Computer

The Internet: Creating "New English" or Reinforcing Old Dominance?

2007 ThaiTESOL Conference/Pan-Asian Consortium, Bangkok, January 27

Deborah Healey, English Language Institute , Oregon State University

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Abstract

The Internet puts information at teachers' and students' fingertips and provides a way of connecting teachers, learners, and the wider world. Interaction of English language learners with each other globally has meant vocabulary enrichment with loans from the speakers' first or other languages. The Internet has also helped develop new forms of the English language, including abbreviated communication from chat and text messaging. Still, the large majority of websites today are from "Inner Circle" countries, most notably the United States, which reinforces linguistic dominance. This presentation will discuss this interesting time and the possible changes on the horizon.

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Bibliography

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Last updated 21 January 2007 by Deborah Healey. Email Deborah.