E-Portfolio Shahirah

Summary on the article of Language Choice Online: Globalization and Identity by Mark Warschauer, Ghada R. El Said and Ayman Zohry


This journal entitled “Language Choice Online: Globalization and Identity in Egypt” is a research by Mark Warschauer, Ghada R. El Said and Ayman Zohry. This journal is taken from Language Choice Online: Globalization and Identity in Egypt. (2002).Journal of computer-mediated communication (7), 2002. Retrieved 13th March, 2009, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/ng.html-journal.
In this article, they stated that the widely use of English in this world caused great anxiety to many people in this world including Egyptians. English is a major new means of global communication and the use of online communication would encourage global use of English. Hence, the use of the Internet is proven to be a medium for written communication in dialects and languages. Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic are the two varieties are used by the Egyptians rather than two different languages. Classical Arabic is used for formal communication while Egyptian Arabic is used for informal or daily communication.
However, the Egyptian elite always preferred to be educated in French or English as English plays a double role in Egypt. English language plays as the first and compulsory foreign language taught in school. English language also serves as a second language of additional communication for Egypt’s elite. The Egyptians prefer to use English as a medium of instruction and other disciplines because English is considered as prestigious and difficult to enter.
Therefore, this paper came out with more widely at language choice online by a group of Egyptian internet users. This paper also provides some background information on language use and the internet use in Egypt introduces and discusses the study and analyzes the results in terms of wider global trends of language, identity and globalization.
The subjects in the study were 43 young professionals known to be Internet users in Cairo. The category of young professionals was chosen because it represents the first generation of Internet users in Egypt. Those young professionals were chosen through their respective fields. The subjects did not represent the Egyptian as a whole.
The subjects of this research were between the ages of 24 and 36 and engaged in introductory or middle level professional and management positions. All of the subjects in the sample had at least a bachelor’s degree and 30 of the group had a master’s or doctorate. The areas of study included engineering, economics, computer science, and medicine. The sample was equally balanced for gender, 23 men and 20 women. Almost all of the subjects had part of their education in English and part in Arabic.
The study was conducted through survey that was developed to inquire on people’s language and literacy practices online. The survey included six questions about personal information, for example, (What is your profession?), four general questions about computer and Internet access and use, for example, (How long have you been using the internet, eight questions about language use online, (What language do you use in online “real- time” chatting with Egyptians or other Arabic speakers), and eight questions about print literacy practices, for example, (What kind of things do you write regularly and in what language?) Recipients were also asked to include voluntarily examples of any e-mail messages or online chats that show the points covered in the survey.
In data analysis, the various types of online communication by language, dialect and script were computed through the survey data. After the use of Egyptian Arabic was identified in online communication, a two computed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was implemented to investigate the factors that related with online use of Egyptian Arabic. It means that this research was using quantitative research method in order to show how they analyze the subjects.
The results of this research were focusing on the use of language online. Classical Arabic in Arabic Script was not often used by the 43 participants in writing in Egypt in their Internet communication. In online communications, foreign language, English and Romanized are used widely rather than in the form of Arabic.
The first finding on Language and script use, the data illustrated that the subjects used English and Egyptian Arabic in their formal e-mail messages, informal e-mail messages and in the online chats that refers to synchronous communication using programs such as ICQ and Yahoo Messenger.
The second finding on Language and dialect use, the data illustrated the number of people that used English, Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic in their online communication. In this finding, it shows that most of them prefer to combine English and their own dialect in the online communication.
In the overall of the findings, the data shows a simple comparison between English and any form of Arabic or the combination of English and Arabic. The two sets of data show that the group of young professionals prefers to use English in their online communication. In online chats, most of the participants tend to code –switch. The combination of English and Arabic in a single message leads them to use more English in online chats. From the findings, it is clear that the use of English in Internet communication is widely used in Egyptian society. It shows that English is the leading language that used online. This group of professional Egyptians uses English in online chat as English is a global and prestigious language whiles the use of Arabic and local language is used in order to show their identity. From the findings, the results show that the familiarity of the information technology and computers among the young professionals has led them to participate more, especially in online chatting.


REACTION TO THE FINDINGS
In my opinion, the use of online chats or synchronous communication in English is very effective for the youngsters in Malaysia. Online chats would increase their proficiency in English as they will voluntarily use the chat room to chat with other people. Synchronous communication is a tool that allows chatters to have instantaneous communication. Students especially, will experience the authentic conversation with other people in English. As a result, it will help them to improve their English language.

Yahoo Messenger and IRC are the most famous online chat among the youngsters in Malaysia. As the findings illustrated that young professionals prefer to use English in online chat, it same goes to the youngsters in Malaysia. They prefer to use English because English is a second language and widely used in private and government sectors in Malaysia. Therefore, online chat is very useful for the youngsters. By joining chat room, it will motivate the youngsters to participate in the online communication and they will have the opportunity to discuss many contemporary issues with others by using English.
In the findings, the group of young professionals prefers to use English even though Classical Arabic and Egyptian Arabic are also widely used in Egypt. It is to show the importance of the use of English in this world. Therefore, the participation of youngsters in using online chat should be encouraged. The use of online chat where the medium of this online communication is English can be implemented in schools and universities in Malaysia since online chat is favored by the youngsters. The use of synchronous communication will also help the youngsters who do not participate much in class to participate in online chat. This will give them opportunity to voice their opinions freely. Yahoo Messenger and IRC promote communication among students in the target language. It will help them to improve the target language. Online chat is a method that we can use to influence the youngsters to voice out their opinions in English.

ANALYSIS ON THE ONLINE CHAT

This chatting transcript which discussing on the topic of Subconscious Science will be analyzed based on language aspect. Language can be defined as a medium that people use in communication and interaction. Different nations use different languages in this world in order to interact with others. In this chat room, the medium used is English.

There were ten people have taken part in the chat room. All of them discussed on the topic and at the same time they have done some practice on their own. The host of the chat room, BrianB used accurate subject verb agreement in explaining the topic. The host has to use accurate used of language in order to give a better understanding to the participants. Furthermore, the host explained on the factual aspect of subconscious science which involved many psychological terms and scientific terms. Therefore, the host has to stick with the use of accurate subject verb agreement. The accuracy of subject verb agreement will make the sentence easier to be understood by the participants. Some of the scientific terms and psychological terms used in his explanation are; ‘blood cell, membrane, protoplasmic, nucleus, tai chi, and acupuncture. It shows that the host has to use the terms because they are factual terms and cannot be skipped or changed because the meaning will not be the same.

For the ten participants, they did not always use accurate subject verb agreement. The participants only said the key point of their answer. They did not follow the rules of subject verb agreement. For Example;
Psyc : only feel headache.
Paradise: Dizzy
Pisces: a little
Dolphin: no

From the example, it shows that the participants only give a one word answer or only the keyword of their answers. The participants did not follow the rules of subject verb agreement which needs to have a complete sentence. The participants did not produce a complete sentence in using chat room. It means that they have simplified their sentence in their conversation in the online chat room. This simplification was made due to the communication needs in online chat and self satisfaction in maintaining the authenticity of their language.

This online chat consists of both complex and simple sentence structure. As usual, the host of this chat room used complex sentence structure. He used long and continuous sentences for each of his explanation about the topic. He had to use complex sentence structure because he wants the participants to have real experience on the activity of self-healing. By giving tangible explanation on how the activity is held, the participants can fully involved in the activity. Here is one example that shows how the host constructed his sentence.

BrainB: okay another demo --- I would like everyone to sit with their hands resting . comfortably in front with one palm up and one palm down - keep your fingers apart and cup your hand like you are holding a tennis ball.
This example shows that the host also gives some visual imagery in order to make the participants to imagine on how to do the activity. Therefore, the complex structure is very useful to the host in order to give instruction to the participants of the chat room.

On the other hand, the participants of the chat room did not construct complex sentence but simple. It means that they only give short sentences and sometimes a monosyllabic word. They were comfortable to construct short and simple sentences because the use of simple sentence structure is easy and can be well understood by others. In addition, the use of simple structure will help them to save their time. At the same time, it is easy for the host to recognize the responds from all of the participants. The participants also shortened their words in the chat room. It shows that they maintain the authenticity of the language in the chat room because they used words that they used in their daily communication For example,
Dan: I feel sorta dizzy
Shanil: Kinda dizzy

From the example, we can see that the chatters used some shortened words such as ‘sorta’ for sort of and ‘kinda’ for kind of. It means that they include the words that they use in their daily conversation in the chat room. It is to show that any forms of language can be used in the online chat system. Anything can be included as long as the language used will make all the chatters feel contented and pleased in the communication.

Reflection

In completing the assignment on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), I have gone through many obstacles and sleepless night. Many things to be done but the time was too short. Alhamdulilah, I was able to cope with the time and finally managed to finish this assignment. By doing this assignment, I already had a better understanding on the use of synchronous communication. A lot of information about synchronous communication was gained in analyzing the transcript on the online chat. Analyzing the text was a complicated task because it needed me to recall the elements of discourse analysis. At the same time, this assignment helps me to know the importance of using synchronous communication nowadays. Synchronous communication is the best tool for us to express our idea and the best way to improve the use of English. Finally, even though this assignment was hard to be completed, I was able to complete it on time.