Communication is an important way of interpersonal interaction.
Behind language and written expression is thinking and cognition.
With the development of online media, people can "express their feelings directly" by relying on buzzwords and emoticons. However, this simple and direct output method makes some complex and profound expressions gradually forgotten.
When leaving the Internet environment and needing standardized expression, some young people are left with only dry words and stumbling language.
Recently, a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center showed that more than half of the young people surveyed felt that their language expression ability had declined in recent years, and 47.1% of the young people surveyed felt that their vocabulary was lacking and their expressions were single.
Why is there a phenomenon of "poor words" among young people?
How to enrich your own language and make the expression of "obstruction" smoother?
Reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily interviewed many young people and experts in related fields to discuss this issue.
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"Come and say a few words to everyone." At a family gathering during the Spring Festival, Li Sichao, born in the 2000s, became the focus of his family's attention.
His family has a large size, and they get together every Chinese New Year to create a lively atmosphere.
When he was called to speak, Li Sichao felt that his brain was a bit "short-circuited". Although he had a lot to say, he hesitated for a long time and could not speak a complete sentence.
Li Sichao’s situation is not unique.
During the Spring Festival this year, posts on social platforms such as "What are the words to express blessings" and "How to say new year greetings in a creative way" attracted a lot of attention.
When visiting relatives and friends, they don’t know what to say, and New Year greeting messages have to be copied and pasted... Many young people feel that they are "out of words".
"The decline in language expression ability of some young people reflects the real problem of 'text aphasia' in the Internet era." Zheng Huanzhao, associate professor of the Chinese Department of Jinan University, believes that while Internet technology makes life more convenient, it also affects people's way of thinking, values and The way of expression has a profound impact, and the problem of young people's "poor words" should be paid attention to.
Recently, a survey involving 1,333 young people released by the China Youth Daily Social Survey Center United Questionnaire Network (wenjuan.com) showed that 53.3% of the young people surveyed felt that their language expression ability had declined in recent years.
More than half of the young people surveyed believe that low reading and reliance on Internet language and emoticons are the main reasons for "poor words".
Nearly half of the young people surveyed felt that their vocabulary was lacking and their expressions were single.
Li Sichao is a graduate student at a university in Nanjing and often has to give reports during his time at school.
Every time he reports, what gives him the most headache is the teacher’s question session. “Sometimes the words are on his lips, but he doesn’t know how to say them. He stumbles and seems to lack confidence.”
Zhang Ran, a post-1995 generation in Beijing, was deeply impressed by his first report after working.
Although she prepared carefully, her mind went blank for a while when she spoke, and she had difficulty expressing her thoughts completely. "There were many fragmentary words in her mind, but they could not be connected into complete sentences, and she got stuck several times."
This made Zhang Ran realize that writing and speaking are completely different things, and it is not easy to express fluently.
"I have encountered situations where I forget to write when I pick up a pen. Suddenly I can't remember how to write a word that I originally knew how to write, so I can only ask for help online." Liu Yuan, a post-90s generation who works in Hangzhou, feels that not only his language expression ability has declined, but his writing ability has also declined. is also declining.
At work, he occasionally has to submit manuscripts, which makes him feel very strenuous, and it often takes a lot of effort to complete.
The survey shows that 53.3% of the young people surveyed feel that their language expression skills have declined in recent years.
47.1% of the young people surveyed felt that their vocabulary was lacking and their expressions were single. 43.2% of the young people surveyed said that they used pens to write less. 41.5% of the young people surveyed had encountered situations where words did not express their ideas and it was difficult to express their thoughts accurately.
Wang Yufei, a post-2000 generation in Hefei, feels that Internet buzzwords have become an important online social term.
"When I usually chat with friends, everyone likes to use emoticons and Internet buzzwords. If someone posts a long paragraph, it will look very strange." She believes that fragmented expressions can liven up the atmosphere, and Internet terms can play a role to a certain extent. It's like a "secret signal". If you catch the "stem", it means "I understand you", and you can quickly get closer to each other.
"But if you talk like this offline, it will inevitably make people feel embarrassed."
The survey showed that 37.9% of the young people surveyed had forgotten to write when picking up a pen, and 35.0% of the young people surveyed found it difficult to write.
Others include: the logic of expression is relatively confusing (34.9%), frequent use of Internet slang (31.1%), over-reliance on emoticons (22.8%), and laziness in expression (14.1%), etc.
“Fundamentally speaking, language poverty is caused by spiritual poverty.”
"Nowadays, mobile phones have become a part of life. People are becoming more and more accustomed to communicating online. They basically type, send emojis, and rarely make phone calls. The opportunities for talking and communicating are decreasing." Liu Yuan feels that the Internet has changed the original The input method also simplifies the way of speaking and writing. For example, a poem needs to be recited in its entirety in the past, but now as long as the first letters of the first few words are typed, the entire sentence will appear.
“While Internet technology brings convenience to people, it also makes people too lazy to remember and think.”
Wang Yufei usually communicates with friends online. "Various emoticons often appear in the group, and you can even understand what others mean by relying on emoticons."
However, Wang Yufei feels that over-reliance on online communication will make offline communication difficult. She is not very talkative in offline situations and is worried that she will not be able to "take back" the wrong words.
As for the reasons for the phenomenon of "word poverty", the survey showed that low reading volume and weakened expression ability ranked first, with a selection rate of 54.0%, followed by over-reliance on Internet language and emoticons, lack of creativity (53.0%), fragmentation Browsing information in a limited way makes it difficult to form systematic thinking (52.1%), and the selection rate exceeded half of them.
Zhang Ran found that after working, his social circle became smaller and smaller, and the number of offline meetings with friends became less and less. "Everyone is usually busy, and it is difficult to make appointments."
When it comes to the problem of "poor words", Zhang Ran feels that it's not that he can't express, but that he wants to express less and less. "Now there are fewer and fewer people who can communicate in depth. Gradually, my desire to share has declined. When I encounter I mostly chat with friends on WeChat about things, and I don’t know how to discuss more in-depth topics.”
Other reasons for "poor words" include: the decrease in offline face-to-face communication (47.6%), the prevalence of "short, flat and quick" expressions (34.4%), the fast pace of life making it difficult to think calmly (33.1%), and the lack of communication with others (33.1%). Decreased desire to communicate and no desire to express (17.6%).
Zheng Huanzhao believes that some young people feel lonely and "socially afraid" in real life, which makes them more inclined to choose virtual social interaction.
Online, Internet "memes" and other Internet language symbols have become a common social language for young people. This is one of the ways for them to gain cultural identity and express their feelings.
However, this method has had an impact on normative, logical and written expressions, further affecting the way of thinking behind language expression, and to a certain extent, affecting the depth and breadth of young people's spiritual world.
“Fundamentally speaking, poverty of language is caused by poverty of spirit.”
"Language is the spiritual home of mankind. It is not only an important part of a nation's cultural genes, but also the basis of a nation's cultural cohesion." Zheng Huanzhao believes that the problem of aphasia in words, such as "wanting to speak but lack of words", will have an impact on traditional culture. The simplification and roughening of individual ways of thinking will also have a negative impact on collective national culture, and the intergenerational cultural divisions brought about by the stratification of Internet language symbols will weaken the cohesion of collective culture to a certain extent. .
How to regain the "ability to express"
After that not-so-smooth work report, Zhang Ran began to consciously exercise his ability to express himself.
Before each report, she would practice it several times until she could get it right.
“I usually read some work-related books and accumulate professional knowledge, so that I will be more professional and confident when expressing myself.”
Li Sichao feels that there is a big difference between written language and oral expression. While strengthening reading, we should also communicate more. Making others understand is an important ability.
"In the Internet age, it is important to maintain independent thinking." Liu Yuan believes that a lot of information is forgotten now, mainly because there is no in-depth exploration and thinking, which is often an important step in digesting and absorbing information.
In daily life, Liu Yuan pays more attention to social and livelihood news. When encountering hot events, he will actively collect information, understand the causes and consequences of the events, enhance his thinking ability, and express rationally.
"Participating in more offline social interactions will help improve expression skills." Wang Yufei believes that when communicating face-to-face, on the one hand, you must listen to the other party's words and feel the other party's emotions; on the other hand, you must mobilize your own experience and knowledge to organize well Language, responding to the other party, this kind of interaction and communication is not available in online typing and sending emojis.
The survey shows that in order to deal with "poor words", 58.4% of the young people surveyed believe that it is necessary to strengthen reading and improve their personal cultural level. 57.5% of the young people surveyed suggest focusing on training independent thinking and logical thinking skills. 55.7% of the young people surveyed believe that it is necessary to Break the habit of obtaining information in fragmented and fast ways.
Others include: participating in more offline face-to-face communication to practice expression skills (46.9%), focusing on national expression education to improve expression skills (39.5%), and dialectically viewing and using Internet buzzwords (20.3%).
"To help young people get out of the dilemma of 'word poverty', we need to start by improving the Internet language environment." Zheng Huanzhao believes that on the one hand, we must strengthen the construction of high-quality online content, especially the accuracy, richness and beauty of language and text, and create high-quality content new online humanities classics; on the other hand, it is necessary to guide various Internet media to standardize language and text expression and assume the responsibility of cultural guidance and aesthetic guidance, such as creating high-quality Chinese learning social software and programs.
In addition, schools and families should pay more attention to the recitation of humanistic classics by young people and strengthen the training of language expression and thinking of the younger generation.
"To solve the problem of 'poor words' among the young generation, we must also change their online living habits." Zheng Huanzhao suggested that relevant departments should help young people reduce their dependence on virtual environments, encourage young people to participate in more offline activities, and obtain more concrete knowledge. life experience.
Among the respondents of this survey, 14.1% were born after 00, 21.0% were born after 95, 40.7% were born after 90, 14.9% were born after 85, and 9.3% were born after 80.
Those with junior high school education or below accounted for 1.3%, those with high school/secondary vocational education accounted for 8.8%, those with junior college/higher vocational education accounted for 25.7%, 61.7% had undergraduate degrees, and 2.5% had master's or doctoral degrees.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Wang Zhiwei Source: China Youth Daily