Txt spk @ skool – gud or bad?

If TEFL jobs weren't hard enough already, technology is doing its best to make it even harder, and you wont find the answers on your TEFL teaching course! Increasing numbers of school children are handing in homework containing “Text Speak”, the shorthand language brought to us by the invention of SMS and social network sites such as Twitter. With restrictions on the amount of characters you can use in a message, “Txt Spk” has almost evolved into a whole new language as users find new and ingenious ways to get the whole message across in one go. There are regional and social grouping differences in the new “language” in the same way as slang; however it is the overall success of its generic growth that has amazed and upset many English teachers across the board. Some have gone as far to compare it to “Newspeak”, the shortened and politically censored language featured in George Orwell’s book - 1984. A little dramatic maybe!

We know all languages evolve, but how do you feel about this latest fad? Is it just that, a fad or a phase we are going through or is it here to stay? Should we embrace it or stamp it out before it is too late? It is already too big a deal to ignore and the chatter in the staff room is that it is slowly creeping into essays and coursework that is handed in by the very people that are inadvertently developing the language, the kids.

Some research indicates that up to two thirds of kids have used shortened text styles when doing their homework, many without even knowing they have done so. In a world where technology moves increasingly faster we have to keep up with the effects it has on society. Word processing programs such as Microsoft Word correct your spelling and grammar as you go, even if it isn’t right to do so because it often (rather annoyingly)chooses American over English UK. This was hailed as an amazing new program and yes it has its benefits, but is this good for us? The upside of getting things wrong is that we learn from it, and hopefully get it right the next time. If something is automatically corrected for us as we stare intensely at the keyboard, looking the letter that you were certain was on the top row and now is in the middle, how can we ever improve?

But let’s not put a complete downer on it all! At least the youth of today are being creative and productive. And let’s face it the majority of us have used the odd LOL or m8 in a text to friends. It can be a fun and effective way to communicate in a world that seems to get faster and smaller by the day. If we can all recognise the time, place and manner in which abbreviations and emoticons can and should be used then I personally see no problem with it. But if the lines are blurred and it is starting to show up in school work and on job application forms and CV’s, then there could be a problem creeping up on us and if we simply bury our heads in the sand it could take some undoing. Wot do u fink? Is txt spk bad 4 da kids or shud we all b usin it wen spkn 2 ya m8tz? Discuz!