Contemporary Language Change

Contemporary language change — the changes happening in English right now — is a rich area for A-Level analysis because it allows you to apply the theoretical frameworks studied in earlier lessons to live, observable data. This lesson examines how technology, globalisation, social movements, and cultural change are reshaping English in the 21st century, and it evaluates competing perspectives on whether these changes represent progress, decay, or simply the natural evolution of a living language.

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Technology and Language Change

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is any form of communication that takes place through or is facilitated by computers and digital devices, including email, instant messaging, social media, video calls, and online forums.

David Crystal, in Language and the Internet (2001, 2nd edition 2006), argued that the internet has created a genuinely new medium of communication — neither speech nor writing, but something in between, which he termed "Netspeak." Crystal identified five key internet-related varieties:

Variety	Features
Email	Variable formality; blends features of letters and conversation; can be formal or informal depending on context
Chat groups / forums	More informal; turn-taking resembles conversation; use of emoticons/emoji
Virtual worlds / gaming	Specialised vocabulary; role-play register; rapid abbreviation
The Web	Hypertext; multimodal (text + image + video); new genres (blogs, wikis)
Instant messaging	Highly informal; abbreviations; emoji; conversational features in written form

Crystal argued that CMC is not "debased" or "corrupt" language but a creative adaptation of language to a new medium. Each variety has its own conventions, and competent users switch between them depending on context — demonstrating sophisticated code-switching ability.

Texting and SMS Language

Crystal's Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 (2008) directly challenged the widespread belief that texting is destroying literacy. His key findings include:

Claim	Crystal's Evidence
"Texting is full of abbreviations"	Only 10% of text messages contain abbreviations; most are written in standard English
"Texting damages spelling"	Research shows a positive correlation between texting frequency and spelling ability
"Texting abbreviations are new"	Many abbreviations predate texting: IOU (1618), SWALK (early 20th century), Xmas (16th century)
"Young people are the worst offenders"	Adults use text abbreviations more than children; children use standard spelling more often
"Texting replaces reading and writing"	Texting adds to the amount of reading and writing young people do; it does not replace other forms

Crystal concluded that texting requires and develops phonological awareness — you need to understand how a word sounds in order to abbreviate it (e.g., gr8 requires knowing that "eight" sounds like "ate").

Social Media Language

Social media platforms (Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Reddit) have created new linguistic practices:

Feature	Description	Example
Hashtags	Words or phrases prefixed with # to mark topics or movements	#MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, #ThrowbackThursday
New word meanings	Existing words acquire new senses	troll (provocative commenter), viral (widely shared), catfish (fake identity), ghost (disappear from contact)
New word formations	Platform-specific coinages	tweet, retweet, subtweet, doom-scrolling, doomscrolling
Register blending	Formal and informal registers mixed; public/private boundaries blurred	CEO using emoji in official communications
Multimodality	Meaning conveyed through text + image + video + sound + emoji	Memes as a form of communication
Brevity conventions	Platform constraints shape language (e.g., Twitter's character limit)	Compression, ellipsis, abbreviation
Emoji and emoticons	Visual symbols supplement or replace verbal communication	Used for tone, emphasis, irony, identity

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Globalisation and the Spread of English

English is now the world's dominant lingua franca, used as a common language between speakers of different native languages. This raises important questions about ownership, variation, and standardisation.

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

Barbara Seidlhofer (b. 1953) and Jennifer Jenkins (b. 1950) have studied how English is used as a lingua franca — that is, between non-native speakers. Key findings from the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) include:

Feature of ELF Communication	Example
Dropping the third-person -s	"She think it is important" — widely understood despite non-standard form
Interchangeable use of relative pronouns	"The company who/which/that..." — no communication breakdown
Non-use of articles	"I went to university" / "I went to the university" — both understood
Innovative word formation	to informate (inform), discuss about — logical extensions of English patterns

Jenkins argues that traditional notions of "correct" English based on native-speaker norms are inappropriate for ELF contexts. If English is owned by all its speakers — native and non-native — then insisting on British or American norms is a form of linguistic imperialism.

American English Influence

American English exerts enormous influence on British English and other varieties through cultural exports (film, television, music, technology, social media):

Feature	American Form	Traditional British Form	Status in British English
Vocabulary	movie, apartment, sidewalk, cookie, truck	film, flat, pavement, biscuit, lorry	Some adopted; some resisted
Spelling	color, center, organize	colour, centre, organise	Resisted in formal BrE; -ize accepted by OED
Grammar	I just ate, Did you eat yet?	I've just eaten, Have you eaten yet?	Simple past spreading in BrE
Pronunciation	Rhotic /r/; /t/ flapping	Non-rhotic; /t/ fully released	Some American features spreading (especially among young speakers)
Idiom	Can I get a coffee?	Can I have a coffee?	Can I get now common in BrE

The influence is not purely one-directional. British English has also influenced American English, particularly through prestige cultural forms (BBC programming, British literary tradition, British music).

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Inclusive Language and Social Change

Language change is increasingly driven by conscious social movements advocating for more inclusive terminology:

Gender-Neutral Language