COMPONENT 2B - So, what do we do?

Really, this is a component which should NOT have you panicking.

You will be given a small set of data from the genre of 21st century English.

This could be from:

SMS
Twitter
Facebook
Snapchat
Instagram
Email

All the questions will ask you to do will be something like 'analyse how the context of this data affects language use in the 21st century'.

You already know ALL of this! You really do. All you have to do is imagine you are explaining EVERYTHING to a 95 year old, and you can't go far wrong (ie, just be prepared to explain what the heck is going on as if you are talking to someone who has never seen a text message or abbreviation in their life.)

Got it?

Key terms:

If you see any of these, you'll need to point them out and explain why and how they are being used. Don't just assume that you only need to mention them once. You might make a point about how a smiley face to a friend shows informality or flirting, whereas you might later make another point about how inappropriate a sad face is when used in a formal situation.

*Abbreviations
*Acronyms
*Initialisms
*Emojis/Emoticons
*Sociolect
*Elliptical expression
*Elision
*Logograms (when a symbol is used to carry meaning, like '+' or '@'
*Hyperlinks
*Hashtags
*Retweets
*Tagged friends
*Mentions
*Like/Dislikes

Again, none of this should scare you. This is the sort of language you use EVERY DAY. You just need to switch your brains on, look at the contexts, and ensure that you are fully explaining WHY these things are happening.

Carry on reading for more help...