'IM-speak' infiltrating classrooms

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17033436/

ORLANDO, Fla. - Middle school teacher Julia Austin is noticing a new generation of errors creeping into her pupils' essays.

Sure, they still commit the classic blunders — like the commonly used "ain't." But an increasing number of Austin's eighth-graders also submit classwork containing "b4," "ur," "2" and "wata" — words that may confuse adults but are part of the teens' everyday lives.

This "instant messaging-speak" or "IM-speak" emerged more than a decade ago. Used in e-mails and cell phone text messages, most teens are familiar with this tech talk and use it to flirt, plan dates and gossip.
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But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children's social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.

"The IM-speak is so prevalent now," said Austin, a language arts teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando. "I'm always having to instruct my students against using it."

Vicki A. Davis, a high school teacher at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Ga., said she even finds the abbreviated words in term papers.

"I'm Southern, but I wouldn't use the sayings, "squeal like a pig" or "kick the bucket," in formal writing (because) some people may not understand," Davis said. "IM-speak should be treated the same way."

Fourteen-year-old Brandi Concepcion, a pupil of Austin's, said wit, da and dat — used in place of with, the and that — sometimes creep into her homework.

"I write like that in the rough draft, but I try to catch the mistakes before I turn in the final draft," she said.

Some educators, like David Warlick, 54, of Raleigh, N.C., see the young burgeoning band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has authored three books on technology in the classroom.

And most avoid those pitfalls once they enter college, said Larry Beason, director of freshman composition at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.

"Some of the same kids that I teach now were probably guilty of techno spellings in high school," Beason said. "But most students realize that they need to put their adolescent spellings behind them by the time they get to college."  

[Sighren]

That's so pathetic. They're encouraging them! gonk  

[ririnyan]

Mm. This has been the situation in Britain for a while now, I believe. It needs to be dealt with otherwise it's going to hinder the present school generation's development even more.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

That last guy really pissed me off. Typical PC liberal bullshit. No standards for right and wrong, good and bad, etc. If we keep celebrating all the different ways of typing, sooner or later we'll end up with the Tower of Babel.  

[Ave Atque Vale]

I've never used IM speak in an IM, much less on a school paper.  

[Hirashio]

I fear for our children. I have known many people to talk to me or others with IM, Leet, and Text Talk in person, on paper and in a professional atmosphere. It's not something that should be celebrated, although yelling, cursing and screaming will do nothing but cause more problems. I can only hope that this fad fades and fades soon.  

[Natsuri]

Duchessrevolution

I've never used IM speak in an IM, much less on a school paper.

Neither have I. I never went into the whole "IM speak" since it was popular. cheese_whine  

[El General]

Bah. A curse upon those who use chatspeak.  

[chris123]

It's sad really, all these teenagers not understanding the difference between work and recreational time.  

[MadnessFreak]

No! gonk
I knew a friend who wrote his paper in HTML and Klingon, but THIS--
Blasphemy.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

Hirashio

I fear for our children. I have known many people to talk to me or others with IM, Leet, and Text Talk in person, on paper and in a professional atmosphere...

*Bangs her hand on her desk.* There is no decency! There is no propriety!  

[Punkghoul]

MadnessFreak

No! gonk
I knew a friend who wrote his paper in HTML and Klingon, but THIS--
Blasphemy.

Klingon? No way. You're friend kicks a**! bwahahaha cool

evil I cannot believe that people are praising and encouraging illiteracy and more importantly idiocy. Hurray! You're stupid and I'm proud of you! It comes as no shock that the last guy is from Raleigh. I live an hour from Raleigh... some seriously retarded people around here. stressed At least I can say that I'm not from this area... sweatdrop  

[Amaya84]

This is the truly disgusting part... sad


"Some educators, like David Warlick, 54, of Raleigh, N.C., see the young burgeoning band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has authored three books on technology in the classroom. "  

[Natsuri]

raineoftears

This is the truly disgusting part... sad


"Some educators, like David Warlick, 54, of Raleigh, N.C., see the young burgeoning band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has authored three books on technology in the classroom. "

If all this text-talk gets out of hand and creeps inside the mainstream, it'll be all over for us literates! I, for one, can't imagine a world without complete sentences, correctly-placed punctuation, and spelling! scream

Next thing you know, they'll accept it even in spelling bees! The horror of it all. burning_eyes  

[Zyderic]

Indeed, literacy itself is under threat, but as long as us literates stick together, literacy will survive the harshest storm.