Bridging the Linguistic Divide: A Sociolinguistic Study on Generational Gaps in Chinese Daily Life

This study focuses on the intergenerational communication gap in daily life in Chinese society from the perspective of sociolinguistics, aiming to reveal the language and cognitive differences faced by young people in communicating with the older generation. The study uses Generational Cohort Theory (GCT) as a theoretical framework to explore how intergenerational groups growing up in different social and historical backgrounds show significant differences in media use, emotional language expression, and workplace discourse style. This study uses a combination of qualitative interviews and literature analysis to analyze their actual experience and cognitive understanding of intergenerational communication barriers from the perspective of the younger generation. The study found that the gap in digital capabilities, differences in emotional expression, and inconsistent interaction norms in the workplace are the three key factors leading to intergenerational misunderstandings and tensions. For example, young people prefer to use emoticons and informal language in digital communication, while the older generation prefers structured, formal, and emotionally restrained expressions. These differences not only reflect the deep construction of intergenerational identity, but also confirm the “persistent influence of social and historical background on communication behavior” emphasized by GCT. Based on this, the study puts forward three suggestions: first, carry out digital literacy training for the elderly to help them integrate into the information society; second, encourage cross-generational emotional sharing activities at the family level to enhance intergenerational emotional connections; third, promote intergenerational communication training within the organization to ease communication friction in the workplace.