Original post by not listed on March 23, 2016
I’m currently in ETEC590 creating my eportfolio. As I was reflecting back on my MET journey, I decided to put my learning from previous courses into a mobile context. I was inspired to write this blog after reflecting on ETEC540, which looks at the changing spaces of text technologies. When I read about the Oxford Dictionary word of the year being an emoji, it is clear that perceptions around what a “word” looks like are changing. I began to wonder what the future might look like in terms of communication, as texting becomes a dominant mode of communication. This resource looks at the changing space of text and what the future might hold for other forms of communication.
You can access the blog HERE.
Similar to the original poster, I did a project on emoji for my Text Technologies course this past fall (2019). This is the link to my final product: https://juliaunderwoodjau.wixsite.com/etec540/the-supportive-emoji which provides some more recent research.
Specifically relating to mobile culture, this link is to a specific part of my project that discusses the impacts of emoji: https://juliaunderwoodjau.wixsite.com/etec540/impact-of-emoji. Below is a quote from this section that describes one way emoji has had impact on social movements:
“Emoji can also been used to communicate ideas that may otherwise be censored; Gn (2018) uses an example by Yam to highlight this idea:
‘(emoji of bowl of rice + emoji of white rabbit) would likely have little logographic impact in English, but its combined pronunciation in Mandarin (mitu) has transformed it into an effective visual pun for users in China to support the #MeToo movement and evade state censorship.’
In this sense, emoji were used as a tool for speech acts. Emoji may be known as cute visual representations but they have the power to transform conversations and lives.”
Original reply by UNKNOWN on Jan 16
There were two points that really struck me in this post; emojis may make it into dictionaries and schools may begin teaching mobile language classes. I think both of these ideas make good sense. By formalizing emojis and guiding learners in how they communicate on their devices, we empower them to express themselves and to really understand one another. I believe we’re not at risk of losing formal writing, but we can’t stop our language from evolving so it’s up to us as educators to help guide our learners using mobile language so that we ensure they’re understood.