I’ve Had Enough! Why Texting and Tweeting are not to blame for your kids poor English Skillz

I’ve had enough. The next person that blames Poor Grammar and Writing abilities on Twitter, Facebook or Texting, gets it. I don’t know what it is yet, but they will get it.

Why? Well, beyond being a ludicrous argument, generally used to sell a story or get readers, it’s also not true. This story by Susanna Kelley “Students failing because of Twitter, Texting “ is the one that finally got my goat.

In it she writes,

“Little or no grammar teaching, cellphone texting, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, all are being blamed for an increasingly unacceptable number of post-secondary students who can’t write properly.”

The 2 Biggest Problems with Blaming Poor Writing and Grammar on Social Networks and Texting

It’s not Twitter’s Fault

The editor chose an unfortunate title for her piece, she clearly blames the failing grammar abilities on Twitter and Texting in the title, but barely mentions them in the actual article . In fact twitter is referred to only once. Instead, she quotes a few current professors who blame the lack of basic grammar and English skills on the lack of grammar and english education.

“We haven’t taught grammar for 30-40 years…(and it) hasn’t worked.” – Paul Budra, an English professor and associate dean of arts and science at Simon Fraser.

So it’s not Twitter and Texting that’s causing this grammatical-suckage? Well good, because I would have had to totally disagree with you.

We write more today than ever before

We write more today, than we ever have before, in the form of instant messages, social networks, email and text messages. In fact we write so much that we’ve been able to develop two completely different styles. Let’s call one Professional and the other Colloquial.

Professional Writing Skills

We are taught (maybe not well enough) how to write professionally. It’s our school essays and term papers, in class assignments and science labs. We’re shown a formula, asked to repeat it with some degree of uniqueness, use spell check, watch out for run on’s and keep those sentences complete.

We have varied skill levels (just like students before us)

“There’s a notion of a golden age in the past that students were wonderful, unlike now. I’m not sure that golden age ever existed,” -James Turk of the Association of University Teachers

Colloquial Writing Skillz

When we surf the net, we rock our Colloquial writing skills. They are what allows us to keep in touch with a ridiculously large network of friends and contacts (many of whom might be in different cities or countries) We use little short cuts like ” Txt Me Later. Luv U!” or “Cuz I don’t want to watch ANTM) Such short form phrasing is part of our colloquial vocabulary, and proves very useful. ( have you ever tried to spell “America’s Next Top Model” on an iPhone, it’s ridiculous)

We use our colloquial vocabulary to show emotion, personality and humor in a medium that restricts subtly and makes a bastard out of Sarcasm. Smiley faces and emoticons fill that need and yes they too deserve to exist. Have you ever tried a sarcastic joke or comment online without a or .

I have, and it’s not pretty.

There is a story here though. We’re not educating kids on grammar enough. I agree with that, and will tack on a few more areas that our education system is lacking ( physical education, creative development, emotional intelligence to name a few) , but those are a failing of our institutions not communications tools.

The way we communicate, be it written or verbal, is changing, as it always has. That does not mean a professional tone or prose will disappear.

Sure, we still have to teach kids the difference between the two types, but have some faith. You and I made it this far didn’t we?

Focus on Hope vs Fear

Regardless, I look forward to the day where we say goodbye to headlines that play on baby boomer fears of failure for their kids or the end of the world as we know it.

Instead, why not search for a story that highlights the many ways students are turning their writing abilities into huge opportunities to make a difference or to build attention, raise money or start dialogue.

I have a few ideas if you’re interested. (We can even blame twitter texting and social networks for their success!)

Email me if you would like suggestions! jsloss (at) gmail (dot) com

Give Susanna feedback, find her on twitter

I would like to thank Spell Check for it’s help in writing this post. With out you I would be lost my friend.

Photo Cred: amboo who?

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Riley Forman

my life story lol :)

susanna kelley

hi there jess. interesting thoughts above. there is real evidence in the article that the written language is being degraded amongst even the top 20 per cent of our population that go to university (U of Waterloo: language exams show 30% failure rate; Simon Fraser: 10% of students accepted can't take the mandatory "w" level writing courses they need to graduate without taking a "foundational" writing course first). what i suspect but do not have any proof of is that kids who are taught grammar properly in school do see texting, emoticons, etc. as a separate "language" and know when to use it/them and when they are inappropriate. it could well be that the ones who were not taught grammar properly in school are the ones who mix up the two "languages", hence emoticons in letters of academic appeal. my own kids were taught grammar - with a lot of work and sweat and resources from my husband and i - and they write well for formal purposes while texting like crazy. in other words, twitter and texting may be degrading the use of the language, but only for those not taught grammar properly. hey, there's another story idea! thanks for reading my story and commenting on it - susanna kelley

jsloss

Thanks for your comments, both of you.

@irak794 - I hear you. It moves an article, makes people talk, sells papers. It also contributes to slower adoption of these new tools due to fear and misinformation.

@Susanna Kelly - Thank you so much for taking the time to share your comments. I appreciate it. I understand the basics of your article, my problem is that the title doesn't look like it was put on the right article.

More students are failing the U of Waterloo grammar tests and some professors say more people are turning in inappropriate writing styles (emoticons and lolz included)

Where exactly does the twitter and texting come in? Is there a study or a quote you were referencing? Was this your editorial department shortening a Headline?

I guess I'm still left a little confused.

irak794

I totally agree. People are always looking for something to blame. Her article barely mentions Twitter, and doesn't have much solid evidence to back up her accusations. I feel that people who blame the failures of our generation on things like Twitter, Facebook, and even violent video games, never really do have solid evidence to back them up, and we really just need to stop pointing the finger and whining about everything and start fixing the problems!

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