Is Texting Killing the English Language?
I should preface this whole review by saying it appears that 2 other people posted about this article last week and I clearly didn't notice. Sorry for the repeat!
The article above is about how texting does (or does not) affect written language. In the article, the author talks about how texting is much more of a spoken language that happens to be written down as apposed to a written language itself.
I found that point quite interesting because I have always thought about texting as another form of written language, because it is quite literally, written down. The author goes on to explain that language has been spoken for upwards of 80,000 years, whereas written language only dates back 5,500 years. And the way we write is very different than the way we speak. Which I had never considered, but I do write in a more formal manner than I speak.
The author does say that he does not believe that texting is having a negative affect on young student's writing but I tend to disagree with that. I think that many people will see texting the same way I do, as a written language. And that will translate directly to their school work. Their writing will be more casual with the potential for more shorthand that is seen in texts and on the internet. I do not believe that all students will be affected by text shorthand, but some definitely will.
I would like to see more studies done on the subject. I don't know if it would even be possible, but I would like to see a formal study done on how the written language has changed and if there could be a possible link drawn between text shorthand and the written language we see now.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Blog 3- Language Learning and Disabilities
http://www.ldonline.org/article/6366/
This article hypothesizes that there is a direct relationship between the learning of languages and learning disabilities. It explains that children who are considered "late talkers" may have other learning disabilities that contribute to the inability to communicate effectively at a young age.
Previous studies conducted on this theory, have only followed children to a certain age, in which the children have outgrown their communication delay. The study discussed in this article followed children starting at the age of 2, when they were labeled as "late talkers" all the way through the second grade. At first appearance, it followed the same lines as the previous study; the children were able to communicate effectively to their parents and teachers. However, the older the children became, the researchers began to notice a variety of things among the children from a lack of academic readiness to social skill deficits. And although, by the age of 5, the language disorder decreased, by 6-7, they began to notice reading disabilities.
It is not surprising that if we were to have a hard time learning to communicate in a language that we would naturally, also have a hard time reading and understanding that same language at some point in the future. But just because a child may have a learning delay early in life, does not guarantee they will have future problems. It simply provides the first clue that we may need to help our child more with difficulties they could face later in life.
This article hypothesizes that there is a direct relationship between the learning of languages and learning disabilities. It explains that children who are considered "late talkers" may have other learning disabilities that contribute to the inability to communicate effectively at a young age.
Previous studies conducted on this theory, have only followed children to a certain age, in which the children have outgrown their communication delay. The study discussed in this article followed children starting at the age of 2, when they were labeled as "late talkers" all the way through the second grade. At first appearance, it followed the same lines as the previous study; the children were able to communicate effectively to their parents and teachers. However, the older the children became, the researchers began to notice a variety of things among the children from a lack of academic readiness to social skill deficits. And although, by the age of 5, the language disorder decreased, by 6-7, they began to notice reading disabilities.
It is not surprising that if we were to have a hard time learning to communicate in a language that we would naturally, also have a hard time reading and understanding that same language at some point in the future. But just because a child may have a learning delay early in life, does not guarantee they will have future problems. It simply provides the first clue that we may need to help our child more with difficulties they could face later in life.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Blog 2- English Spelling
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/02/how-the-english-language-is-holding-kids-back/385291/
The article that I have picked for this week is an in-depth article about the way that English spellings affect students; specifically young students who are learning how to read and write the English language.
We all know that the English language as we know it is complicated. The morpheme rules that we follow are more like guidelines. There are so many words that do not fit into the typical guidelines of language and, as such, makes it a very difficult language to learn; especially when it comes to reading and writing the language. One of the things I found most interesting about this article is when the author talks about the English language, and how we cannot assume many word meanings or origins because there are too many unexpected sounds or things that appear to be prefixes, but actually aren't. What she specifically mentions is that because English is so memorization based, that we don't actually develop the cognitive ability to fully learn how to read or write the English language until the age of 8-10. Why is it then, that we put so much pressure on children as young as 4 to be able to read and understand what it is that they are reading?
Another interesting thing the author touched on was how long it takes to become a "fluent" reader and writer of English as opposed to many other languages. In Finland, it is not uncommon for a child to become a fluent reader in as short as 3 months! Most other European countries are right around a year or less. The United States, you ask? Three YEARS to master the written form of the language they have been speaking their whole lives.
And did you know that most of the "odd spellings" are not due to people trying new things, or wanting to be different. There are there because when the printing press was first invented used to print in English, it wasn't operated by English speakers, but rather by Belgians. Not only do they not know the language, so they won't correct mistakes, like bisy changed to busy, but they were also paid by the line, so they would throw in frivolous letters to "cushion the lines," changing frend to friend.
I absolutely agree with the article and the difficulties that come with learning English. I never personally remember struggling with reading comprehension, but I do remember when I was in first grade, and I was spending half the day in a Spanish classroom, I was asked to read things regularly, as with any classroom environment. I remember my teacher asking me to stay after class because she wanted me to read something to my other teacher in Spanish. It was about a paragraph long and I read it "perfectly," she told me. I had no idea what I was reading, but the fact is that I was able to read a paper in a language that I had only been familiar with for maybe 2 months. That would be impossible to do in English.
The article that I have picked for this week is an in-depth article about the way that English spellings affect students; specifically young students who are learning how to read and write the English language.
We all know that the English language as we know it is complicated. The morpheme rules that we follow are more like guidelines. There are so many words that do not fit into the typical guidelines of language and, as such, makes it a very difficult language to learn; especially when it comes to reading and writing the language. One of the things I found most interesting about this article is when the author talks about the English language, and how we cannot assume many word meanings or origins because there are too many unexpected sounds or things that appear to be prefixes, but actually aren't. What she specifically mentions is that because English is so memorization based, that we don't actually develop the cognitive ability to fully learn how to read or write the English language until the age of 8-10. Why is it then, that we put so much pressure on children as young as 4 to be able to read and understand what it is that they are reading?
Another interesting thing the author touched on was how long it takes to become a "fluent" reader and writer of English as opposed to many other languages. In Finland, it is not uncommon for a child to become a fluent reader in as short as 3 months! Most other European countries are right around a year or less. The United States, you ask? Three YEARS to master the written form of the language they have been speaking their whole lives.
And did you know that most of the "odd spellings" are not due to people trying new things, or wanting to be different. There are there because when the printing press was first invented used to print in English, it wasn't operated by English speakers, but rather by Belgians. Not only do they not know the language, so they won't correct mistakes, like bisy changed to busy, but they were also paid by the line, so they would throw in frivolous letters to "cushion the lines," changing frend to friend.
I absolutely agree with the article and the difficulties that come with learning English. I never personally remember struggling with reading comprehension, but I do remember when I was in first grade, and I was spending half the day in a Spanish classroom, I was asked to read things regularly, as with any classroom environment. I remember my teacher asking me to stay after class because she wanted me to read something to my other teacher in Spanish. It was about a paragraph long and I read it "perfectly," she told me. I had no idea what I was reading, but the fact is that I was able to read a paper in a language that I had only been familiar with for maybe 2 months. That would be impossible to do in English.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)