English used in Different Social Settings in SMS and E-mail

Language is constantly evolving and the impact of new communications technology is undeniable. For the purpose of this assignment, our group will study how English is used in different social settings and identify some of the features of written Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish). We will be looking at two sample texts from each of the following forms- e-mails and Short Message Service (SMS), and discuss the impact of technology on language use as well.

E-mail- Formal

The following is an e-mail sent by a trainee teacher to the principal of a primary school. Standard English is observed to be used and the tone of the e-mail is polite and professional. The format of the email resembles that of a formal letter, with the subject, greeting and complimentary closing clearly indicated. The relationship between the sender and recipient is distant, with the latter being of a higher authority. This can be seen by the phrase ‘if I can be considered for a teaching position in your school’. Additionally, phrases like ‘express my keen interest’ and ‘looking forward to your favourable reply’ are used to express formality and interest.

E-mail- Informal

Contrary to the formal e-mail, this e-mail shows closeness in the relationship between the sender and recipient. It was sent by a cousin of one of our group members.

Singlish was observed to be used. The sender began with “hey! =)”.The word ‘hey’ was not capitalized and the emoticon “=)” was used to express joy in receiving the email. Other features of Singlish include:

This email shows an informal solidarity use as Singlish is used together with Standard English. For instance, in “hopefully i have a long week end”, the word “hopefully” and the first person pronoun are not capitalised. The phrase “week end” is also not conjoined. Although this phrase is grammatical, the punctuation and spelling do not conform to Standard English.

The two e-mails discussed are examples of diglossia of English Language in Singapore (Deterding,1998). The first e-mail displays the high variety of English used in Singapore in settings of high formality (Standard English) whilst the second e-mail displays the low variety of English used in Singapore as an everyday interaction between locals (Singlish). As speakers move from one variety to another, depending on the context, purpose and audience, it is therefore important to understand how the features differ in these two varieties in order to be able to switch between varieties.

SMS- Informal

Though an SMS is usually short, language use can still differ according to the social settings. The following SMS was sent by an ex-schoolmate of one of our group members. As they have known each other for many years, the social setting is thus informal.

With the social setting in mind, it was observed that Singlish was used. The tone of the SMS was also informal and friendly. Features of Singlish identified include:

This SMS reflects the impact of technology on English. 3 characteristics of a typical SMS are identified. Firstly, as a SMS usually allows only a maximum of 160 letters, people begin to shorten their sentences. Instead of saying ‘I am super tired n have no freedom’, ‘super tired n no freedom’ is preferred. Secondly, individual words are shortened as well. The word ‘never’ and ‘baby’ are shortened to ‘nvr’ and ‘bb’ respectively. Words like ‘and’, ‘see’ and ‘you’ are shortened to a single letter ‘n’, ‘c’ and ‘u’, according to their pronunciations. Thirdly, as an SMS is deemed as almost instantaneous communication, people tend to include emoticons like ‘Hee’ or ‘Ü’ to convey their feelings as well. These characteristics are true for a typical informal e-mail as well.

SMS- Formal

The way English is used differs in this next example. As the purpose of this SMS is to extend an invitation for an important event, the style of the text is formal and relatively professional, with Standard English being used. The typical characteristics of an SMS identified earlier are not present here, due to the need for a certain amount of formality in the extension of an invitation.

SMS and e-mails highlight one benefit of communications technology to our lives- convenience. It is now possible for us to obtain information or perform professional duties at the click of a button. While convenience is no doubt appreciated, some may argue that this form of communication endangers the quality of the communication process in the long run (Urmann, 2008).

Word Count: 735

Done by: Chua Kar Yan (U0960020F)

Ng Eileen (U0960099J)

Nitthiya D/O Rengasamy (U0960103C)

Norsafrina Bte Sapari (U0960110K)