International Journal of Linguistics and Communication June 2018, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 46-60 ISSN: 2372-479X (Print) 2372-4803 (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v6n1a4 URL: https://doi.org/10.15640/ijlc.v6n1a4 Taming the Sting: The Use of Evaluative Emojis by College Students in Kuwait1 Nada A. Algharabali & Hanan A. Taqi Abstract Messaging through smart phones has become a vital method of communication. In the light of the use of emojis in messages, the following paper investigates the reasons and methods of the use of different emojis by college students in academic related settings. The study was implemented in the college of Basic Education in Kuwait. The participants, 163 male and female students, answered a questionnaire on the importance of emojis, the context of use, and the way they are used. In addition, some of the students were interviewed to elicit more information on the use of emojis. After the analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data, the researchers found that the use of emojis by students is highly important in the discussion of college-related topics. They are used as a safe vehicle to reflect criticism and negative comments in an authority-free setting.Whether they are used individuallyor in clusters, they carry a bundle of meaning. Keywords: Sociolinguistics, self-expression, emojis, gender, college, undergraduate education 1. Introduction In an ever-changing world that is heavily impacted by new communication technologies and emerging media cultures, popular texting discourse is increasingly favoring more distinctive visual resources during communication. The use of emojis (also known as emoticons, although slightly different) is on the rise and does not seem to be exclusive of a certain socio-cultural context, age group or gender type. While emoticons are typographic representations of facial expression which usually mirror emotions, emojis are actual pictures of a large variety of facial expression and ideas, such as weather conditions, seasonal celebratory events, food, etc. (Pavalanathan and Eisenstien, 2015). We will use the term emojis henceforth since these pictographic icons are a prevalent feature in the interaction of the sample being examined in the present study. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, emojis are „a small digital image or icon used to express an idea or emotion‟ (http://www.Oxforddictionaries.com). Researchers in language and communication view these „graphical forms‟ as replacements of „paralinguistic‟ features and they are considered the „socio-emotional‟ suppliers in a message (Thurlow and Brown, 2003: 10; Crystal, 2006; Jibril and Abdulla, 2013). These pictograph characters were first launched in Japan in the 90s and are now used globally as part of mobile phones‟ texting repertoire on social media platforms.Emojis are on the increase with new characters being introduced all the time (see Unicode Consortium). The idea of having such a large variety of emojis to choose from gives them a rather playful character and makesthem quiteaccessible and mutually intelligible among users. In fact, their universalmeanings are generally shared because users are constantlyhabitually use them as part of their daily routine interaction on social media(Dresner and Herring, 2010). Our aim in the present study is to show that students in the College of Basic Education in Kuwait use emojis as a non-verbal tool to convey evaluative attitudes, intentions and decisions with regard to their own academic performances and their professors‟ teaching practices. In order to argue for this claim, we apply a combined qualitative and quantitative framework of analysis. 1 This research was funded by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) BE-17-01 Nada A. Algharabali & Hanan A. Taqi 47 Our expectation is that this combination of approaches will help identify the distinctive functions and features of emojis as a communicative strategy among members of an online community. Our examination looks at the impact of emoji use from 3 vantages: gender, topic (of discussion) and the audience (present in the online forum). 2. Literature Review 2.1 The extended meaning of emojis Theoretical indicators and empirical research involving emojis suggest that these expressive pictograph- images gain their importance as speaker intent clarification tools akin to paralinguistic features such as intonation used in verbal communication and punctuation marks in formal written exchanges such as emails (Dresner and Herring, 2010; Wang et al., 2005). Also, several sources of research have examined the importance of the interpretative aspect of emojis touching on the double meaning or non-literal, extended meaning of these graphical icons (Marvin, 1995; Kelly, 2015). Interestingly, apart from the fact that they add an expressive, playful and fun characteristic to texting, they are often utilized to disambiguate messages. According to Crystal (2006), emojis are used to distinguish the sender‟s intent and avoid misunderstanding by the recipient of a text message (2006: 39) while also having a „pragmatic force‟ as in warning a recipient or „diffusing the situation‟ in a chat group (2006: 42). Additionally, these pictographic icons are commonly used to establish rapport and solidarity (2006: 43) while transmitting messages in a playfully manner (also see, Dresner and Herring, 2010). While they are used as shortcuts especially in situations where the user feels too lazy to type a whole sentence, emojis are also used when a facial character can capture an idea more appropriately than words. In the sense that rejecting a dinner invitation with a smile and an excuse of being busy with work somehow lessens the force of a rejection (Thurlow and Brown, 2003; Lebduska, 2014). According to the cultural critic Umberto Eco (2002), „we live in an age where the diminutive, the brief and the simple, are highly prized in communication‟. He explains why short forms in modern communication can be simply irresistible (Eco, 2002).If anything, this applies quite aptly tocomputer-mediated communication (CMC henceforth) according to Lynn Cherny (1999). She argues that „The availability of multiple, flexible ways of communicating invites users to innovate, and the community may adopt their innovations into its linguistic repertoire (Cherny, 1999: 177). Considerable evidence has shown that the use of emojis is a global feature of social media communication (Danet and Herring, 2007: 27) albeit a new way of communicating that has an„informal character‟ and lies somewhere in between traditional writing and oral communication (Turkle, 1995: 183). In fact, one of the most interesting characteristic of using emojis as part of routine interaction lies in the extent to which a user can get away with using them in patterns of „non-serious‟ or informal chat particularly when discussing sensitive or very serious issues. This is especially prevalent within certain specialized online settings, such as the one being explored in the present study: the use of emojis as a tool of communication incollege student forums. In this online setting using context-dependent emojis during a discussion about group reactions towards announcements made by college professors is common and acceptable behavior, even when the emoji being used has negative or offensive implications. 2.2 Using emojis as a communicative strategy by online student communities Ever since the launch of the world‟s most popular mobile phone apps (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.) a decade ago, social media is proving to be an increasingly central part of how people communicate with each other. Besides allowing communication between distant others (such as family, friends and loved ones), social media sites have become ever more important online spaces, which facilitate the exchange of information exchanged between users in work-related contexts. These spaces also provide a safe setting where venting one‟s views is a common strategy among social groups with shared interests, such as college student groups, for example (Manago et al., 2012). According to sociocultural theorists, social media blogs and group forums provide students in academic settings with a unique space to impart knowledge, voice frustration or even create a sense of solidarity among students who share a common goal, namely, getting through college (Ryshina-Pankova and Kugele, 2013; Dunlap et al., 2015). In addition, given that these student networks are brought together in virtual platforms, it is understood that self- disclosure is at a minimum. 47 48 International Journal of Linguistics and Communication, Vol. 6, No. 1, June 2018 This in turn permits affordances during interactive engagements online that are not always possible or acceptable in face-to-face interaction. Among these affordances are utilizing emojis that entail expressing love, such as the kiss-blowing face or red rose emoji or expressing anger and/or aggression, such as the fist punch emoji, or red angry face, and so on (Moss, 2013). Other research in this area focuses on looking at emoticons as a learning tool in the classroom (Dunlap et al., 2015). Dunlap et al. (2015) explore how emoticons are used as a tool to improve online teaching and learning among members in a community of practice. While numerous other studies emphasize gender difference associated with emoji use (Brunet and Schmidt, 2010; Dresner and Herring, 2010), a study carried out by Kelly (2015)looks at the universal meaning of emojis and how highly context-dependent and user mood-dependent they can be when trying to understand differences in interpretation.And while we also argue in the present study that emojis are context- dependent, users go through a process of mastering the meaning of emojis before using them at a more individual level. That is to say, when users are introduced to new emojis, they go through a process of negotiating their meanings and with the repeated use of these emojis their meanings are renegotiated introducing shades of different meanings (Walther and D‟Addario, 2001).