Linguistic anthropology is the study of human languages and how language affects and expresses culture. Historically, linguistic anthropologists compared the structure of different languages to determine the relationships between them. Hundreds of dialects were discovered to share the common structure, and the grammatical structure of phrases became a common way of judging an individuals speech capabilities. Today, with how strongly connected people are with their phones, the constant use of social media and text abbreviations would definitely influence the modern use of language and how people communicate.
Increased cell phone usage also leads to increased communication using phones. After the introduction of text abbreviations, they have been continually used as it makes typing and getting the text across faster. Almost everyone who uses a phone knows of them, and everyone who knows about these abbreviations use them. This application is changing the structure of language that is used in modern communication. Although these contractions are not examples of ‘good’ English, they have become linguistically correct since a majority of people use them to converse and they understand what is being told.
In more recent years, there have been lots of words and terms being introduced to society through media or social media that are not very functional, but have become large parts of society, for example; meme, ‘wasteman’. As younger generations increase their time spent on their phones and therefore social media, they are receiving more exposure to these terms causing these words to get integrated into their communication. These terms are also influencing the structure and phrasing of the language for younger members of society in certain regions.
Through an anonymous survey, 66.5% of high school students believed that the use of their phones, are not affecting their literacy skills, however, provincial results from the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test shows a consistent decline in passing rates. This connects to lots of other previous research which show that the use of technology has an influence on literacy. The changing methods of communication through social media use and texts do have an impact on the recent generations gradual decline from fully understanding and using ‘traditional’ English which does mean that the structure of language being used is changing in society.
To conclude, the unceasing use of phones have changed the structure and phrasing of what is considered linguistically correct use of language.
Influence of Phones in Modern Society 