15.3098, FYI: New E-Journal: Language & Internet

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-15-3098. Wed Nov 03 2004. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 15.3098, FYI: New E-Journal: Language & Internet

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>

Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org)
        Sheila Collberg, U of Arizona
        Terry Langendoen, U of Arizona

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Naomi Fox <fox at linguistlist.org>
================================================================

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at
http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.


===========================Directory==============================

1)
Date: 26-Oct-2004
From: Dieter Stein < dieter.stein at hrz.uni-giessen.de >
Subject: New E-Journal: Language & Internet


	
-------------------------Message 1 ----------------------------------
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 11:55:24
From: Dieter Stein < dieter.stein at hrz.uni-giessen.de >
Subject: New E-Journal: Language & Internet


Arguably the innovation that is having the greatest cultural, societal,
economic and political  impact is the Internet. As a consequence, there
are fewer fields in the humanities and the social sciences that have
attracted as much attention as the effects of the Internet. One of the
areas that are involved prominently in the Internet in many ways is
language. Language is involved in the many communicative functions
performed in and through the Internet, from medical counselling through
advertising to scientific discourse and personal communication.

At the same time, the specific technical and pragmatic conditions of use
have given rise to uses of language in a new mode that, while related to
both written and spoken language, appears in many ways to represent a new
language medium in its own right, in competition with the two other
language media, and certainly with new communicative genres, such as
different versions of email, chats, newsgroups, lists, MUDs, MOOs,
guestbooks  etc. These new genres are exploited by different societal uses
in different ways, they have new floor rules, new rules of cooperation,
and they involve new social roles, new networks, as well as psycho-social
and emotional effects and perceptions of the communicative situation that
are not identical to the ones observed  with comparable written and spoken
genres. These effects are managed, produced and manipulated by language,
and, the other way round, the use of language reflects these perceptions.

As a consequence, there new uses and new use types, resulting in many
facets of language change, and ultimately in structural change. A new
branch of language use, if not structure, is evolving.

Language at Internet will focus research the pivotal role of language under
the new medial conditions of use and interacting with the various societal
domains. Linguistic concerns, including sociolinguistic, discourse
analytic, pragmatic perspectives will be at the center of interest, but it
will have to include the conditions, functions and constraints of these
societal domains, as they will be factors in shaping language and being
themselves transformed in their practice in the process.

In order for society to be able to exploit and implement these new uses,
there has to be a body of scientific knowledge for these domains to draw
upon in application and teaching. The purpose of this journal is not only
to enhance our linguistic body of knowledge, but also to make available a
repository of knowledge for application.

Hitherto, such a body of knowledge focusing on language, to the extent it
exists, was not available in a centralized form, but rather scattered over
quite a range of  publications, even in MA theses, impeding fast access to
the state of research, a natural consequence of the fact that scientific
interest in language use in the medium comes from very diverse
perspectives and that the use of the Internet as grown-up means of
communication met with less than full cultural confidence from more
conservative quarters. It is the purpose of the journal to make available
this body of research in an easy way that is congenial to the subject of
research, the  in the Internet, that exploits all the advantages over
traditional ways of publication, including time and cost involved in
publication.

To ensure highest standards, Language at Internet works with a high-class
specialised editorial board. Articles will be subjected to the same
multiple blind peer reviewing process, as with quality paper journals.

For more information about the journal, see www.languageatinternet.de.


Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics




-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-15-3098