Language choice on a Swiss mailing list

Durham, Mercedes ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9819-0687 2003. Language choice on a Swiss mailing list. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 9 (1) 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2003.tb00359.x

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Abstract

This paper examines how the language situation in Switzerland affects, and may be affected by, the choice of languages for Internet use within the country. It focuses primarily on language choices on a mailing list for members of a Pan-Swiss medical student organization. English has become the lingua franca, the preferred language of intra-Swiss communication, within this group. The use of English by list members is charted over four calendar years to determine when and how this change occurred. Qualitative analysis of comments by the members in the e-mails themselves and in interviews provides clues as to why English has become so important on the mailing list. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this case for the linguistic situation in Switzerland in general and for the global spread of English via the Internet.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1083-6101
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2022 08:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/52717

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