The Impact of Computer-mediated Communication upon Written English: Acorpus-based Study of Facebook Chat among Algerian EFL Learners

Abstract

This thesis investigates the impact of the internet and new technologies on written English. It considersboth theoretical and empirical aspects of writing in Computer-mediated communication (CMC). Theoretically, it reviews research on the impact of different mediums on writing , introduces the new medium of CMC with particular focus on Facebook , then it reports the linguistic properties of computer-mediated writing found in previous research . Empirically, it analyzes Algerian EFL learners’ writings in a computermediated situation, namely Facebook chat. The assumption is that writing in Facebook chat, and by extension all modes of CMC, is different from the traditional norms of formal English . In testing this, the present research examined how orthography, grammar, and vocabulary were practiced by Algerian EFL learners in CMC, and compared them to both standard writing and speech . The results revealed that writing in CMC is a hybrid of formal standard writing and speech. However, the tendency was more toward informality and speech, especially in the typographical features that were used creatively to convey paralanguage.