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Teens Language Shortcuts Provide Teachable Moments
By Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. | May 1, 2008
Decades ago teachers would despair when we used slang in our conversations. But to use slang in our writing never occurred to many of us.
Today’s teens are different. The line between their everyday conversation and text message shortcuts is blurred. An MSNBC report says that 2/3 of teens today use emoticons, shortcuts (like LOL) and other informal language in their written assignments.
Although parents may not agree, the author’s of the study,The Pew Internet and American Life Project, saw this as an opportunity for teachers.
“It’s a teachable moment,” said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew. “If you find that in a child’s or student’s writing, that’s an opportunity to address the differences between formal and informal writing. They learn to make the distinction … just as they learn not to use slang terms in formal writing.”
If teachers can successfully drive home this point and students learn to shift between formal and informal writing as appropriate, what a happy day that would be.
What’s your take on this?
Topics: achieving success, informal language, teen language, text messaging |