Comparative Studies On IRC And FTF Conversation

Undoubtedly, the modern life can not be separated from computer and Internet, which has been the frequently used means in the Information Age. This means has created a new culture in which the linguistic phenomenon attracts linguists both at home and abroad. This paper, therefore, is to make comparative studies on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) and FTF (Face-to-Face) conversation (since IRC conversation is viewed as the most typical conversation occurring on the Internet). The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter I is introduction. This chapter provides a bird view of the linguistic history of computer and Internet; interprets the purpose to write this paper and illustrates the organization of the thesis. Chapter II focuses on the previous studies on the CMC language and the CMC research. Studies on the CMC language include controversy about the categorization of spoken or written form and CMC's openness and anonymity. Studies on the CMC research focus on the mainstream CMC research agenda and reviews four theories concerning with conversational function: the social presence model, media richness theory, the cueless model and reduced social cues (RSC) approach. Chapter III offers linguistic description of the language used in IRC. This chapter consists of two parts: categorization of CMC and linguistic features of the IRC language, that is, numeric and alphabetic application in the IRC words, the morphological rules of the IRC, and IRC's paralinguistic cues. Chapter IV is to provide differences between traditional language and the...