This article titled “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy” from Wired Magazine is very interesting. While some people argue that “Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have replaced carefully crafted essays, and texting has dehydrated language into ‘bleak, bald, sad shorthand’,” still others–like Andrea Lunsford of Stanford University–are arguing that something good is actually happening:
Lunsford is a professor of writing and rhetoric at Stanford University, where she has organized a mammoth project called the Stanford Study of Writing to scrutinize college students’ prose. From 2001 to 2006, she collected 14,672 student writing samples—everything from in-class assignments, formal essays, and journal entries to emails, blog posts, and chat sessions. Her conclusions are stirring.
“I think we’re in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven’t seen since Greek civilization,” she says. For Lunsford, technology isn’t killing our ability to write. It’s reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.
I wonder where some of us fall on this issue?
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for some very interesting comments so far. I just reread the article that I linked to this post, and I love the part where the author points out, “Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn’t a school assignment. Unless they got a job that required producing text (like in law, advertising, or media), they’d leave school and virtually never construct a paragraph again.” It is interesting to think about, and I would agree with this idea. But now it seems that the way we write is changing with the technologies available to us. I like Kelsey’s use of the term “dialect” to describe some of these new communication styles. It also makes me think of Maria’s successful “Teenage Skaz” writing assignment, where she wrote as if two people are chatting online with each other. It was fun–and at times frustrating–for me to read, since I am not well-breathed with this writing style. But I wonder if this is any more of a problem than students in the year 2009 interacting with the colloquial, first-person narration of a 1950’s east coast prep. school dropout.
I think that we can’t blame this issue solely on technology and the internet. Take “The Catcher in the Rye” for example. It is read by hundreds of high school students every year, yet sentences are not properly formed, grammar and sayings are twisted and a lot of slang is used. If this is so damaging to students writing ability and style then why is it still being taught and why has it been taught in schools for all these years?
I believe that the new age of facebook and texting can be positive to a students learning if it encourages writing and lets students have a better understanding of their audience as Andrea Lunsford argues. However, I believe that nothing substitutes the learning you get in the classroom and without the knowledge of spelling and structure students can not fully understand the English language. But maybe a bit of both could be the answer?
“Catcher in the rye” is read by many highschool students around the world. The format that the author uses is not politically correct. Slang and jumbled grammer is frequently used. If people say that this sort of language is detrimental to youngsters writing abilities then, in my opinion, it cannot be more further from the truth. Youngsters are subjected to slang language and different dialects whilst watching tv, communicating on computers, talking in person…etc, in everyday life. In my opinion, it’s not right to say that slang is wrong as it plays a huge part in the life of many. It is used for shortcuts but is not necessarily an incorrect dialect. If it is counted as damaging to youngsters abilities in writing, then why is it used in books that are most frequently used in highschools worldwide?
I think that it is wrong to say that facebook makes people talk in slang or use bad english or anything like that because it is their choice to write like that and most of the time it because its faster and take for example the famous novel “catcher in the rye” it is written in a first person style and it has poor grammar and there is alot of slang used in that book and that book is very famous and has been taught in schools for a while and most people you ask would have probably read it. So in my opinion it is wrong to say that slang is not proper english because for some its all they know and most people can understand it and most of the slang comes from real words or are just shortened so it makes it a bit easier and every does learn proper english first but then the slang just comes with it. Facebook can also be a positive way of learning because you could learn from other people and extend your vocabulary.
I think that we simply can’t help the way that the modern world around us is changing. Facebook, is playing a daily part in most adolescent lives and so the world must eventually learn to adjust to this new “change”. It’s become so common that adolescents aren’t the only ones using the popular online feature. It’s progessing to become known amoung the older generations too. The way that facebook is used today, can’t harm anyone when it’s become so common. Students, especially should however know how to find a balance between facebook, twitter etc and school. Spending too much time on it could result in poor grades, but the use of slang on facebook is just a part of today that can’t be eliminated. It’s kind of a personality that the world has gained.
“Catcher in the Rye” does include the frequent use of slang and inncorrect grammer, but the focus of the book isn’t on its punctuation and its use of language. The theme of the book has little to do with the spelling errors and the type of slang that Holden uses. This is why I think the book has been used for all these years in classrooms. The main focus doesn’t end up on the gramatical errors, but on the theme itself. Highschoolers also realise this and if they didn’t then the book would probobly not have been used till today.
Well i think that powerpoints, video, texts etc. are just the way that people are changing like you said in class about “Bob Dylan”. I think it is good that J.D. Salinger has written “Catcher in the rye” with slang, because noone writes books in slang and it was a good change. And I dont think it is killing our ability to wright because we are required to have 10 years of school, and we all learn how to wright, and slang is just a quick way to chat to your friends.
Facebook is a very, very popular website within the teenage world, and they are able to chat, encouraging typing faster which involves leaving out the odd letter and shortening words. This is sometimes an issue with writing work because you want to get done and done as fast as possible. But students know the difference between chatting on Facebook and writing an essay. ‘Catcher in the rye’ is an example of a teenager just writing to himself, something not being graded, so he just writes in a ’stream of conciousness’. Now this book is being taught all over the world and teenagers are able to relate. Students may like this style better as its different and very causal and comfortable. The world is changing and technology is getting better and better, but this doesn’t take away from the older books and words because people still want to learn about them. Shakespeare is still one of the greatest writers and he wrote in a very old English dialect.
In my opinion i think that teenagers chatting on facebook and writing an essay know that there is a difference and that they need to use the correct dialect! Facebook is a website used worldwide by thousands and thousands of people, not all teenagers! “Catcher In The Rye” is a book about a teenager writing about his life and about everything that has happened to him in about 6-12 months. He is writing about how he feels and uses slang because he is writing to himself not for anyone else to see it. This book is being taught to teenagers worldwide and they are able to understand it because they speak in a simular way. So in my opinon this is helping them because they are able to understand different forms of dialect.
I don’t think the new technologies are killing our abilities to write properly. It is just a new change in the world. On Facebook teenagers don’t pay much attention to their spelling because they want to reply fast to their friends. However they know the difference between chatting on Facebook, where you can write in any dialect you want, and writing school essays, where you need proper spelling and grammar.
The book Catcher in the rye, for example, is read by many high school students around the world. Yet the sentences are not well formed, the grammar is poor and there are a lot of slang expressions. So I think it is good to know both how to chat on Facebook and how to properly write the school essays.
even though facebook, texting and all other modern ways of writing, are considered unstructured and bad, they actually show kids writing a lot more than kids from the 80’s or before, even though it might no all be spelt correct, you have to know the original spelling to make a short-hand. and by this kids end up writing essay’s worth of writing everyday. and is probably one of the best ways to practice writing, because it is incorporated into everyday life situations.
I think there are both good and bad sides to this. When using social networking sites like Facebook, etc., we use slang and short-forms of words. Since this is used almost everyday for long periods of time, we get used to writing in that style, and when writing something like an essay or any other formal piece of writing, some slang might seep into our work from time to time :S, but I do think that we know the difference between formal writing and chatting, so I’m sure it doesn’t get in the way of our schoolwork. We also have more practice in writing, even though it is in a different style/dialect. As long as we know when to use slang, there shouldn’t be too much of a problem
I think that slang is a part of life. Language is always going to change through the years. that’s just the way holden speaks in “catcher in the rye”. I dont think that texting and facebook is ruining students writing. it’s making them better writers.
The change in informal English that we are experiencing eminates from the adaptation of words or phrases to better suit the needs evoked by facebook or any other form of social networking site. Language, like evolution, changes and adapts to the demands inforced upon it. This change is part of a natural progression in which we hone and refine the vocabulary and the sentence structure of our language because aspects are deemed impractical for the purpose that they required to fulfil. This is no more a revolution of language than the gradual change that the formal language underwent, only that the process is expedited by the internet; allowing these changes to spead faster and become accumulated into others vocabulary faster. These changes are then integrated into others colloquial speech thus spreading it further. The progression of a language can only be ascertained by comparing it with documented examples of dialect. Such examples can be found in Catcher in the Rye which represents the dialect of a 1949 New Yorker. In addition, dialect cannot replace the English language completely unless the adaptations are widely accepted. As long as we have need for formal English, it will prevail as is the case. Only once it is no longer used will it disapear like others before it.
I don’t think chatting on facebook in ruining teenagers writing abilities because teenagers know the difference between a message and an essay. Facebook is making writing a bigger part of teenagers’ life, so they are actually writing much more than they did before. I think slang is a big part of people communications today if you like it or not. It’s just the language that is changing because proper english today is very different from what it would have been before.
This is interesting, as our daily language is becoming more apparent in our casual messaging. This would traditionally make people believe that our formal writing would also become more casual and “sloppy”. That the younger generations who grew up using this as a daily form of writing would get problems with writing formally.
Maybe our view on formal writing is going to change over the next few generations, and that “loopholes” and other problems met when writing formally will disappear because of our better understanding of language as a whole. This may or may not be a result of our everyday, casual writing. Though I personally believe that our everyday, casual writing will be a strong contributing factor to formal writing. Casual writing such as when texting, chatting on line, on facebook etc. will be practice to become more direct and clearer in our writing, it will not be the major part in improving our formal writing. Also change of dialect throughout the ages will affect our formal writing. Dialects change throughout a location when continuous individual variations of the dialect happen over a long time and spreads, becoming adapted by others in the location. The same happens in language as newly invented “fake” words are accepted as “true” words by (whoever let’s words into the dictionary), based upon the use and the popularity of the word. So the same happens to formal writing but I believe that is because of a more thorough education, and an increased demand of formal language because of “loopholes”. All this will force formal language to adapt to be more direct and clear. Therefor younger generations will become better at formal language, because it forces them to be more direct and clear, just as they have had endless hours practicing when younger.
Well, I think that Facebook is not a place that kids pick up slang, I think its more of a website that kids express slang on. Slang is made from kids being lazy with their grammar. “Skaz” is really what most people will be speaking in the future (I believe) because language has changed throughout time. Take Shakespeare for instance. We all read it last year and its really hard to understand, but it is actual english that they all spoke and understood then. I think that is how future generations will look back on our language. I think that all this “Skaz” is just change in the english language. In the future everyone will speak it. Of course some people look down on it, just as the people back in Shakespearean times would think of the language that adults use today. But its progress. And yes, it probably is because of technology like facebook. But that’s ok. I think people shouldn’t worry too much about it. Let time work it’s magic. But if your english teacher tells you not to use “Skaz” in his/her class, then I recommend that you save the skaz until after class.