Written Task #1

Rationale

Ever since technology has begun integrating itself into our everyday life we have been able to see and track a change in the English language and the way we use it. One technology in particular has had a significant impact on the language we use every day: texting. The first text message was sent in December 1982 and it simply read "Merry Christmas". Throughout the 1990's texting became more open to the public but still was nowhere close to its current popularity and usage. Since then this remarkable form of communication has evolved into a language of its own with its unofficial rules, abbreviations, and structure. 

Along with this new form of communication comes many complaints and this is the topic I have chosen to explore. The article I found is highly opinionated and takes the stance that texting and other forms of technology have had a negative impact on the English language and on the literacy of this generation. I have chosen to write two letters to the editor in response to this article in order to go more in-depth into this topic. I chose this text type as it allows me to explore both sides of this argument by writing from two different perspectives with very different opinions on the matter. One letter will be written from the perspective of an English teacher while the other will be written from the perspective of a college freshman. Because of this difference in perspective, both letters are completely opposite in audience and purpose. Overall, the opinionated and argumentative perspectives of my two letters will help to further explore and discuss the topic of language and technology in an informative yet interesting way.

Letter to the Editor #1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html

Texting is ruining this generation

Ezra Fitz

16 October 2014

I know some people may think that my opinion is  a bit extreme but I have firsthand knowledge on this matter and I can honestly say that throughout my years as an English teacher I have been able to slowly observe the decline of literacy among my students. I have to stop myself from outright cringing every time I grade a paper due to the type of language and grammar that has begun to creep into these supposedly academic essays. Students these days rely too heavily on autocorrect when texting their friends which can lead to laziness and sloppy spelling when it comes time for them to perform without this crutch that they are so used to leaning on for support in their writing.

My students are used to writing in short sentences that are most efficient in getting their point or message across in a limited amount of characters. However, with this development I feel that a certain poetic quality is lost. Rarely do you find a variety of adjectives in a text and you'll be hard pressed to try and locate any form of punctuation whatsoever. This style of writing has begun to show up in their papers and this is where the real problem lies. If one were to look at a sample of essays from my class you wouldn't even know commas or anything like them existed. I mean, don't even get me started on the number of run-on sentences I have to correct every time I give out an assignment. The number of periods missing from their papers equals the number of pills I have to take in order to get rid of the headache that comes from grading these sloppy papers.

As mentioned before, students are used to having autocorrect there to fix all of their spelling mistakes. However, once this is taken away from them their spelling begins to crumble and turns into that of a third grader. It saddens me to know that some of my students don't even know the difference between "their", "they're" , and "there".

While I agree that texting can be useful and that it certainly has its advantages it also comes with many drawbacks that in some cases may out-weigh the positive aspects of it all.  We gain convenience but at what price? The illiteracy of our children? Some would argue that this price is too high and I am certainly one of those people.  So next time when you're considering whether to buy your child a mobile phone please think of the permanent damage you may be doing to not only them but also their English teachers.

Ezra Fitz

Letter to the Editor  #2

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html

A better perspective

Mary Jones

16 October 2014

I find it unbelievable that so many people who claim to be well-educated can be so wrong about something! All these statements made in your article such as " They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped." are merely based your opinion with no real facts or evidence to back them up. However, I think that as a member of this generation that has grown up with technology I can help offer further insight into the matter. Maybe you can take the information I'm offering and use it instead of the poor arguments that were presented in your article.

Some people complain that the style and language used in texting has been showing up in places it has no right to be in such as academic papers. However, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: teenagers aren't dumb. They know the difference between a text message that will only be seen by their friends and an academic paper that will be graded by their professors. They are aware of the fact that their language and it's structure needs to change depending on who they're talking to and what message they want to send. In my opinion it is actually fascinating how a student could say the exact same thing but in two completely different ways. On one hand, you have the casual and straight to the point structure while on the other hand there is the more formal structure which is a bit more descriptive and lengthy.

Next time before writing an article it might be best to find some proof to back up what you're saying. Hopefully this insight I've provided will help serve as a future reference when you discuss matters such as these. As a final parting gift I'll leave you with this one piece of advice: if you don't like it, don't use it. While you might not have a choice about using technology, no one is forcing you to use improper grammar or any of these supposedly horrific abbreviations.

Mary Jones