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ESL forum >
Message board > Text messages
Text messages
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manonski (f)
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I believe that as teachers, we have to teach our children when it �s ok to use text messages and when it �s not. That printable could be used to start a great discussion with our students and develop their critical judgement.
Technology is part of our lives. It �s up to us to adapt and teach our students how to properly use it.
On a personal note: I don �t use text messages. I prefer to talk in person to a person and by the time I �m done writing text message, I would have done it quicker by leaving a voice mail. |
16 Jun 2009
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Ivona
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"And I also stress the importance of being able to write properly ( �properly � meaning the old-fashioned way :)"
I myself believe that it �s important that the ss write �properly �, because using the abbreviations and text messages shrinks their vocabulary, instead of expanding it. I have a difficulty of making the majority of my ss to give me replies to my Qs (even in L1) that are longer than 1 or 2 words. Children read a lot less than before, they use their speech organ a lot less, all because of the technology. What we should do is make the ss see the importance of writing, NOT by forbidding them to use abbreviations, but by showing them other options so that they can choose in the end. And i believe they would choose the latter. I know it. Been there, done that...
(Ok, will give some time for others to post, and then i �ll ramble on. I �m idle today, sooo ...  )
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16 Jun 2009
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libertybelle
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Everthing in its own place.
Text messaging is for mobile/cell phones, not in essays or English classes.
L
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16 Jun 2009
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verybouncyperson
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Ivona - I saw the Ken Robinson lecture...it was FANTASTIC!
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16 Jun 2009
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ishu
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I personally don �t hate abbreviations, and I teach my students both formal and informal ways to write an e-mail / text message. I wouldn �t want a student of mine to feel bad because he didn �t understand a message after studying English for quite a while.
Language is a living thing. Some cells of it die while some new cells are produced. And it feels just natural that it changes form, and we, as language teachers, have to be adaptable to the changes. We all know that we don �t speak the English of 1800s. And new generations will not be speaking the English of 1990s-2000s.
And I don �t understand why we don �t want to teach our students abbreviations while we use so many of them ourselves: Ss, L1, Qs etc.  |
16 Jun 2009
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Zora
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I can �t stand "chat speak" ... which is similar to text messaging... it �s all abbreviated forms of English and honestly Ivona, it �s laziness and not "pull one over the parents" as you might think.
You see most of the SMS stuff is what we call a "Rebus" ... "r" can be "are, our" - "b" is "be, bee" "8" is the "ait" sound... it �s nothing new... and also some short hand has been mixed into this... and most adults can easily make out the stuff.
To me, it all boils down to laziness and I cringe when I am on forums and see that stuff...
Now, do I teach it... yes, I do and will. It �s something the students enjoy. Is it something I would allow my students to use in a chat or on email? No.
Like Liberty, I believe that everything has a time and place...
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16 Jun 2009
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Ivona
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Manon, you should have seen me while watching the video. With every frame i was nodding and saying outloud �uh huh �(=exactly) ... �uh huh � ... �uh huh � ... and i still haven �t finished watching.
I won �t repeat myself and will direct you to this thread (apologies to those who have already seen it) to see what i wrote there as an intro ... On second thoughts, i �ll copy and paste ... Ahhhh, there �s too much. Here �s the thread, lol!
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16 Jun 2009
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Ivona
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@ Zora
I can say that with me it �s laziness, lol! BUT, i do believe that the young find it interesting as well. It �s not possible to play with Serbian that much, because we write as we speak, i.e. phonetically (one sound = one phoneme), but it IS with English and once it was �discovered �(EDIT: by the young, after being invented by the adults), it became a fashion. Again, abbreviations are widely used among the young, so again, it �s their own creation/language and we should not try to deprive them of it. It would result in a kind of a rebellion (as my dear Gully put it). But as the video that Manonski shared said (thank you, manonski, for digging out this gold!), we should "SEDUCE" them into the old way and show them that it could be fun as well. Maybe you got the feeling from my first posts that i was FOR using abbreviations and teaching them widely, but i was just saying that by forbidding or ignoring sth nothing is achieved. It �s by embracing and showing other options (good, bad) that you get results.
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16 Jun 2009
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fede117
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maybe it is not the standard english lesson - however I think people shoud be taught this type of things. This is real life and, unfortunately, it �s the language that changes too.
your students might face the situation where they get a txt message or an email from an English native speaker and they might not be able to understand a thing!
I think abbrevations are part of the English language and in some ways they should be taught- maybe not with children but I don �t see why not with adults.
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16 Jun 2009
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