Double Entry Journal #3

Before we despair that language is going to hell in a handcart, we should remember two lessons. First, normativeness in language goes through cycles, much like taste in music and politics. All is not lost. And second, regardless of the swings that language goes through, there is room for individual schools or teachers to set their own standards.

Baron, N. (2009). Are digital media changing language?. Education Leadership, 66(6), 42-46. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language¢.aspx

He added that there is very little that is new about most of the abbreviations and lexical shortenings that make texting so maddening to so many. In fact, he said, with the exception of a few recent coinages like LOL, “virtually all the commonly used ones can be found in English a century ago.” For example, bn (been), btwn (between) and wd (would) can all be found in a 1942 dictionary of abbreviations.

Shea, A. (2010, January 22). The keypad solution. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html The idea of language going through cycles made me think about how much words have changed just in the last 50 years and how many of the new "nifty," "groovy," or "grody" words actually stuck and are used by people today...not many and only by people stuck in a time-warp. I'm sure some of these words found their way into essays in their time period and were not an extreme detriment to society at large. Text speak will be no different. I completely agree with the second point that the teacher and/or school will be able to set what is appropriate and what is not appropriate for writing or speaking in school. Just like I remember learning in school that you don't use contractions or "I" in formal writing, current and future students will learn what is acceptable in one setting is not acceptable in all settings.

What David Crystal said in the second quote was an "Oh yeah! He's right!" moment for me. Being a little older than most of the text savvy and obsessed kids in school nowadays, I do get annoyed trying to decipher what my nieces are texting me or writing on Facebook with the many abbreviations and acronyms. But his quote made me think how much I abbreviate and shorthand my lecture notes and the fact that I learned how to do this in high school class so that I used "correct" shorthand.