I agree with Wilcox: Text shorthand provides a phenomenal efficiency for basic communication. It streamlines instructions, thought blurbs, and provides a quick way to touch base. But the instructional / surface level versus a real understanding of what the other person intends, thinks, is trying to say or even feels—the latter bears the value in language that we must make sure isn’t lost in translation.
It all goes back to balance. People need both, and one is more important than the other in the large scheme of things.
I have a feeling I may be taking an unpopular position here, but … I agree with this article.
Hey, look everyone, another news article about how text-messaging children are killing the English language.
People who don’t write and speak in coherent sentences, Morreau says, don’t succeed in communication. He is especially concerned about “the death of the good sentence” — one that imparts clear and concise information.
And this is where the idiocy of this claim really comes to light: the people perpetuating this risible notion that stupid children will be responsible for the downfall of English are missing the point. So called “txt speak”, if anything, has the exact opposite effect these people seem to think it has; it aids communication.
Hmmm.
I have a lot to say on this subject, so I’ll try not to say it all. But as a high school teacher and a tutor, I can say with confidence that the new generation of students does not have the same grasp of the English language that earlier generations had, and it’s not just “stupid children.” It’s everyone. They don’t know how to write sentences. I have students who don’t know which vowels go in which words because they are so used to simply eliminating vowels or abbreviating words. They don’t understand the difference between a comma and a period.
The part of this article that I think is most relevant is this:
“The Internet revolution, Billington says, creates new possibilities for people to be in touch with others, but it could also lead to a gobbledygook language without sentences and punctuation and paragraphs — and with less understanding of the world and its meaning.
‘We are moving toward the language used by computer programmers and air traffic controllers,’ he says. ‘Language as a method of instruction, not a portal into critical thinking.’”
And that’s what scares me - the loss of critical thinking. Sure, we have more communication, I’m not arguing against that. But what KIND of communication, exactly? Certainly not one with any depth.
