i luv Romeo & Juliet cuz u get to c how in luv the 2 caractrz r :pYou might think you just read a text message but you’d be wrong. This is a reader’s reaction to reading the Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet in an English class at a Vancouver high school.
The article discusses the reasons that students are lower-casing what should be capitalized and leaving out vowels lft and rght. Many students say they know the proper grammar and spelling, but are lazy and find it easier to write as they text. There’s also the fact that teenagers are spending an enormous amount of their time on their cell phones. Texting has become their chosen form of communication and therefore, they practice it a lot. And of course everyone knows that when you practice something continually, it becomes second nature to you. Anyone else have an issue with this?
While I understand that it is easier to type im instead of I’m (especially if you are just using your thumbs) I can’t accept it. I always tell my students that they must consider their audience. If you are writing to your friend, that’s a casual conversation and therefore text lingo is acceptable (and most likely preferred.) School essays and projects though, are more formal methods of communicating, so the rules of grammar and punctuation should apply. Knowing the difference is key. I agree with the simple rule Mike Kleiner states in the article, that in professional communication, you want to look smarter than your competition.
Preparing students for their futures means teaching them proper rules for communicating on a professional level. We should not allow students to abbreviate and emoticon their schoolwork, nor will their future bosses. A friend of mine works for a federal government training interns and has commented on how the inferior quality of their writing skills. Too much texting perhaps?
So I say, save the text talk for the cell phones. If you’re writing an essay for school, there is no LOLing allowed!
Well, I'm not sure who would disagree with this. Certainly, if students are taking notes, they can use whatever works for them. My 8th grade teacher had a method of short-hand that I couldn't understand, but hey, it worked for her. When it comes to writing essays, however, it seems that a lot of students are just getting away with bad writing. Here is one solution I suggest: when a student turns in a paper like that, don't just give them a lowered grade, make them do it again! I think many students are okay with a C, as long as the assignment is finished. Not many teachers require students to redo unacceptable work. Yes, it takes much longer---but the payback, I think, is definitely worth it. How many more times will that student turn in a "texted" paper? Probably not many.
ReplyDeleteI cannot post to your site -- google is not working with me and I don't have any of the other profiles. Here is my comment:
ReplyDeleteIt also annoys me that student use texting in my science classroom. I always tell them they must use proper English. A major problem is that OMG and LOL are now in the Oxford Dictionary! How much we hate that students are writing like this, I wonder if in the past teachers said the same thing as we went from old English to modern English. Can you image write like Shakespeare?
I agree that texting is to be left to cell phones and students should have to write professionally especially with school related assignments. However...I recently went to a training and was asked to text in my questions to the presenter. The questions appeared on the big screen and were addressed in the order in which they were posted. I have to say, it was really interesting and I loved it! Do you think in the future, students will be texting to their teacher and getting responses back during class? If so, would you be willing to participate in this type of technology communication?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that responding with "texting" type spelling is inappropriate. There is a time and a place for "slang" typing and responding to a literature question in this manner is not the time or the manner in which a student should correspond with their teacher. What is the child learning by answering this way? Would it be accepted by a college professor?
ReplyDeleteAll your points are great and a no brainer to agree with. It is extremely difficult to teach students when to use text symbols and when not to.
ReplyDeleteI have done a couple of things to get students to recognize when texting is appropriate. First, I have written some homework questions as texts. It really shows them how frustrating it is to read something technically oriented as a text. They don't understand some of the common terms chemists abbreviate all the time. So they learn to write with correct spelling and grammar. The second thing I do shows how texting can help them is class. I have converted some of my Powerpoint notes to text messages. I try to show that texting helps them take notes quicker so they can listen to explanations instead of writing the slide down word for word, missing important added comments. All that I can say is that some students love this, some hate it.
This is probably the greatest downfall of the 140-160 character status update and text message movement. It will be interesting to see the long term effect on this generation. I purposely try to never use this lingo when posting or texting because I want the reader to regard me as an intelligent person. I'm guessing most students don't have the same concerns as I do. Great suggestions from dochays about ideas on how to teach the students the benefits and drawbacks of using text lingo.
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ReplyDeleteCourtney raised a valid point about using cell phones in the classroom. Will those little computers will be a part of a classroom? Would texting lingo be appropriate then?
ReplyDeleteAnd as Erica pondered, would a college professor be okay with a student who uses text language?
I agree that our students seem to have a difficult time differentiating between the types and styles of communication, and they need to be specifically taught what is acceptable and what is not. I have clearly stated this in my requirements for all of their online work, and they usually follow the rules. But they still send me emails that are totally written in text language. No matter how comfortable we make them feel in class, they do need to understand the difference between texting a friend and addressing someone within a professional domain. And apparently we also need to teach that to them!!!
ReplyDeleteCindy Goldbach
I think using texting shorthand on writing assignments that are to be grammatically correct is unacceptable. I already find that my students lack grammar fundamentals, but then to have them write things in text shorthand is lazy. I think that there is certainly a time and place to use texting shorthand or just plain texting in the classroom, but not when you are writing a research paper or other writing assignment. There are some shifts in thinking regarding cell phones, but one should not be accepting the lack of proper grammar.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that we have to continue to hold our standards high for students. I am fine with texting language, if it is a quick email or a text to a friend. That's the whole point, and I tend to think we should just go with it in that situation. When students text me about tutoring, I find that they usually use proper language, even in a text. Here's a link to a poll about texting language in class: http://www.edutopia.org/poll-text-messaging-writing-skills
ReplyDeleteI agree that kids need to be made aware of their audience when communicating. It is very important that students learn and are expected to use conventional English on school projects. I do, however, think we could encourage them to use texting shorthand when taking notes. When kids use inappropriate language at school and try to convince me that it's ok because they speak like that at home and with friends, I tell them that the language they use changes depending on the setting in which they find themselves. Texting shorthand is the same thing. It has it's place and time.
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