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The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
"IYO txtng = NME or NBD?" Translation: "In your opinion, is text messaging the enemy, or no big deal?" As more and more students immerse themselves in Textspeak over their cell phones and computers, educators worry that their writing skills are suffering. After all, the short-message format routinely sacrifices grammar, syntax, and punctuation for the sake of slang and brevity. There is concern that students who frequently express themselves in abbreviations and smiley faces may lose the capacity for more nuanced, grammatically correct writing. But other educators see little evidence that the language of texting is having a negative impact on students' schoolwork. In fact, some are even glad that students are communicating so frequently through writing and are creating their own language, albeit one with a nontraditional vocabulary. Is the prevalence of text messaging something to worry about? WDYT?
Netiquette
Submitted by Jean M (not verified) on September 26, 2008 - 17:31.
I believe it is our job as educators to deal with the "real" writing of our students. Texting is part of our students' everyday lives. We need to educate our students in the difference between formal writing and texting. It is now a different venue in which people communicate.
Does text messaging harm students' writing skills?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 29, 2008 - 07:04.
As I am a librarian in an inner-city middle school, I am more concerned by the infiltration of street language (similar to what was called ebonics a few years back) into our students' writing. I see it all the time and find that the teachers must work extra hard to get students beyond this habit. Unfortunately, many of them come from homes where 'proper English' isn't the norm and consequently, the only exposure they have to it is in school - which sadly doesn't seem to be enough. Texting is only a problem insofar as students not having a solid base of 'proper English' to which they can revert for academic usage.
Text messaging
Submitted by Mark Branson (not verified) on May 16, 2008 - 11:03.
The language has survived many changes in its 1000+ year history and I don't think txt msging will end English or slow the skills development of our students.
If nothing else, txt msging would be a great tool for reinforcing with writing students the importance of the audience in their written communication.
And we must all remember that English is not really a phonetic language. The symbols we use for making vowel sounds shifted significantly between the time of Chaucer and the time of Shakespeare. This Great Vowel Shift, as linguists call it, moved English away from its European sister languages that are more phonetic.
The bottom-line issue for me as a 20+ year verteran of teaching freshman writing is not what the students bring to the table but what do we, as teachers, bring: Do we still want English teachers at any level to be the "gatekeepers" of the language? They really aren't and they have really never been, yet we seem to harbor the illusion that these teachers do have this sort of power!
Texting in schools
Submitted by Brandy (not verified) on May 8, 2008 - 09:43.
I have been doing a research paper for my high school and according to my research, crazes like texting and e-mails only affect students who don't know how to use the "switch" corretly. Studies have shown that some kids can differentiate between the playground, or texting speech and a more formal speech for school, or when speaking to adults. I feel that cell phones only affect the students who rush their work and don't use broader vocabulary.
Text messaging
Submitted by C. Lee (not verified) on May 4, 2008 - 22:02.
I believe our students are not able to spell correctly and use grammar correctly with the rise of text messaging.
I think it would help to make it clear what is the appropriate way to write when they are writing in school versus writing a text to their friends.
Common Abbreviations
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 28, 2008 - 11:05.
etc.
Dr.
M.D.
B.A / B.S.
RSVP
ASAP
mm/kg/yd./mi.
RPM
These are all common abbreviations used (even in academic, formal writing). We have no problem using these, but someone who writes "idk" or "b/c" is incorrect. It just doesn't make sense.
In a different direction, many of the above commentions mention how poorly middle school students write. No one has mentioned the role of standardized testing in the decimation of the American education system. Maybe those prior teachers had to spend too much time teaching the test in order to keep our wonderful government from pulling their funding that they didn't have time to teach grammar properly. Perhaps saying that text messaing is ruining the education system and student writing is an oversimplification much like textmessaging has been criticized for.
texting hurts grammar
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 24, 2008 - 07:49.
I am a college student who texts very often. It is basically the only way I communicate with friends anymore. I hate talking on the phone because texting is so much easier. However I have seen even in my own writing its messes up my grammar, especially things like apostrophes. Most students don't know the difference between lets and let's...or is there one? Texting is an awesome form of communication and it really speeds up my life, but teachers are going to be fighting correct grammar and usage for years to come because of it. Of course this is nothing new....several years ago the buzz topic was fighting ebonics. Teachers either rise to the task or quit. Rise to the task!
Text Messaging
Submitted by Ph.D C. Salmerson (not verified) on April 24, 2008 - 07:01.
I find text messaging or texting very innapropriate and ill in the sense that it is very unscholarly and may soon lead to the end of what is today known as FORMAL ENGLISH!!!
Does text messaging harm students' writing skills?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 7, 2008 - 07:57.
YOU ARE WRONG PAULA!
SPELL and GRAMMAR checkers DO NOT catch everything, and to profess this is to deny the truth. Spell checkers cannot pick up on inferred meaning:
For hours.}
Four hours.} (All the words are spelled correctly in all three, but what did the writer intend?)
Fore hours.}
Students need to be exposed to rhetoric as early as the 8th grade and hopefully by the 10th. Rhetoric is a lost art. Grammar is all but extinct (read some of our student work).
To graduate here, students only need write a 3 paragraph essay. This is appalling to say the least!
Nothing beats a good proofreading
Submitted by Steve (not verified) on April 17, 2008 - 15:19.
All things aside, nothing ever beats a good proofread the day after a paper is written. Many mistakes are not caught in spell and grammar checks, though they are helpful, but the only way to make sure the writing is correct is to proofread after you have walked away for a while, 12 hours usually works for me. That would mean that procrastination is out of the question.
Grammar is certainly not extinct, as I teach it 5 days a week. Grammar has simply been adjusted to suit the needs of those texting. Graduation requirements are not the same as college entrance requirements anyhow. 3 paragraphs, expertly done, are far more powerful then 30 paragraphs done poorly. Quality over quantity I say.
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