How Slang Affects Students in the Classroom

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110613/ts_usnews/howslangaffectsstudentsintheclassroom;_ylt=ArlzHruEArPVkpxKpXY3XvZH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTQza2Q5YnY0BGFzc2V0A3VzbmV3cy8yMDExMDYxMy9ob3dzbGFuZ2FmZmVjdHNzdHVkZW50c2ludGhlY2xhc3Nyb29tBGNjb2RlA29mZmdtcHRvcDUwMHBvb2wEY3BvcwM3BHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDaG93c2xhbmdhZmZl

By Ryan Lytle – Mon Jun 13, 11:18 am ET

The way students communicate with one another through social media and text messaging is creeping into high school classrooms across the country.

Slang terms and text-speak such as IDK (I don't know), SMH (shaking my head), and BTW (by the way) have become a common sight on student assignments, befuddling some high school teachers who are unsure how to fix this growing problem.

Terry Wood, a foreign language teacher at St. Mary's Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Md., has seen a "dramatic decline" in the writing abilities of her students "due to Tweeting, Facebook, and texting."

"They do not capitalize words or use punctuation anymore," Wood, a teacher with 10 years of in-class experience, says. "Even in E-mails to teachers or [on] writing assignments, any word longer than one syllable is now abbreviated to one."

According to a survey of 700 students ages 12 to 17 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 85 percent of the respondents reported using a form of electronic communication, whether through instant messaging, text messaging, or social media. Growing up in a technological era, high school students may be unaware they are using language shortcuts in the classroom, says Allie Sakowicz, a rising senior at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill.

"I think that students don't even realize that they're doing it," Sakowicz notes. "When we're using all this social media we're not thinking about spelling words right, so naturally that's going to translate into the classroom."

In fact, 64 percent of students in the study reported inadvertently using a form of shorthand native to texting or social networking. But, the problem does not end there, as Sakowicz acknowledges that younger teachers see the slang but "let it go."

"Not that they like it, but they kind of expect it," she says. "Teachers that are older and aren't familiar with all the social media devices are really upset that this is what's becoming of our language."

While advocates of slang words may say this trend is simply an evolution of language, Chad Dion Lassiter, professor of race relations at the University of Pennsylvania, considers it "a dumbing down of culture." Lassiter leads an academic mentorship program for high school students in the Philadelphia area and has observed "this broken level of communication."

"We're looking at some of these writing skills and what I'm noticing is [that] there is miscommunication due to the fact that their communication is so limited," he says. "The problem is the adults. We have to train adults to work with young people and hold them accountable."

While slang terms may be most prevalent in the high school classroom, Lassiter notes that colleges are "getting [admissions] essays like they've never seen before."

"Admissions officers have shared with me that a lot of the essays they're encountering now are deeply rooted in this technological culture of cut-off sentences where you're writing like you speak," he notes. "After the first few sentences, college admissions professionals toss them to the side."

Where some admissions officers have observed a shift in language used in admissions materials, Martha Allman, dean of admissions at Wake Forest University, says she has not "seen the shortcuts that you typically see in social communication."

"Students are primed in high school to know this is the way they show [their ability] to communicate in college," Allman says. "My sense is that students certainly see a difference between their social communication and writing for the college essay."

There is a measure of uncertainty as to whether college admissions officials will adapt to this social change in language, or if future prospective college students will need to be mindful and observant of the words they use. Ananda Mitra, professor and chair of the department of communication at Wake Forest, believes colleges will continue to place the responsibility on students to conform during the admissions process.

"Education is about adaptation to some degree," Mitra notes. "An intelligent, educated student coming out of high school should be adaptive. Those who do not adapt would [not be admitted]."

While college officials' stance on slang remains the status quo, the future is unclear as more generations of students grow up with technology that embraces slang.

"There are fourth and fifth graders that are texting, that have Facebook and Twitter," rising high school senior Sakowicz says. "For future students of high school and college, this is the language they're growing up with."

Edited June 13, 2011 by Why_Me

[Sc0tt28 26]

This is why I type, text, e-mail, speak, etc. in full words. I also tend to be a bit of a grammer cop. My wife is a grade school teacher and her typing is horrible, I'm constantly on her case about it.

Now before I get vilified for all of the grammatical errors in this particular post, let me point out that I don't claim to be perfect when it comes to the English language but at least I try to the best of my abilities and level of education.

[natty bumppo 297]

This is why I type, text, e-mail, speak, etc. in full words. I also tend to be a bit of a grammer cop. My wife is a grade school teacher and her typing is horrible, I'm constantly on her case about it.

Now before I get vilified for all of the grammatical errors in this particular post, let me point out that I don't claim to be perfect when it comes to the English language but at least I try to the best of my abilities and level of education.

what does does proper finger usage on a keyboard have to do with her language skills?

[Sc0tt28 26]

what does does proper finger usage on a keyboard have to do with her language skills?

When her finger usage consistently fails to capitalize proper nouns, misspell words, and omit punctuation then it has plenty to do with her language skills in that if her students submitted work of such poor quality she would most certainly mark them as unsatisfactory, and so her refusal to "practice what she preaches" is quite hypocritical.

[The Dude 206]

This is why I type, text, e-mail, speak, etc. in full words. I also tend to be a bit of a grammer cop. My wife is a grade school teacher and her typing is horrible, I'm constantly on her case about it.

Now before I get vilified for all of the grammatical errors in this particular post, let me point out that I don't claim to be perfect when it comes to the English language but at least I try to the best of my abilities and level of education.

You can't be a grammar nazi and not expect people to hold you to the same standard.

[Sc0tt28 26]

You can't be a grammar nazi and not expect people to hold you to the same standard.

I don't mean to sound offensive and I apologize in advance if it comes across that way but here goes:

I'm not sure if English is your first language but it is mine and I choose my words very carefully, leaving very little ambiguity about what I am saying and what I am not.

That said, I fully expect people to hold me to the same standard. In fact if there are errors in my speech I fully expect to be corrected. I did not say "Do not correct me", I said (paraphrased) "before I am corrected". Using the word "before" implies that I expect to be corrected.

[natty bumppo 297]

When her finger usage consistently fails to capitalize proper nouns, misspell words, and omit punctuation then it has plenty to do with her language skills in that if her students submitted work of such poor quality she would most certainly mark them as unsatisfactory, and so her refusal to "practice what she preaches" is quite hypocritical.

her language skills are not reflected in words placed onto a typed document. if she knows the correct usage and does not self monitor and correct what is this called? failure to proof read? poor language skills? or ... we all are guilty of this sometimes ... slacker?

what about her hand writing? does this also reflect the poorly created sentence structures?

[Darnell 8,478]

English, that other language.

Sheesh - major ESL classes will increase?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

her language skills are not reflected in words placed onto a typed document. if she knows the correct usage and does not self monitor and correct what is this called? failure to proof read? poor language skills? or ... we all are guilty of this sometimes ... slacker?

what about her hand writing? does this also reflect the poorly created sentence structures?

This post is exactly the sort of thing the OP is referring to.

[Sc0tt28 26]

her language skills are not reflected in words placed onto a typed document. if she knows the correct usage and does not self monitor and correct what is this called? failure to proof read? poor language skills? or ... we all are guilty of this sometimes ... slacker?

what about her hand writing? does this also reflect the poorly created sentence structures?

Fair enough, and point well taken. That said, her hand writing is not as bad but the proper nouns does get to me.

[natty bumppo 297]

Fair enough, and point well taken. That said, her hand writing is not as bad but the proper nouns does get to me.

how about ....

you know she is very capable of beautifully constructing sentences on paper and computer (keyboard). that one of the things you secretly admire about her is that she gets a kick out of twisting your tail each and every time she types something?

[The Dude 206]

I don't mean to sound offensive and I apologize in advance if it comes across that way but here goes:

I'm not sure if English is your first language but it is mine and I choose my words very carefully, leaving very little ambiguity about what I am saying and what I am not.

That said, I fully expect people to hold me to the same standard. In fact if there are errors in my speech I fully expect to be corrected. I did not say "Do not correct me", I said (paraphrased) "before I am corrected". Using the word "before" implies that I expect to be corrected.

You contradict yourself there. You state that you leave no ambiguity to what your saying, but clearly you have, just scroll up a few posts. I have no problem with people who use text speak when it is appropriate, as long as they are able to discern when it is and is not germane.