Speech Behavior and Multimodality in Online Communication among Teenagers

The article presents an analysis of online interactions among teenagers. The development of online communication is an important factor in the process of formation and reproduction of new social ties and relationships. Continuous online communication is becoming an important feature of everyday life. Online communication affects communication in general, developing its new requirements and standards. The polymetodic research consists of a questionnaire survey method and a content analysis method. The questionnaire was conducted among 50 teenagers aged 13-15, studying in schools of Ekaterinburg and regularly using the Internet to communicate with peers. A content analysis of online dialogs (n = 40) presented by the survey participants was also conducted. The research data proclaims social networks to be the most efficient tool of communication among modern teenagers. The most popular one is Vkontakte, which is used to chat and learn modern vocabulary. The daily routine, including the learning process, is the main topic of communication. Teenagers hardly change their speech behavior, since online and offline communication occurs mainly in the same reference groups. Teenagers also use audio-visual materials, emojis, stickers, etc., to complete their messages and express their emotional state.


Introduction
There is no doubt that the Internet is becoming increasingly important in modern society.
It is a specific communication channel between different social groups, used for the production and consumption of information. The demand for the Internet, as well as be constantly online. The young generation, born in the digital era and raised under the influence of information and communication technologies, is called digital natives [1], [2]. Young people are also defined as youth go online due to the new skill to``be constantly in touch'' [3].

Materials and Methods
The increasing accessibility of the Web indicates its growing popularity among Internet users. The constant use of the Internet for nonprofessional or quasi-professional reasons has become commonplace because of its convenience [4]. Cyber communication affects the way of thinking, writing and speaking [5]. On average, people spend 3.2 hours a day chatting on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. As for Instagram, 40 million photos with 1,000 comments and 8,500 likes made per second are uploaded to the platform every day [6].
Recent studies indicate an increased scientific interest towards language analysis in cyber communication [7,8]. There are different definitions for describing the issue in the scientific literature: electronic discourse [9], cyberlanguage [10], netspeak [11] and virtual language [12].
Technologized communication affects the speech behavior and speech culture of modern individuals, including young people. For example, we can observe the Americanization of linguistics, that is, the use of English words and expressions instead of their equivalents in their native language in online communication. This happens even though the native language, regarded as a communicative repertoire, provides daily interaction with the environment [13]. Speech behavior indicates that a person belongs to a particular group; it establishes social solidarity and is used among friends and acquaintances [14]. Speech behavior in cyber communication has its unique characteristics [15]. There are abbreviations, unconventional use of punctuation marks, spelling mistakes, as young people tend to write briefly and informally [16]. There are also clippings, logograms or alphanumeric characters [17]. Researchers are concerned that the younger generation does not pay much attention to the standard language, which may reduce the level of literacy in the future [18].
Visualization is one of the online trends actively used by Internet users [19]. Numerous signs, symbols, figures, graphic objects, etc. are represented in online communication.
Monomodality is replaced by a complex integrated format for transmitting information.
Communicative processes are based on the complex interaction of various sign systems, on multimodalities [20]. Modality has a sociocultural nature; it cannot be separated from subcultures of different social groups. This is the formation and combination of various codes for thepresentation of information, the interaction between verbal text and an image (video), text size, font color, etc. [21]. A multimodal text integrates various codes that actualize different channels of perception to receive information.
The main goal of the 2018 study was to analyze the speech behavior of modern Russian teenagers in online communities. A polymetodic research consisted of a questionnaire survey method and a content analysis method, which have been used a lot to analyze communication in social media [22]. A mass questionnaire was conducted among teenagers aged 13-15, studying in Ekaterinburg schools and regularly using the Internet to communicate with peers. A content analysis of online dialogs presented by survey participants was also conducted.
To conduct the study, a special questionnaire was developed for teenagers. There Personal conversations of VKontakte users were evaluated using the content analysis methodology. We developed a codifier consisting of categories and indicators of content analysis to identify these categories (topics of communication, role relationships, emotional state, social attitude, etc.) and a digital form for grouping text data. A total of 40 dialogs were analyzed. Screenshots of dialogs were anonymously sent by the study participants. The fact that the dialogs were chosen by the participants themselves is 4th СTPE 2019 considered a limitation of the study and is taken into account when analyzing and summarizing the study.

Results and Discussion
The results of the study showed that VKontakte is the most popular online social networking service among modern teenagers (95.3%). They also use WhatsApp (66.7%) and Instagram (52.7%). In addition, Telegram messenger is gaining popularity among teenagers as one in four respondents already uses it.
According to the findings, there is no border between online and offline communi- Emotionality as one of the main characteristics of adolescence also has an impact on speech behavior, which affects multimodality. In accordance with the content analysis, 43% of teenagers tend to use punctuation marks to express emotions. 36% of them use emojis and only 27% of them use emotional vocabulary to show their feelings. We also have to emphasize that, as a rule, text messages of teenagers are more emotionally diverse than their voice messages, since teenagers are usually not ready to express their feelings out loud.

Conclusion
On the basis of the presented study, we conclude the following. The average teenager, constantly communicating online, tends to use VKontakte as the main social media to interact with his or her friends. The Internet for teenagers is becoming the main means of communication, also used to develop their own definitions and slang.
Almost always, teenagers communicate with same-sex peers to discuss everyday situations and study. The speech behavior of teenagers online and offline does not differ from each other, since teens practically do not distinguish between virtual and real communication. At the same time, teenagers tend to communicate with those whose opinion is important to them. They do not discuss their problems and do not show their feelings, do not share their personal information with people who are not in their inner circle. If teenagers want to contact one of their friends, they will write a text message on one of the social networks. To complete their message and express their emotions, teenagers use not only text messages, but also audiovisual materials, emojis, stickers, etc.
Online communication is entering new areas of modern life. Its scope and functions are growing rapidly. Its forms and content are becoming more complex. This is an issue of future research on the study of this social phenomenon that implements an interdisciplinary approach.