The rise of mobile and social has seen many benefits in our lives. The ability to send messages quickly to our friends by SMS or Facebook has taken the world by storm. Along with it we’ve seen a rise in shorthand acronyms and abbreviations used get our messages across with the least amount of characters possible. While these acronyms may be accepted (somewhat) when texting or using social media, this language is slowly making its way into our everyday lives—and used everywhere.
One issue with that this language is worming its way into the classroom. Kids have become so used to shorthand, that they are forgetting to use proper grammar at school. This habit often carries over to post-secondary, and often their professional lives.
Student’s are having a hard time with their English skills in university, and are using “chat speak” when filling out applications or writing resumes. Teachers are having an increasingly hard time trying to instill good writing skills, though thankfully, they remain persistent. Nobody wants to send their kids into the working world with poor writing skills.
Perhaps a secondary issue is when “texting talk” becomes a part of our verbal language. In all seriousness, how many times have you let a “LOL” or “WTF” slip in real life? Be honest.
One of the joys of texting and social media is that we don’t have to worry about our grammar or spelling, as long as our message is (semi) coherent, but let’s not forget to turn off our “text talk” button once we put our phones away.
