I read with interest an article in The Inquirer, which said that author of a new report (plug: David Crystal – Txting: the gr8 db8) believes that Texting doesn’t impair spelling or literacy – oh no – it actually improves it!
When I say I read it with interest, it was more a case of disbelief! Has this person actually received text messages from the “Yoof” (pun intended) of today? The messages consist of a mish-mash of different symbols, and phonetic abominations – and those are just the polite ones!
Not so very long ago, when text messages could really only be 160 characters long, brevity in messages was required. Costs per message were also higher, and so there was a real drive to simplify the gist of what was being communicated. These days, we have reached the stage where pupils are allowed to write exam papers in “text speak”, fundamentally debasing what the older generations call the “English Language”.
Crystal suggests that what is really happening is that people are scared of technology, and the impact it could have on language – effectively allowing a new generation to gain control of their language. Well frankly yes, I am horrified at the idea of one day opening a well-respected dictionary, and finding that I can’t read it, let alone understand it!
What do IntoMobile readers make of this? Are people (like me) getting in a fluster for no reason, or is there a genuine dumbing-down of languages (not just English) going on……?
[Via: The Inquirer]