WS 2011/2012 exam translation (advanced) (Staatsexamen Frühjahr 2011) text #15
Although
an exclusively English-language medium at the outset, because of its origins in
the USA, the Internet has steadily developed a multilingual identity. At least a
quarter of the world’s languages have an Internet presence now, and many of
these are minority and endangered languages. For a small speech community, the
Internet therefore offers a linguistic lifeline, enabling its scattered members
to keep in touch with each other through emails and chat-rooms, and through Web
sites giving their language a world presence which it would have been impossible
to achieve using traditional media, such as broadcasting or the press.
But
the emergent multilingual character of the Internet must not blind us to the
impact that the medium is also having on English. The majority of Web pages in
English are in British or American Standard English, as we would expect; however,
other varieties are growing. Any intranational regional dialect which has a
history of enthusiastic support will have its Web pages now. And at an
international level, the ‘New Englishes’ in the world now have available a
written electronic identity which previously it was possible to achieve only
through conventional literature. It seems likely that, with a much greater
frequency of informal written interaction taking place than at any previous
stage in the history of the language, we will see the rapid emergence and
consolidation of local group norms of usage – several of which will privilege
nonstandard forms. These new varieties are bound to achieve a more developed
written representation than would ever have been possible before, and through
the global reach of the Internet they may well extend their influence beyond
their country of origin.
A whole new range of
Internet-mediated regional written standards is the likely outcome. And as the
amount of written language on the Internet will eventually far exceed that
available in traditional print form, a new type of relationship between
nonstandard varieties and Standard English will one day emerge. Several Internet
varieties are inherently informal in character, and the more these are given
written expression, the more the medium heightens the contrast with Standard
English, which is essentially a manifestation of language in its written form.
It is a volatile, unprecedented, unpredictable, and altogether fascinating
linguistic situation.
(David
Crystal. 2005. The Stories of English. London: Penguin, 520 – 523, adapted)
For
the original (unadapted) text go to: David
Crystal, The Stories of English, p. 520 – 529
A severe case of “Internet addiction”:
David Crystal on the Net:
1)
Is control of English shifting away from British and American native speaker?
[5:12]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ29zDW9gLI&feature=more_related
2)
Which ‘English’ should you teach your students? [2:59]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XT04EO5RSU&feature=related
3)
How is the Internet changing language today? [4:07]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2XVdDSJHqY&feature=related
4)
Should English be taught as a ‘global’ language? [4:03]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLYk4vKBdUo&feature=related
5)
Why is English a ‘global’ language [2:33]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI1EjxxXKw&feature=related
6)
Texts and Tweets: myths and realities [31:00]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boj8VYzDAy8&feature=related
7)
BBC Newsnight with Jeremy Paxton: Time to ditch the apostrophe?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7724190.stm
[4:18]
8)
David Crystal on Anniversaries (Cambridge University) [59:01]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIeD0uRWeYA&feature=related
9)
David Crystal on the show “It’s Only a Theory” [10:56]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7WSzxQ0nX4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r9bOkYW9s
PLUS:
EATS, SHOOTS &
LEAVES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves
PLUS:
WTERSTONE'S versus
WATERTSTONES
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/12/waterstones-apostrophe-no-catastrophe
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