Emoticons serve 3 communicative functions. First, when following signatures, emoticons function as markers of a positive attitude. Second, when following utterances that are intended to be interpreted as humorous, they are joke/irony markers. Third, they are hedges: when following expressive speech acts (such as thanks, greetings, etc.) they function as strengtheners and when following directives (such as requests, corrections, etc.) they function as softeners.’
(HALVORSEN, A. a. (2012). Patterns of Emoticon Usage in ESL Students’ Discussion Forum Writing. CALICO Journal, 29(4), 694-717.)
There is no denying the fact that the ‘emoticons’ have their own niche in both reading in writing nowadays. The only concern that is most likely to arise is how far their usage could expand in terms of ‘invading’ the writing space.
I doubt the only one correct answer exists. I had a conversation with my younger daughter about ‘why lots of adults don’t know how to text’. The example she mentioned was, ‘Mom, you don’t K (respond ‘K’ meaning ok) anyone! (meaning sending a text to anyone with K); and adding a period after K makes it ever ruder!’ I simply laughed at the comment but then it made me think that I don’t ‘belong’ to the ‘group’ (of knowledgeable teenage individuals who know how to text properly). Joking apart, there is no denying the fact there are different approaches on this subject.
Here is another example. My students (newcomers to Canada from all over the world) quite often use ‘&’ (meaning ‘and’) in their writing. It is not technically an emoticon, but I believe the function it is serving is the same. When I correct them, explaining that in academic writing we are not using symbols like this, they are really upset commenting that ‘that’s the way they have always been writing in their first language and it worked! Don’t you understand what I wrote?’ Yes, of course, I do! J
Well, to be honest, my biggest concern is multiple interpretations of emoticons and the possibilities of misunderstanding and miscommunication on different levels.
Findings from the study (Patterns of Emoticon Usage in ESL Students’ Discussion Forum Writing by Andy Halvorsen CALICO Journal, 09/2012, Volume 29, Issue 4) suggest that ‘emoticon usage is prevalent in the writing of some non-native speakers of English but that usage patterns vary significantly across individuals. Previous experience with discussion forums in the first language as well as emoticon familiarity are identified as mediating factors in emoticon usage in English.’
That’s quite clearly justifies my students’ comments!
Evans (The Emoji code: the linguistics behind smiley faces and scaredy cats by Evans, Vyvyan 2017, First U.S. edition.) argues that ‘emoji add tone and an emotional voice and nuance, making us more effective communicators in the digital age.’ Using emoticons in CMC has traditionally been viewed as a typically teenage phenomenon and has been associated with young people’s chat style on the Internet (Johansen, 2008).
I am still not ‘converted’ to let the emoticons ‘invade’ all the writing space, though!
Not surprisingly formal guidelines for computer‐mediated communication or “netiquettes” advise writers to limit their use of emoticons in workplace communication, mostly because their excessive use may signal emotional instability and a lack of control over one’s feelings (Wolf, 2000). Furthermore, such guidelines (see e.g. Boone, Kurtz, & Block, 1997; Extejt, 1998; Munter, Rogers, & Rymer, 2003; Krohn, 2004) tend to be normative and colored by the author’s personal values rather than reflecting the actual use and communicative functions of emoticons. In the popular press and media, emoticons are banned by some authors (e.g. Andrews, 1994; Rossavik, 2011), and praised by others (Stensland, 2011).
To sum it up, no doubt the emoticons are a part of non-verbal communication. However, I doubt the appropriateness and substituting the functions they are serving in multiple contexts and areas of usage.
References:
Andrews, P. (1994). Put on a happy face, but not in my e‐mail. http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/cordelia/smileys_edit.html
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (2017). The Emoji Code: The Linguistics Behind Smiley Faces and Scaredy Cats.
Boone, L. E. Kurtz, D. L. & Block, J. R. (1997). Contemporary business communication (2nd Edition). Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice‐Hall.
Extejt, M. M. (1998). Teaching students to correspond effectively electronically. Business Communication Quarterly, 61(2), 57–67.
Halvorsen, A. (2012). Patterns of Emoticon Usage in ESL Students’ Discussion Forum Writing. CALICO Journal, 29(4).
Johansen, R. (2008). Hva skjer? ;D. Sekvenser, emneinnledninger og stil i direktemeldingssamtaler blant ungdom. [What’s up? ;D. Sequences, topic initiation and style in adolescences MSN chat. Unpublished Master Thesis]. University of Oslo.
Krohn, F. (2004). A generational approach to using emoticons as non‐verbal communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 43, 321–328.
Munter, M., Rogers, P. S. & Rymer, J. (2003). Business e‐mail: Guidelines for users. Business Communication Quarterly, 66, 26–40.
Rossavik, F. M (2011). Død over smilefjesene. Morgenbladet 28.01.2011
Stensland, K. M. (2011). Hurra for emotikon! Morgenbladet 04.02.2011. http://morgenbladet.no/article/20110204/ODEBATT/702049903
Wolf, A. (2000). Emotional expression online: Gender differences in emoticon use. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 3(5), 827–833.
sally bourque
July 30, 2018 — 10:06 am
Hi Nattalia,
Very interesting reflection on the use of emoticons. It reminds me of my research on history of the pen (and module 1) and how writing began with pictographs. (Mugo, Muthwii, & Gakuru, 2014, p. 85) The definition you included from Halvorsen was enlightening. I love emoticons almost as much as I love breaking rules that seem arbitrary to me. I am careful with my professional writing in new contexts and will often not use abbreviations, symbols or emoticons because they are considered “unprofessional”.
I do understand the argument. A good example might be from a Netflix TV show called “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt”. Two of the main characters will sometimes discuss text responses consisting mostly of emoticons. The show is a comedy, and it’s meant to be funny for the same reason you mention in your post about “not being a part of the club” or group who use emoticons for very specific communication and understand what they mean.
This form of emoticon use seems highly interpretive, and perhaps a bit in precise for some business communications. However, to reinforce a positive attitude, a joke or reinforcer, I think they are very valuable in professional communications.
In the very first MET course I participated in, I had an instructor who was generous with the smiley faces. ???? At first, I thought it was a little weird. But quickly, I came to expect the smile at the end of constructive reinforcement or anecdote and I find myself missing it from other professional feedback contexts. It was pleasant to be able to add the smile to the message and better interpret the kind implications of the message. ????
To me, emoticons blur the lines between linguistic, visual and spacial meaning making. (The New London Group, 1996, p. 65) New London Group also suggest that “…in a profound sense, all meaning making is multimodal. All written text is visually designed.” (p. 81) but for me, emoticons really push the boundaries that divide these different modes, and I think this is a big part of what remediation is. It’s less replacing and more moving of the lines for how we categorize information and how those categorizations change the way we think, interact and communicate. ????
References:
Mugo, D. G., Muthwii, S., & Gakuru, P. M. (2014). Tracing writing technologies through time: A historical reflection of writing systems, writing surfaces and writing implements. Journale of Educational Research and Reviews, 83-88.
The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard educational review, 66(1), 60-93.
sally bourque
July 30, 2018 — 10:07 am
Noooo! My emoticons were turned into “???” in the post! Haha! Well, so much for my argument FOR emoticons in professional writing. Perhaps it’ because I cut and paste from another program.
Let me try again. Imagine these happy faces scattered throughout my reply.
🙂
🙂
🙂
Katie Cox
August 6, 2018 — 2:40 pm
I enjoyed your engaging post on emoticons, Nattalia!
I must admit I am a big emoji lover, but like Sally, I do limit myself when writing in certain professional contexts. Johansen (2008) says that emojis are often associated with young people’s chat style on the Internet, but I think things have changed in the 10 years since that article was written. If I think of my workplace, we use Slack to communicate. Some Slack channels have 300 people in them, and people are encouraged to use emojis as reactions to certain posts (like giving a thumbs up) instead of replying in text as with 300 people this could create way too much noise. I wish I could post an image to explain instead of trying to describe this with text… which definitely supports the argument made in many of the readings in this course that our cultural movement in the late age of print is visual rather than linguistic (Bolter, 1991).
And while I wouldn’t want to read a novel that featured the use of emojis and I wouldn’t use them when emailing with clients, I think they do have their place in certain professional environments. For my multimedia project I took a closer look at emojis, and some research I came across found that emojis “directly affected enjoyment, and that this, in turn, affected personal interaction” (Huang et al, 2008, p. 471) and led to a more collaborative and caring work environment. This might seem silly considering we’re taking about emojis… but I’ve experienced this myself at work and agree with these findings. I’d definitely be interested in exploring more how people decide when emojis are appropriate in the workplace and if we’re starting to come up with a form of “emoji grammar” when we contemplate when and where to use them.
Bolter, J. D. (1991). Writing space: The computer, hypertext, and the history of writing. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Huang, A. H., Yen, D. C., & Zhang, X. (2008). Exploring the potential effects of emoticons. Information & Management, 45(7), 466-473.
Anonymous
August 7, 2018 — 2:27 pm
Hi Natallia,
I appreciate you covering this topic. I found myself relating to much of what you discussed. This is particularly so when I have to write a work email. When is it appropriate to use the ampersand? Do I sound too serious if I only use periods for punctuation? Would it look unprofessional or would it be misinterpreted if I put emojis? Does it depend on the person who is receiving the email?
This hilarious sketch aptly captures this conundrum!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWA_j4Vy4oM
All through our formal years of education, we are taught how to write with academic language. Unless it is for creative writing, there is no room for exclamation marks, let alone emojis! Our ways of communicating in the real world have shifted, yet the school system’s approach to literacy seems to remain stagnant. In Tapscott’s (1997) book, it is discussed that the Net generation will engage in various new forms of learning, such as hypermedia learning, construction and discovery rather than linear learning, learner-centered education, etc. Tapscott failed to predict that more than two decades later, our modes of communication would be influenced too with the new technology.
It can be argued that it is not necessary to teach digital communication as most students are already well-versed in it outside of their formal education. However, we have to admit that digital technology is one of the primary means of communication between youth and it will likely be so for the remainder of their lives. We tend to view cyberbullying as an issue that stems from emotional struggles, however we cannot deny that digital communication skills also play a role in it. Teaching students digital communication skills should not be a tangential “extra.” Knowing not only how to communicate, but recognizing how communication can change in digital environments will be an essential skill now and in the future.
Tapscott, D. (1997). Growing up digital: the rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
kimseto
August 7, 2018 — 5:43 pm
**Oops I submitted my comment anonymously! Ignore the post above!
Hi Natallia,
I appreciate you covering this topic. I found myself relating to much of what you discussed. This is particularly so when I have to write a work email. When is it appropriate to use the ampersand? Do I sound too serious if I only use periods for punctuation? Would it look unprofessional or would it be misinterpreted if I put emojis? Does it depend on the person who is receiving the email?
This hilarious sketch aptly captures this conundrum!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWA_j4Vy4oM
All through our formal years of education, we are taught how to write with academic language. Unless it is for creative writing, there is no room for exclamation marks, let alone emojis! Our ways of communicating in the real world have shifted, yet the school system’s approach to literacy seems to remain stagnant. In Tapscott’s (1997) book, it is discussed that the Net generation will engage in various new forms of learning, such as hypermedia learning, construction and discovery rather than linear learning, learner-centered education, etc. Tapscott failed to predict that more than two decades later, our modes of communication would be influenced too with the new technology.
It can be argued that it is not necessary to teach digital communication as most students are already well-versed in it outside of their formal education. However, we have to admit that digital technology is one of the primary means of communication between youth and it will likely be so for the remainder of their lives. We tend to view cyberbullying as an issue that stems from emotional struggles, however we cannot deny that digital communication skills also play a role in it. Teaching students digital communication skills should not be a tangential “extra.” Knowing not only how to communicate, but recognizing how communication can change in digital environments will be an essential skill now and in the future.
Tapscott, D. (1997). Growing up digital: the rise of the net generation. New York: McGraw-Hill.
adam sheard
August 10, 2018 — 10:16 pm
Hey Natallia! I’m so glad you brought up emoji talk and it was really interesting reading about your interactions with your daughter and your ESL students. I actually talked about emojis quite a bit in my video documentary on logograms because of how emojis function across many languages and have even been used as actual representations of languages in some cases! You can imagine my surprise and hesitation to click on a link sent to me by our instructor Ernesto called “Emoji Dick” that he sent as a follow up to my commentary on emojis: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/text-me-ishmael-reading-moby-dick-emoji-180949825/
In any event, Emoji Dick is the famous book “Moby Dick” written entirely with emojis. In addition to this there are websites like “Emoji Reads” which summarize other books and movies in emojis. As someone born in the ’80s, it just boggles my mind when I see young people look at these compilations of emojis and somehow understand exactly what is going on! So, in a way I totally understand why you think that emojis aren’t the clearest form of communication, but perhaps it is because we aren’t accustomed to the culture of using emojis. By this, I mean that there is a clear difference from just using emojis and actually having a deep cultural understanding of what exactly the emojis mean. Given how much emoji usage has increased in the world in the past few decades, who knows how far it will go?
One thing I invite you to ponder on is the fascinating efficacy of emojis as one of the only purely logographic writing systems in the history of humans. It is one of the first (if not the only) writing systems that has been used by speakers of multitudes of languages to communicate similar thoughts and feelings in the world. Additionally, while you or I might look at emojis and think “hmm, there is no way these strings of individual emojis can be grammatical or semantically accurate,” but perhaps there are ways in which young people are stringing together sets of these emojis to do just that which hasn’t been studied or considered yet? In any case, it is a very fascinating topic, thank you for posting it!
References:
Melville, H., & Benenson, F. (2010). Emoji Dick: Or, The Whale. S.l.: S.n.
benson chang
August 20, 2018 — 2:28 am
Oops. Submitted anonymously. Please ignore the above comment.
Hi Natallia. It is rare for students to hand in work containing emojis, but I do often get slangs and shortened form such as “u” in place of “you”. When I get these, my first response is to make it clear that these are not acceptable for formal writing. Inevitably, the argument that I get back is “why? You understand what I’m writing right? What’s the difference?” My answer in the classroom is effectively “because of tradition”. Not the greatest answer, but essentially what the issue boils down to. Languages change and evolve over time, and if I am honest to myself, if the point is being communicated without issue, then I find myself agreeing with the students, “why should it matter?”
The standard for formal language changes as usage changes. Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of the English language created numerous words, many of which are part of our formal vernacular now, but at the time when he coined them, the words were colloquial and had to be comprehended in context. If the English language insisted on maintaining tradition, then “disheartened” teachers would now find it difficult to be the “critic” that they are who voice their “discontent” and “rant” about the “worthless” writings they receive containing “countless” “flawed” usage of the English language, which is a “torture” to read. (In case it was not clear, all the words in quotation are attributed to having been invented by Shakespeare.) Words and phrases that help to bring clarity and ease of communication is often adopted into the language, and while excessive contractions of “you” to “u” may not fall under such an instance, emojis certainly do.
A large portion of communication is nonverbal, and emojis can help bring the nonverbal to writing. A “K ” connotes a very different feel as “K ”. Without the use of contraction and the emoji to communicate the same idea would take much more space and effort such as “Okay. That sounds great” and “I see. I am sorry you are in that situation”. Historically, ease of communication has been a good enough reason to evolve the language; Portmanteau words such as “smog” and “brunch” are good examples of this. At this point, it can still be argued that portmanteau and compound words, or even invented words are still words, and emojis, with its graphical nature is not the same thing. Fact of the matter is, we do use graphics for formal purposes all the time. In academic journals, some of the most important parts are the figures, and charts as they convey a ton of information efficiently and effectively. Those are graphics in a formal environment. When giving presentations, we heavily rely on visuals to convey both information and emotion through the use of graphics and colours.
Emojis fulfill many of the reasons for adoption into a language, so perhaps as teachers, we should rethink the automatic rejection response on the basis of tradition. Especially in light of the multimodal pedagogy that is currently being promoted.