Dialogue in and between Different Cultures - International ...

136 Angelika Fröhlich & Sonja Lux
KaT9Ipa_6eJIbIu: Folz *Mosk *nya
faulz: thank you
faulz: mmm
KaT9Ipa_6eJIbIu: ”
The second example clearly shows that there is a tendency among Russian
chatters to use graphic signs (emoticons) in order express emotions in different
stages (welcome, goodbye, nonsense-talk, demonstration of antipathy or
sympathy, etc.) of the communication in the chat room. We will examine this
phenomenon in a later chapter more closely.
5.2 Topics
It proved very difficult to extract topics of chat conversation mainly due to the
fact, that chatting most of the time means that several dialogues are pursued
simultaneously. This implies that one has to identify a dialogue and then decide
which contributions concern the specific dialogue. Due to the extreme brevity of
the utterances, often in combination with slang expressions and several
orthographical mistakes, this is not always easily accomplished.
We identified the
following topics that will
be depicted with examples:
− home town/origin
− search for contact
− sexual allusions
− technical details
− private plans/leisure
plans
9
− nonsense talk
One should, nevertheless, always bear in mind that chatting is a leisure activity.
Most chatters just want to kill time or entertain themselves with light conversation.
For this reason, chat rooms are sometimes compared to a pub (cf. Fix
2001:34). The aversion for more serious talks might be intensified by the fact that
the participants can never be sure neither who is listening nor who they are really
talking to (cf. Hentschel 1998). The anonymity of the chat, while making it easier
to speak openly up to a certain degree, might also prevent some people from
spilling their innermost secrets.
5.2.1 Home town/origin
Questions about ones origin often emerge during a chat conversation. The 8
chats with fewer participants where
people really try to get to know each other.
th
example is characteristic for more polite
9 Fix (2001:110f) according to an online survey lists the following topics as preferred: flirt (place
3), personal experiences (4), small talk (5), computer problems (6) and on place one and two the
less meaningful answers “the topics just come up while talking” and “topics that interest me”. A
variety which rather reflect the findings of this study.