Commentary

I know language changes, but not that much!

Writing is one of the main focuses in education. Since I was in elementary school, I can remember being told time and time again how important it is to write well and express yourself in an eloquent and intelligent manner. And because they taught us that, and so often, I never think twice when writing a paper-I always write formally because is there any other way to write a paper? Apparently there is...

I read on article on CNN.com about teens and their writing. The article mentions statistics such as, half of teens surveyed said they sometimes fail to use proper capitalization and punctuation in assignments and 38 percent have carried over the shortcuts typical in instant messaging and emails into their writing assignments.

I was shocked! I know this generation has been around email, text messaging, and AIM a majority of their life, but I still couldn't imagine carrying over that informal style of writing into an academic paper. Sure, I may use shortcuts sometimes in a text message to my friend, but I would never write "LOL" in a thesis or essay...it's just unheard of to me!

I don't know where the gap occurs because it wasn't that long ago I was in high school and I can't imagine the writing curriculum has changed that much. Also, I highly doubt that teachers suddenly found that writing is of no importance and they no longer require formal writing for their assignments. So, I'm officially dumbfounded...

On the upside, the article did mention that teens who keep blogs are more likely to engage in personal writing. Wohoo! I blog for two websites and I know, writing three to four times a week, even if it's conversational-style writing, has kept me interested in writing and improved my writing as well.

Other than that, millenials need to shape up because once you enter college and later on, the workforce, informal writing isn't going to cut it. OMG, I'm serious...LOL ;)

2 comments about "I know language changes, but not that much!".
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  1. Anthony Perez from Gamer 2.0, May 5, 2008 at 9:41 a.m.

    I've witnessed this IM style chat even in college. I'm another student but I constantly hear professors whine about the use of IM shortcuts in emails students send to them. I've even heard of it being used in papers, and have seen it firsthand during peer review sessions.

    It's unbelievable, and while I used to defend this style of conversation, I don't advocate it anymore because of the way it has infected formal communication. I used to believe that people wouldn't be stupid enough to use this kind of language in formal communication, but I've seen it all too often. So on AIM, Facebook, MySpace, and through text messages, I fully spell out words, punctuate and capitalize.

  2. Chuck Dorris from eDining, llc, May 5, 2008 at 5:55 p.m.

    er dude-ette...

    this
    I read on article on CNN.com about teens and their writing. The article mentions statistics such as, half of teens surveyed said they sometimes fail to use proper capitalization and punctuation in assignments and 38 percent have carried over the shortcuts typical in instant messaging and emails into their writing assignments.

    is incorrectly punctuated... should read "such as; half"

    I mean, like, UR being ironic with your intentional mis-punctuation, like, right?

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