NCEA 1.5 FORMAL WRITING- Feature Article – SPOKEN LANGUAGE STUDY

You live in a very modern, advanced, and technological society. Right now you are reading an introduction that was typed in a few minutes and then can be sent all around the world over the internet. The idea of this would not have even been thought possible 100 years ago. However, despite our advanced texting languages and systems, our old and original form of communication, oral, is still the most effective. This is why phone calling is still a more effective way of communicating than text. These are the points I will cover: Phoning is more efficient, because you can speak much faster than you can type, it communicates emotion better because the tone of voice and the timing are included, they are more authentic because you cant plan for a conversation, or hesitate to consider your options, therefore making you more honest. However, there are limitations: it can depend on who you are talking to because phone calls cannot be reviewed to remember information, and if you are both available at the time, while the alternative- texting -is recorded for future refence, unlike real time phone calls.

You can speak much faster than you can type, making phoning a more efficient way of communication. The average speaking speed is 100-130 words per minute, while the average texting speed is about 38 words per minute, so you could get a lot more info across by talking instead of texting. Oral, or talking, was our original way of communication, and has grown to be the most efficient and effective form to communicate. In my test the data showed that the average talking speed over the phone was 147.5 wpm, slightly above the average (probably because the callers already knew each other and their styles of talking) and the average texting speed was 36.5 wpm-almost the exact average. This alone proves that phoning is more effective, but there are more reasons also.

Para-linguistic features are also more effectively communicated through phone calling. Although texting often uses emojis or creatively used punctuation to show para-linguistic communication, phone calling can encode all of this through the pitch, volume, and length/timing/speed of your voice. This is much more efficient because you can just talk naturally without any extra effort to communicate para-linguistic features. My test showed person A using paralinguistic features in the phone call when they say “Heloooo Mataiiiiiiii!”, showing their long emphasis on these words and their (pretend) surprise at hearing me. This is a inside joke between me and person A because we are not strangers at all, so it isn’t actually surprising to hear each other. If you had texted this, the meaning would be more vague, and the lack of tone of voice will make it harder to decode. Talking in real time with our voice also means its harder to lie or pretend, because they can hear your voice and emotions, especially if you know them well.

Phone calling is much more truthful and authentic than texting. This is because there is no delay between speakers/sentences so there is no time to plan your words because a long delay makes the listener suspicious. In texting you can get away with this easier because they don’t expect a instant response because of typing time and not knowing if you are on your smartphone. If someone asked you via a phone call how long you had been on a device today, most likely you would more or less tell the truth, (depending on whos calling), but if someone texted you this, you would probably start catastrophising about all the reasons why they are asking-Have you been on too long?-Will they judge me by it?-Should I tell the truth? This could make it more likely that you would lie, maybe to keep in check with your “online profile” or to please them. This proves that talking over the phone is more authentic than texting – which isn’t always a good thing, as I will explain in the next paragraph.

Weather you phone or text someone depends on who they are and the mood you are in. Phone calling is much more direct than texting, and you have to actually talk to a real person-in real time, and face the reality of the person, not their “online personality”, or how they want you to think of them. Mood can also effect this, because sometimes you cant be bothered to have an actual conversation, with an actual person. For example, you’d be much more likely to ring someone you know for a conversation than a random person you don’t know, because you are more aware of what to expect and what they’re like. Usually you would want to text a stranger rather than ring them, because ringing is much more reveling/exposing than a text, which can be crafted to sound how you want it to and easily made to suit the receiver. I think that a reason people text when they could ring is because they don’t want to have to talk to the person, preferring to protect their true personality/thoughts behind their crafted words and just await a response.

Some limitations of calling are that both people have to be available to make it worthwhile, and the conversation is not recorded for future reference. Even though you can leave a voicemail, it defeats the purpose of having a real time conversation, so you might as well text the information which is (smei) permanently recorded for them to check when they get back, because in a voicemail you cannot clarify details with the person. For example, if you ring someone to get their thoughts on something urgent, and they don’t pick up, you end up having to leave a message that most likely will not be listened to on time. In these cases, texting is a better alternative because it is recorded in a way that is easier to decode quickly than it is a voicemail, because you can write the text precisely and to the point, hinting a precise and to the point answer.

Efficiency, emotion, authenticity, and real time talking are all reasons why phone calling is a more effective way of communication than texting. Phoning is real time and person to person, not delayed and sentence to sentence, making it more effective and efficient. More para-linguistic information is conveyed, including emotions, you get to know the person better, you are generally more honest, and there is nothing like hearing someone’s actual voice, rather than a quick witty text with multiple meanings. Being our original communication method, oral speech is a very efficient and effective way to get information from one person to another. Nowadays its also possible to ring multiple people at once! Although texting does have some time related advantages because it records information, oral communication will always be a fast and effective form of communication.