Leet Speak - A Scientific Study, At the University of Vienna Options

[Captain Eldrad]

Greetings and salutations,

I am currently doing research on leet, or 1337 speak, as a sociolinguistic phenomenon. The research done will be used for a study at the University of Vienna, which will probably be the first in a row of sociolinguistic studies abou internet communication.

To help with the research I need people who know what leet speak is to fill out the questionaire whichis posted below. If you know what leet speak is and want to contribute to the research, please PM me with the answers to the questionaire, or if you prefer, post them in this thread.

The participents of this research will of course remain anonymous, and I will post a link to the research papers once they have been completed.

Thank you very much !

--The good ole' Captain

Leet Speak Questionaire

Please write down the appropriate letter to answer questions 1-6

1) How often do you communicate via the internet ?
a) less than once a week
b) 1-2 times a week
c) 3-5 times a week
d) 5-7 times a week
e) more than 7 times a week

2) How often do you encounter Leet speak during your communication on the internet ?
a) less than once a week
b) 1-2 times a week
c) 3-5 times a week
d) 5-7 times a week
e) more than 7 times a week

3) How often do you use Leet speak in internet communication ?
a) less than once a week
b) 1-2 times a week
c) 3-5 times a week
d) 5-7 times a week
e) more than 7 times a week

4) How often do you use Leet speak in oral everyday conversation ?
a) less than once a week
b) 1-2 times a week
c) 3-5 times a week
d) 5-7 times a week
e) more than 7 times a week


5) How old are you ?
a) 15 or below
b) 16-19
c) 20-25
d) 26-35
e) above 35

6) Are you male or female ?
a) male
b) female

Please write down the apropriate number (1-5) in statements 7-18. A value of 1 means that you totally disagree with the statement or it never occurs, while an answer 5 means that you totally agree, or it occurs very frequently.

7) I use Leet Speak at home.

8) I consider Leet speak a language of it's own.

9) I consider leet speak nothing but a cipher, a way of encoding and writing down existing
language.

10) I consider leet speak a different style or variety of language, to which I switch for some
occasions, as one might do in everyday life when talking to one's superiors for example.

11) I encounter leet speak in forums.

12) I encounter leet speak in e-mail.

13) I encounter leet speak in chatrooms.

14) I encounter leet speak in oral communication.

15) I like encountering leet speak.

16) I think of people speaking leet speak as members of a common group.

17) I speak differently when communicating with speakers of leet speak.

18) I use leet speak when talking about activities like hacking, cracking and the use of warez.

Finally, please answer question 19 in your own words.

19) Why do you/do you not use leet speak ?