Over the 30 years plus that I’ve been teaching, I’ve seen a reflection of what’s happening in the elementary and secondary classrooms in California. There have been ups and downs. Among the “downs” were the cohorts of students who had no clue whatsoever about the differences between “there,” “their,” and “they’re,” and used them interchangeably. More recently, I have seen students incomprehensibly using “apostrophe s” in order to make plurals, as in “cat’s” instead of “cats.” I have no idea why anyone past the first grade would make such an error, but this is so common, it must have an origin somewhere in the collective experience of these young adults.
Some people might be tempted to blame writing errors on new technologies. A colleague in the English department attributed the “there–their–they’re” issue to our “auditory” culture in which young people do not read, but merely listen. That may have been true ten or fifteen years ago, but I see new technologies as boosting, not hindering, student reading and writing. One of my students indicated that he and his buddies “aced” their middle school vocabulary tests because many of the more obscure words had been used in the videogames they played. They all knew the word “flask,” and not because they were early alcoholics.
I also know my students are reading, not listening, because there are some simple words that they use correctly, but do not know how to pronounce. If they were only listening, these errors would not occur. The Internet, IM, blogs, and videogames all require intense reading and writing. We should be getting better, not worse.
So I was pleased to see that my local observations were confirmed by a paper by Sali Tagliamonte and Derek Denis that showed that instant messaging represents “an expansive new linguistic renaissance.” Contrary to the fears of parents and teachers, IM messages were actually more formal than spoken language, and abbreviations such as LOL were used only 2.4 percent of the time. Their article is to appear in American Speech this Spring.
I think it’s safe to say that between Harry Potter and new technologies, we professors can look forward to working with an increasingly literate student population.
10 Comments
Vix · May 18, 2008 at 4:04 am
I don’t talk that much in real-life and I prefer reading and writing, so I’m better with spelling then pronouncing. But that is an okay thing. Everyone has different abilities or disabilities you know.
I’m also an accompolished master video gamer who is always in-charge of any decision that has to do with gaming, and will never be defeated by others. Remember that.
kara311 · May 18, 2008 at 10:04 am
To play the devil’s advocate, I can see why IM and blogs would decrease student’s literacy. While using IM people hardly ever spell out words correctly. They write “thru” instead of “through” and “AFK” instead of “Away from keyboard.” It is rare that a younger student would take the time to worry about the difference between their, there, and they’re because the message will get across regardless of the spelling used. Also, people are constantly reading blogs that have been poorly written and are filled with both spelling and grammar errors.
Video games and Harry Potter are definitely beneficial to people’s vocabulary and spelling ability. However, IM, text messaging, and blogs are not.
jmgraham · May 19, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I was surprised to find out that IM does not hinder one’s literacy. Although I guess it does make sense when explain (or maybe hindsight bias). However, while it may not affect literacy and can improve reading skills, it has to have an affect on spelling and maybe writing style or ability. Practice makes perfect. And when a child is practicing not spelling out words or using them incorrectly, they are making habits that transfer over to their school work. Hopefully with their improved reading skills, these kids will read books alongside their IM conversations. And hey, at least their typing skills are increasing!
AprilN · May 20, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I’m suprised that IM doesn’t hinder literacy, as well. I feel as though when IMing first became popular, people paid attention to their grammar. However, now it seems as though many people just type. They don’t give enough time to check spelling or punctuation. I also feel that people are spending more and more time online, that many don’t practice saying new words, nor are they fully aware of what they’re reading. On the bright side, atleast this generation will have good computer skills.
svallier · May 22, 2008 at 10:40 am
I think it is funny that the article mentioned people who read a lot know the meaning of a specific word, but not how to pronounce it. I find that happens to me regularly, and is quite embarrassing at the time, in particular the word SUBTLE has never gotten through for me. I think one thing that wasn’t mentioned, but should have been is text messaging on cell phones – another thing that is pretty recent that promotes spelling. I find if I spell a word even one letter wrong, my phone cannot find it and thus won’t let me write it out. Although with spell check so prevalent on computers, people don’t HAVE to know how to spell things all the time. I know just in this blurb I’ve misspelled several things I never would have noticed without spell check!
mbernie · May 27, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Its funny that this article is up here because the other day I was watching a commercial saying Rosetta Stone is the best way to learn a new language. The supposed customers were raving about how the product makes one learn not memorize and what not. During the commercial I realized I wanted to learn a second language and started thinking what it would be like to communicate with someone using a different language than English. I quickly realized that I understood American Text. In my mind if American Sign Language counts as another language apart from American English why couldn’t American Text Language also count. Someone who is hearing impaired can benefit from sign language and someone who is mute can benefit from text language. This is a little of course but the article made me think of it.
A_Jolly · May 29, 2008 at 8:39 am
My 16 year old cousin was in a fight on school ground a while back and the principal asked every student who withnessed the fight to write a report of what he/she saw. I read the reports and almost fell out of my chair!! One kid repeatedly spelled when “w-e-n” and anthother wrote “basketball cord” instead of “court”. And that was just a couple of examples!!! Most of them were barely even legible! And these are high schoolers!! My suggestion for younger kids is to learn through song. The other day I was in Target and I heard a small child singing a popular song on the radio that spells the work “independent”. And he went off without a hitch and told his mom, “That spells independent!” The child sounded so young that I had to look, and he was only 3 or 4! I remember when I was in school, we used song for phonics quite often. And to this day I still use songs in my head that I learned way back when, if I am having difficulty remembering how to spell.
A_Jolly · May 29, 2008 at 8:42 am
Uh, I probably should have spell checked that last comment especially considering the topic, lol.
Amber Thompson · October 7, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Though I would agree with many points made here, I would also add that there is a possibility that the spelling and grammar of students is hindered by the availability of spellcheck. With much of homework completed on computers, it is too easy to ignore the simple mistakes in spelling and grammar, and return to them later with spellcheck. When forced to spell certain words without electronics, it is considerably harder for some students. However, the point can also be made that spell check teaches students how to correctly spell words, and after making the same mistake multiple times, many people would learn how to correctly spell the word themselves.
andrewgrodriguez · December 1, 2008 at 12:28 pm
This was a great article. I have to admit that I am a “there” “Their” criminal. Over the last six months I have tried with extreme effort to avoid misusing “there” and “their”. Perhaps the most interesting point in this article was the correlation of literacy and gaming. I have always been told that gaming is bad for you and that it can be categorized in the same realm of excessive television watching. I have always felt differently and it appears I may have been correct. It seems to me that the interactiveness and competition that I get from playing games with others as well as myself is the most captivation part of gaming. I assume that many mothers, girlfriends or any other anti gaming “people” fail to realize this cognitive interaction. I have always played video games. Some of my earliest memories involve playing Nintendo with my twin brother. I would not argue that excessive playing can be detrimental to your health but I am glad to see some positive light shed on this subject as I have always been made to feel guilty about enjoying one of my favorite, relaxing hobbies, gaming. This is definitely a thought provoking topic. Thanks, Laura!
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