Emoticons_advanced(2).pdf

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Level 3 Advanced

Pre-reading 1

Tick the boxes that are correct for you and compare your answers with a partner.

Ioftenuseemoticonsinmyelectroniccommunication.

Emoticonsareusefulforconveyinghowthewriterfeels.

Emoticonsareusefulinchatrooms,whenwritingpersonalemailsandwhensendingtextmessages.

Peoplewhouseemoticonsaren’tserious.

Idislikeemoticons.

Whatareemoticons?

Pre-reading 2

Match these emoticons, and the expressions from the article, with their meanings.

}:-(

I’mwearingglasses

;-)

I’mundecided

8-)

I’mmarried

0:-)

Yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind

:-)(-:

I’monlyjoking!

:-\

Thewriterjustmadeasweetorinnocentremark

1. up to scratch

a.wastenotimeonunnecessarymatters

2. risk unintentional pain and embarrassment

b.needforsomethingtomakeitallbetterandeasier

3. no pause for revision

c.goodenough/reachestheexpectations

4. to crave the soothing balm of…

d.thereisadangerofhurtingsomeoneormaking

yourselflooklikeafool

5. get straight down to business

e.nocheckingorcorrecting

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Level 3 Advanced

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Simon Jenkins

September 21, 2007

Have emails made us into unemotional

machines?

wordsandsentenceswithnopauseforrevision,

letaloneperfection.Assoonastheyareon

screentheyacquirevalidity.Overthemhovers

thedreadedsendbutton,itchingtobepressed

–‘send’isalwayspressedtoosoon.

Theemoticonis25yearsold.In1982,a

Pittsburghprofessor,ScottFahlman,noted

thattheelectronicmailofhisstudentslacked

thenecessarybodylanguageandvoicetones

toexpressgreetingsandhumour.Thesmiley

wasborn,andwithitalargelexiconofsymbols

intendedtoinsertnormalhumanemotioninto

the frigid alphabet. A–Z might have suficed for

Shakespeare,Milton,KeatsandShelley,butfor

today’sglobalnerditisnotuptoscratch.

Thereisnowaitfortheposttogo,notimeto

correctwhatiswritten.Noristhereanycertainty

thatanemailhasarrived,justtheplaintivecall:

“Didyougetmyemail...whydidn’tyoureply?”

Allisthenregret.Ishouldhavereaditthrough

onemoretime.Hardlysurprisingthenthatwe

cravethesoothingbalmoftheemoticon.

Howonearthdidwemanagebefore?Somehow

wecommunicatedlove,hurt,remorse,angerand

joyunderthebountifulguidanceofthe Oxford

English Dictionary .Weusedquill,pen,pencil,

ballpoint,eventypewriter,andifanythingwent

wrongwehadthetelephoneasbackup.Butwhy

isemailsolackinginfeelingthatitrequiresits

ownadditionalalphabet?Howmuchsincerity

reallyisconveyedby J ?

Earlytelegraphyhaditsownshortformsand

icons.Usersrealizedthatabbreviatedlanguage

riskedunintentionalpainandembarrassment.

Henceanapparentlysarcasticorabruptremark

mightbesoftenedbyasimplesymbol.Theresult

wasnotjustsmileysbutfrowniesandvarious

signsofperplexity,love,angerandsurprise.

Theauthorsofabookon‘netiquette’come

straighttothepoint:“Onemailpeoplearen’t

quitethemselves...theyareangrier,less

sympathetic,lessaware,moreeasilywounded,

evenmoregossipyandduplicitous.”Somehave

evenwreckedtheirmarriages,losttheirjobsand

endedupinjail.

Thereare16pagesofemoticonsinAndrew

John’s Txtr’s A–Z –myfavouritebeing}:-(for

‘yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind’.Anindication

ofthekeyboard’sevolutionisthatmany

computersautomaticallyconvertthefrownieinto

.Inotherwords,andhavebecome

formalsymbolsintheInternetlexicon.

L J L

Manyofusdonotknowhowtohandleemail.Do

westart Dear Sir or Hi gorgeous ,orgetstraight

downtobusiness?Dowecoverthescreenwith

capitals,exclamationmarksandemoticonsina

desperateefforttoconveyattitude?Dowesign

offwith Yours sincerely , Kind regards or Byeee! ?

Evensuchsimplewordsas please , thank you

and sorry haveahundredsubtlemeanings

when voiced but are toneless when lying lat on

thescreen.

Iconfesstoseeingtheproblem.Ihaveseldom

sentapersonalemailortextmessagewhichI

havenotafterwards,tosomedegree,regretted.

Theold-fashionedpenslowedthetransitionfrom

spokenword(andintendedmeaning)toscript.

Itgavetimeforconsideration,asdidthemanual

typewriter.Writinginvolvedeffort.Awordwas

ponderedbeforebeingputtopaper,packaged

andsentthroughthepost.

Incomparison,thecomputerkeyboardisan

invisiblepianoonwhichweplayinstantlyand

extempore.Firstthoughtsraceintofully-formed

Thetruthisthat,forotherthanroutinemessages

andacknowledgements,emailhasbecomean

inadequatesubstituteforboththetelephoneand

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Level 3 Advanced

theletter.Comparedtothetelephone,emailis

adistancingdevice.Itnotonlyeliminatestone

ofvoice,itpreventsinterruptionorresponse.It

isaone-wayconversation,amonologue,with

alltherudenessthatcanimply.Comparedto

aletter,emailhasmoreimmediacybutcarries

noneofthehumanity,nottomentioncourtesy,

ofhandwriting.

sinceritytoanotherhumanbeingshould

telephoneand,ifnecessary,leavea

voicemessage.

Betterstill,clearyourdesk,takeoutacrisp

sheetofnotepaper,pickupapenanddo

somethingyoumaynothavedoneforages.

Writeaproperletter,rewritingitifnecessary.

Therecipientwillbeamazedanddelightedthat

youhavetakenthetime.Youwillhavewritten

whatyoumeanttosay,andIbetyouwon’thave

usedemoticons.

Emailsoughttocarryahealthwarningatthe

top:‘Thisnotemayunintentionallymisleador

upsetyou;ifindoubtreplybyphoneorconsulta

counsellor.’Emailsarebadatconveyinghumour

orcriticism,badnewsorsympathy.Theform

istoocold.Thosewhowishtocommunicate

©GuardianNews&Media2007

Firstpublishedin The Guardian ,21/9/07

Comprehension check

Choose the best answer according to the text.

1. Theemoticonwasinventedby…

5. Thereare…

a.…thepoet,Milton.

b.…auniversityprofessor.

c.…anAmericanstudent.

a.…strictguidelinesonhowtobeginandend

anemail.

b.…strictrulesaboutusingpunctuationandcapital

lettersinemails.

c.…amyriadofwaystobeginandendanemail.

2. Whatareemoticonssupposedtoputintoemails?

a.Painandembarrassment.

b.Greetingsandhumour.

c.Humanemotion.

6. Theauthorthinksthatemailsare…

a.…notaseffectiveasletters.

b.…animprovementonletterwriting.

c.…abetterwaytogetholdofsomeonethan

bytelephone.

3. Theauthorbelievesitisbetterto…

a.…writeslowly.

b.…thinkbeforeyousendyouremail.

c.…useamanualtypewriter.

4. Accordingtothearticle,manyofus...

a.…takeontoomuchworkthesedays.

b.…takeondifferentpersonalitieswhenwe

writeemails.

c.…alwaysmakefollowupphonecallsafter

sendingemails.

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Level 3 Advanced

Vocabulary: Collocations

1. Match the words on the left with those on the right to make collocations from the text.

abrupt

guidance

Internet

conversation

fully-formed

meaning

plaintive

substitute

bountiful

effort

desperate

sentence

subtle

lexicon

inadequate

remark

one-way

mislead

unintentionally

call

2. With a partner, try to put these collocations into sentences. Look back at the article to check your

answers and to see the context in which they are used.

Discussion

Discuss the following questions in small groups.

Doyouprefertowritelettersorsendemails?

Whendidyoulastsendanemail?

Whendidyoulastwritealetter?

Howmanyemailsdoyousend/receiveperweek?

Howmanylettersdoyousend/receiveperweek?

Doyouuseemoticonswhenyouwriteemails?

Whatdoyouthinkwhenyoureceiveanemailcontainingemoticons?

Webquest

Have a look at these websites for more information on emoticons. Which emoticons do you like best?

Unusual and funny emoticons:

www.angelire.com/hi/hahakiam/emoticon.html

A-Z of emoticons:

www.sharpened.net/glossary/emoticons.php

Emoticons that you’ve probably never seen before:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_emoticons

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced

Emoticons, emails and letter writing

Level 3 Advanced

KEY

2 Pre-reading 2

4 Vocabulary: Collocations

}:-( Yourtoupeeisblowinginthewind

;-) I’monlyjoking!

8-) I’mwearingglasses

0:-) Thewriterjustmadeasweetor

innocentremark

:-)(-: I’mmarried

:-\ I’mundecided

abruptremark

Internetlexicon

fully-formedsentence

plaintivecall

bountifulguidance

desperateeffort

subtlemeaning

inadequatesubstitute

one-wayconversation

unintentionallymislead

1.c

2.d

3.e

4.b

5.a

3 Comprehension check

1.b

2.c

3.b

4.b

5.c

6.a

NEWS LESSONS / Emoticons, emails and letter writing / Advanced

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