> he
says that the reason lies in the fact "that the potential of the
system is more richly developed, and more fully revealed, in
speech." (p. xxiii) If when we speak, we perfom without
thinking, as Halliday says, then in emailing, we also perform without
thinking. An analysis of embedded dialogue in email texts could
yield some very interesting results because it is a snapshot of
unconscious language in everday use.<br>
<br>
</html>