Is email a menace to the English language?
Happy New Year to all our readers!
Our first post of the year comes from the Times of Oman, which reports on a talk at the British Council given by Sidney Callis, a British communication specialist. According to the article, he asserts that emails and text messages are beyond his comprehension, as they do not follow any form or pattern, and these forms of communication have no place in business writing today.
What do you think? If you’ve ever written or received an email or text message with a sentence like “i dont no wot u r doing”, you more than likely know that it is shorthand for “I don’t know what you are doing”, and would write it correctly in any more formal correspondence. But what about ESL students who spend hours every day in chat rooms on the internet, who may get so used to this shorthand that they fail to learn or recognise correct grammar and spelling?
Does this type of language have a place in writing today, or is it just a menace to ESL students and teachers? Post your opinion below…
January 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I think it’s inevitable that with today’s technology and faster communication, people shorten their language when writing. Especially with text messages, as writing a full sentence would take far too long!
January 15th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
As Jamie had said “it’s inevitable”. However, I do see it causing a problem for English learners. Even today, as you sit at the computer typing away, you find it difficult to write complete sentences and words. But it’s not only in English. I spent about a year, teaching English in Chile and now I talk to a lot of people from there. I have found that in Spanish as well the shorthand is much more used (and much more confusing). I can see it causing a problem, especially for new English speakers.
In one of my classes, I taught about shorthand English used on Messenger and in chat. The students agreed that their written skills (in their own language) had worsened, but its just so hard to get away from. However, when we discussed that shorthand should only be used with friends, they agreed and said that they would not use it to send a Business letter of any kind with shorthand in it. I hope not!
June 14th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[…] you agree with Dr Collins? Or do you see mobile phones as a menace
February 13th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I see it as a menace… I’m an english teacher and work at an english learning site: Open English. I don’t think this type of writing has a place in writing today, it’s important that kids learn the difference between modern english and this type of “english”… It’s definitely a menace…