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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 Technology has changed the world. People are inevitably exposed to all sorts of different forms of technology every day and this exposure has influenced the way people live. While this fact is self-evident, the fact that technology has also changed the English language is not as apparent. Because the influence on the English language brought by technology occurs very slowly, humans dont necessarily realize just how big of an impact technology has on language. People may believe that technology may have only brought positive influence or maybe even negatively influence from technology affecting the English language. However, technology has actually ushered both negative and positive effects because while new technology jargon and phrases may render the older generations illiterate in technology, this same jargon expands the English vocabulary and promotes the growth of technology. The most notable impact of technology on the English language is all the jargon and phrases that naturally come along with every new invention. Jargon is one of the results of technology impacting English. Jargon may actually be seen as a negative impact because technology constantly introduces new jargon into English that only a small handful of people pick up instantly. The majority of people in the United States are actually old. As medicine gets better people are able to live longer and thus a large chunk of the American population are actually the elderly. This older generation are not used to new technology coming out every day as the current young generation is which means that the older generation is not keeping up with technological jargon that comes out almost every day. This creates a very illiterate older generation that cannot comprehend new devices and inventions that come out which then leads to a generation that cannot use these devices. Since technology, particularly the smart phone, is

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 become such an integral part of peoples daily lives, the jargon creates a fissure between the two generations as they are not able to efficiently communicate with one another. Although elementary students are easily able to keep up with current technology, the elderly do not have the same ability. Because elementary students know all the technological jargon, they are able to read instructions for new devices and use them almost immediately. If that same kids grandma were to read the same set of instructions for the devices, the chances of the grandma being able to use the devices as efficiently as the kid are very slim. The young generation may be quite knowledgeable when it comes to technological slang, even the young generation does not know every piece of slang. In article discussing slang used in the internet, it states that there are phrases that most people dont even know: Weve scoured the Net to find cyber-slang you may have never heard. Use it to sound like a knowbie and to impress your techie friends (Kathryn). If even the young generation and techies who constantly use technology dont know some jargon, what are the chances of the old generation, who are not used to the technology surge, of knowing jargon? Because jargon essentially renders an entire group of people illiterate, jargon clearly brings negativity to English. However, jargon does not solely bring negativity. While it is true that vocabulary of technology slang is growing every day which makes it hard for people to learn, this same jargon is what allows people to save time and create a private network that only insiders can understand. In a business journal, an article defines the word jargon with: Acronyms, abbreviations, jargon, and buzzwords serve two main purposes. They condense complicated concepts into shorthand words and phrases, saving time, and they help separate the insider from the outsiders (Goldsborough). Without a doubt, it is these

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 abbreviations, buzzwords, etc that allow our society to function at its peak and creates an efficient environment that gets work done for people who know the important pieces of jargon. Along with introducing new words into English, technology has also changed the meaning of certain English words by adding new definitions. Once again, this effect brings along both negative and positive aspects. The reason why people decided to change the definition of certain words instead of just introducing new words is to make it easier for people to make the transition to understand how to use new technology. The most obvious example is the word mouse. The shape of a computer mouse is similar to the rodent and this fact makes it easy for people to remember. This is positive because it allows technology to quickly integrate itself into daily life. While the positive effect of adding new definitions to current English words may be straight forward, the negative effective gets a little more complex. The definition of an established English word suddenly changes so what does that mean for the English language itself? It can induce confusion in conversations and requires people to fully understand the context otherwise problematic misunderstandings may ensue. Misunderstanding are not the only issue with changing definitions of English words. How will this change affect English grammar? An article talking about language in technology attempts to answer this question, The computer term mousethe gizmo that controls the cursor on your computer screen has given rise to another troubling question. What do you call more than one mouse? Mouses or mice?mice should be used as the plural for mouse, the rodent, and mouses should be used to describe more than one of those hand-held computer devices (Karthryn). Even if this is an answer to the question, it is only an attempt and there is

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 actual no official rule on this. It is clear that by changing the definitions of English words, it can form both positive and negative aftereffects. Technological slang also plays another role because it changes the vocabulary that people need to know in order to communicate with others in society. It is not necessary to know every single word in the English dictionary and its meaning but it is necessary to know the most commonly used words that are used in everyday conversation. If people dont know commonly used vocabulary, they wont be able to successfully communicate with others in society. An article describes certain jargon that parents need to know and why its important to know these words: Sometimes it is hard to sort out important terms from technical triviaA few tech terms that are important for parents of young peopleto understand in order to advocate for a more accessible world are assistive technology, adaptive technology, electronic and information technology (Burgstahler). The negative aspect of technological slang is how it forces parents to understand new jargon if they successfully want to be able to communicate with their kids. This is not only time consuming but it can be risky as learning trivial jargon that is outdated or rarely used wont be helpful at all. However the benefits of having parents learn jargon is that it allows parents to understand their children and become more knowledgeable in technology. This jargon is not only limited to the house but it also used in society and it allows people to communicate ideas regarding technology efficiently and promotes universal use and growth of technology itself. Another impact of technology is its influence on the teaching of English. The immediate thought here is that this impact must be positive as new technology is generally meant to improve the way tasks are done. Surprisingly enough, technological influence even has negative

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 effects when it comes to teaching. This negativity is also shown in an article about technology in the environment: Computers reduce the activity of the physical body and enhance a remote and decontextualized self in cyberspaceThe technology alters our sensory perception, mitigating corporeality, personality and culture in the process (Irwin 102). While technology, specifically computers, may be seen as efficient in the classroom because it takes of work from the teacher and allows students to go at their own pace, this form of teaching begins to numb the students senses in reality. Computers cannot transmit and read any emotion so as a result the students also begin to reduce their emotions and begin to exhibit behaviors similar to that of an emotionless robot. The introduction of computers may result in a generation of people that show far less personality and act much more machine-like than past generations. Personality is what generates creativity, new innovations, and growth in culture. Technology here is shown that it has the potential to threaten the very aspects that make humans human. It may seem technology only brings harmful effects into the classroom, this is not completely true as computers can create an extremely efficient learning environment for each individual student which in turn allows more students to be taught at once. An entire article is written about how technology is actually beneficial to the classroom: In this age of information there are ways in which technology can be used to enhance science and language arts instruction by creating macro contexts (Kumar 42). Technology opens the doors for many different ways of teaching and has the power to revolutionize the way language is taught. Technology affecting teaching will indirectly impact the English language as it will change how students learn English thus influencing the language itself.

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 A more interesting impact of technology on English is how technology has revealed the limits of the language itself. During World War II, the Americans had decided to develop an atomic bomb in order to tests its military technology and help end the war. The technology for developing a bomb at the time werent there and people such as Albert Einstein who were given the task to develop the atomic bomb. Einstein realized that explaining sub atomic particles wasnt possible with just the English language. Because of the atomic bomb and realization that the English language had its limits, huge leaps in math and physics were made in regards to sub atomic theory. However at the same time, a bomb of mass destruction was created that ended up essentially disintegrating an entire city. Technology has become a part of the culture in the United States and most people today could barely continue their way of living without their technological devices. Technologys influence on English has created new slang, changed definitions of English words, changing everyday vocabulary, shown the limits of the language, and has changed the way English is taught. These aspects have and are huge impacts to the Unites States culture and have inevitably resulted in effects that are not just harmful or just beneficial but both harmful and beneficial.

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 Works Cited

Balint, Kathryn. "Technology and Language Results in Geek-Speak." Fairfield County Business Journal. 40.19 (2001). Print. This article is about the author arguing how technology has affected the English language. The author states how people in technology have altered the English language by introducing technological jargon and redefining current English words. The author is able to achieve this by actually listing off jargon that has been affected by technology. This article will probably be the most impactful as evidence as the article itself goes in depth of how certain jargon was born through certain technology. The article is able to support its claim by citing sources and the article is from a Business Journal so it definitely holds some merit. I will be able to use this article as one of my main piece of evidence backing up my main claim of how technology has shaped the English language. This article is able to successfully show how technology has affected the English language by actually revealing to the reader words used in society that have been brought into society through as a direct result of technology and its users. This article is extremely useful as it directly correlates with my argument and completely supports my claim. The only issue with this article is that it only cites websites and has no real scholarly resource for citing. This may put the article under suspicion of being a trustworthy article to use as a main piece of evidence to back up my claim. However, the websites that are cited are for the most part well known and hold a good amount of credibility. Burgstahler, S. "Conquering the Jargon Jungle: Technology Terms a Parent Needs to Know." The Exceptional Parent. 32 (2002): 62-64. Print.

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 The purpose of this article was to inform the reader of the different types of jargon and how these words came into existence through technology. The author is able to successful convey his argument in his article by including different types of jargon and he is able to do so because the author is a credible source as he has experience on the subject. This is another valuable source as this will allow different sources to convey similar ideas but slightly different information. The fact that this source is able to support the other sources will strengthen this essay as all these sources hold some credibility. I will be able to use this article as evidence towards aiding my main claim which means that this article is an important source. Citing this source well benefit this essay by allowing this essay to explain jargon that is used in technology in layman terms and aid the reader in understanding my argument. This article is targeted at parents however this also makes this essay more relatable as most people know what the position of parenting is. While using sources with similar information may seem superfluous, it actually is beneficial in this essay as the sources will be evidence for each other which increases the credibility of each source. The fact that my argument is supported by so many sources that convey the same information, it will also deter the reader from forming a counter argument my claim is the same claim as many other reputable sources. GOLDSBOROUGH, REID. "The Name of the Game in Technology Is Jargon." Business Journal (central New York). 24.17 (2010). Print. In this news article, the author argues that there are ten technological jargon that one needs to know in order to become truly computer literate. The author is successful in his argument as he explains what each piece of jargon means and how it used in society. Although the author does not cite sources, the author is credible as he is an already an author of a published book that deals with the same subject. The article is also displayed in The Central New York

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 Business Journal and therefore this article definitely carries some credibility behind it. This article is useful because it talks about certain pieces of jargon and how each jargon is used in society. The article also gives a detailed definition of each piece of jargon that can be used to give further insight on how these pieces of jargon were caused by technology and how they were morphed from the English language. The article can be used as evidence to show that there are specific words that have been brought into society as a direct result of technology. The definition of each piece of jargon is given in the article using common Standard English. This will be useful as it will allow readers of my essay to better understand the new jargon especially if they have never heard of it before. This is an important piece of evidence that can be used to directly support my claim as it contains information that directly correlates with my argument. Kumar, David, and Valerie J. Bristor. "Integrating Science and Language Arts Through Technology-Based Macrocontexts." Educational Review. 51.1 (1999): 41-53. Print. The author of this article explains how technology is affecting how technology is affecting how teachers teach the language arts. The author is successful in informing the reader of the many different technologies that are out there that can aid a teacher in how they teach language. She also explains how each of these different technologies affects the teaching process differently. This source will be useful in reinforcing how technology is not only affecting how the language itself but how the process of the language teaching is also being affected by technology. By having technology affect the teaching process, the language learned will naturally be shaped according the technology that was implemented in their learning process, whether it be videos, virtual reality, or the internet. The article also warns how technologies should be chosen carefully by teachers as some technologies work better than others and some technology actually introduce a negative aspect to teaching. By using technology, teachers will

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 be able to control a meaningful learning environment and enhance a students learning and knowledge of the language arts. The article includes multiple sections and does a good job in elaborating each aspect of the information given to the reader. The author has a qualified argument where she states that while some technology may be good, some technology can be bad. I will be able to use this article as evidence to one of my mini-claims that technology is not only shaping the language itself but how people are learning the language as well. Irwin, Ruth. "The Technology Environment: Subjectivity, Language, and Machine." International Journal of Technology and Design Education. 15.2 (2005): 99-110. Print. In this article the author is trying to argue about the importance of computers and the impact that they have made in language, teaching, and culture. The author is successful in getting his point across academically. This is a reliable source as there are multiple sources cited throughout the entire article and even entire books are quoted to show how other published works have similar or contrasting ideas to the author. This article is important to my argument because it focuses specifically on one technology, computers, and goes in depth of how it has shaped not only language but culture and teaching. The article shows how computers have not only changed the English language and its culture but also has sparked the growth of different kinds of computer binary language. Each computer company uses its own binary form of language that is not universal and these different languages that have emerged from these companies were all sparked from the computer and how each company decided to interpret the computer language. The article also explains how computers are an essential part of the classroom as learning the computer language is a life skill that is extremely marketable. I will be able to use this article as evidence towards how technology is not only affecting the English language but the creation of computer languages. These different computer languages also cause

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Jooneil Ahn ENG 131/ Pham Major Paper 2 a problem as people have to choose which language they should start to learn. I will also be able to use this article as evidence towards how technology affects how language is taught it a classroom setting.