Authors : Joyce Anku, E.K. Klu and G.S.K. Adika
Abstract: The study explored and categorized Ghanaian University student’s social media linguistic choices into coherent threads. This typology was made possible by collating some 4,656 text threads and 45,913 words and symbols from 188 students from the University of Ghana and Valley View University within a period of 6 months. The study which was purely qualitative adopted a netnographic approach in studying the subject’s online language choices. Findings revealed that three text modes-written, spoken (audio) and visual characterize social media discourse and by and large computer mediated communication. Of these three, written mode dominates the current data. In addition, the typology of Ghanaian University student’s online interaction spans four linguistic levels-syntax, lexis, spelling and mechanics with several sub-categories. A detailed analysis of the constituent elements of the sub-units revealed a colourful blend of generic discourse features identified in the literature dotted with structural ingenuity of indigenous and GhAPE expressions to portray a unique Ghanaian identity. Finally, replication of this study in other domains and ESL contexts is recommended to get a holistic description of the phenomenon.
Joyce Anku, E.K. Klu and G.S.K. Adika, 2018. Netwrite or Netspeak?: Towards a Typology of Discourse Features of Ghanaian University Student’s Social Media Discourse. The Social Sciences, 13: 927-933.