Language has been in existence for around 150,000 years. However, the language that was originally spoken has changed as humans have evolved. Language is defined as speech, and because texting on a cell phone is becoming more popular it is now being recognized as “finger speech”. Although texting is looked down on as means of formal communication, and most often associated with being a sloppy language, texting is beginning to be noticed as new style of dialect. Before watching John McWhorter’s Ted Talk I didn’t really think much about texting language, other than the fact that I use it in my everyday life and can’t remember a time when texting did not exist. My feelings about text messaging reflect both my age and social background. Each one …show more content…
McWhorter claims that texting is developing into a new dialect, which means if someone can use the texting “slang” as well as write using correct language grammar, they should be considered bilingual. He also states that texting is loose structured and is “finger speech,” which is becoming the new way of writing. McWhorter also emphasizes that language is continuously changing, which is why texting is not killing language but evolving it to fit modern technology and communication. There have been multiple times that I, myself, have misinterpreted what someone has communicated through a text message. On the other hand, I disagree with Ryan Lytle’s statement that miscommunication is due to the idea that their communication knowledge is limited. In my experiences with miscommunication in a text, it is most often the tone of the message that is misinterpreted rather then the text itself. There are many factors that can lead to miscommunication when texting. There are many different opinions focused around texting. Although, the fact of the matter is that language is constantly changing, and texting is becoming a popular, advanced language. Texting is not killing language, but instead it is improving language to fit our daily
In Jane McGonigal’s Ted Talk, “The game that can give you ten extra years of life” explains how she created a game called “Jane the Concussion Slayer” to help her overcome a concussion that didn’t heal properly. McGonigal describes to her audience the different levels and power-ups she created to make herself feel better. In doing so, she believed it helped her tackle challenges with more creativity, determination, and optimism. McGonigal then concludes her speech and challenges her audience to create their own game to add years to their lives. Taking away from this video, I have decided to create my own game so I can have a good and productive fall semester by creating “Power Points” to help me stay an organized and determined college student.
Three years ago, linguist John McWhorter spoke at a Ted Talk conference about whether texting is killing language and went so far as to question the definition of language itself. His video, “John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!” distinguished to the reader the difference between writing and speaking and how texting was one in the form of another. Texting, he said, is a way of writing as one speaks, or specifically fingered speech, rather than as many believe, a mutilated version of the English language. According to McWhorter, texting is becoming a second language for many people, and those who do text are actually, in a sense, being bilingual. Texting itself is not very different from a foreign language, other than for its strong
Although, some might say texting is changing the English language for the better in fact it is actually changing it for the worse because of how difficult it is to decipher the shortened meanings.
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
“Our generation doesn't ring the doorbell. They text or call to say they're outside,” this line is from one of the well-known social networks, Tweeter, which shows how the way of communication has change in this modern life. According to 2013 statistics by Business Insider, in United States alone, smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831 texts (Cocotas). Nowadays, technology such as text messaging has practically replaced traditional face to face communication among the society primarily in young generations because texting allows messages to be sent fast and effortless. In order to quickly type what they are trying to say in text messaging, people are frequently using textspeak; the language created by using abbreviation rather than complete words. Based on this phenomenon, David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales has published an article entitled ‘2b or not 2b?’ in the Guardian on July 5, 2008 comes out with the research and studies that state texting can actually improve the literacy of children and create creativity of writing. However, by observing more critically, texting do decrease a person’s ability to switch between textspeak and the normal rules of grammar and adversely affect formal writing and conversational skills.
Mr. McWhorter has shared in his speech, of few language usage that has been developed through texting, although I am not certain we can use the term “sophisticated”, but nonetheless it is a creative development in language use. In the speech he mentioned the usage of “LOL” in a conversation, I myself is guilty of using this abbreviation, and I can say I am not actually “laughing out loud” every time I used it. Another common texting abbreviation that has been using in real-time conversation is “OMG”, instead saying the whole phrase “oh my god”, I have heard people using “OMG” in real-life, and I myself also am guilty of using “OMG” sometime in real-life. I agreed with Mr. McWhorter, the language of texting has evolved and become part of
Overall texting is making wide strides in many fields to help bridge communication gaps and unite peers in the simplest form
Is texting really killing our language? Or are we allowing texting to kill our language? There are many ways to use texting, maybe just the ways some of us are using texting is killing our language. According to John Mcwhorter texting is writing as we speak. What he means by that statement is that we talk how we text or visa versa, basically what he's saying is that texting is used more for our regular day language than our professional language. When we are talking we don't think to punctuate or anything of that cause, we do the same thing when we’re texting, there is barely anyone that will use proper language to text their friends, nowadays we use slang words in our text like saying ima, instead of saying i'm going to or like saying ttyl,
Step onto any college campus and take a look around. You will find clumps of students standing around in circles, phones in hand, typing away. What is it they are doing? Texting. Ever since the first text message was sent in 1993, the use of text messaging as a means of communication has spread like wild fire, especially amongst the adolescent generation. And with this new form of communication a new language has appeared; text-speak, the shortening of common words into abbreviations and acronyms (Drouin 49). While texting and the text-speak language seem to have been welcomed by many, what affect is this new technology having on the way we communicate? Is it possible that texting is negatively affecting our ability to use formal written communication, or is this idea just a myth perpetuated by negative media attention? And what changes has texting brought to the way we communicate person-to person? Are these changes positive, negative, or perhaps a mixture of both?
As you walk around just take the second to notice that almost everyone you passed is quickly twiddling their thumbs across their phone screen. Ding. Someone’s iPhone just received a new text, two-seconds later, Swoosh. Did you figure out what the title New Age English Language is yet? Yes, you are correct, texting. Since the first text message was sent on December 3, 1992, our English language has been growing and evolving and it is not stopping yet. Critics will claim that texting is destroying our English language as a whole. These critics do not understand that texting has formed from our modern day english. When thinking of texting, many fail to see that texting has become one of the newest form of the english language. In order to have
Text messaging is damaging our literacy and communication skills as a society. Calling someone on the phone or writing them a letter is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. There is a new language that is being learned and not taught across the globe. It is the language of Textese, and it has quickly consumed the lives of millions across the world. There will always be the protector of language arts. These are the shrinking number of people everyone knows, that will continue to handwrite letters and sign them with proper English and etiquette. It may be as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend or relative. It may be even simpler than that, in that people put forth an effort to talk to the person sitting next to or across from you and engage them in a conversation. Texting and textisms have become so common and widespread that using proper English, correct spelling, and full sentences is also becoming a thing of the past. People that constantly use text and instant messaging may have difficulty with literacy and expressing themselves in writing form. The research shows that text messaging has deteriorated how we communicate and express ourselves because textisms have become an easier and quicker form of communication that has affected literacy in children and adults.
Critics claim that “texting language” is destroying English. Commonly, when people text they do not take advantage of proper grammar, and they will use shortcuts to write common words and phrases such as, “ you” and “are” by writing “U” and “R”. They claim that this makes people more likely to use poor grammar and spelling even in intense situations when eloquent writing is critical. However, texting was not meant to represent people’s mastery of language. It was meant to be split-second conversation and socialization over a distance.
Texting is not killing language and it is a new language and form of speech. The video, “Txtng is killing language. JK!!!” proves that. Many people think that language has gotten more imperfect lately due to texting, but there has been proof of people having issues with their writing skills since back to 63 AD. For example, John McWhorter (the speaker in the video) says that in 1956 an English professor said, “Many do not know the alphabet or multiplication table, cannot write grammatically, and seem to have been trained to hate mental exercise...often they cannot read intelligently, and dislike any reading.” This is proof that even people from the mid-1900s were complaining about students not writing well, just like today and they did not
Communication is the simple “process of acting on information,” but communication is a lot more complex than that. Communication comes in varies categories and can be misunderstood if the message is not clear. Verbal and non-verbal communication is a great example where an issue can occur—if the source transmits a message that is not very well developed, then the receiver might interpret the message in a different context than originally intended. In my experience, verbal and non-verbal communication can be misinterpreted quite often. Texting is the most common abstract form of verbal communication—when someone responds with a single word like, “ok, or cool” to a very long text message, that
How does texting affect people’s day to day life? Text messaging can affect a person’s social skills, writing skills, and driving skills. They use inventive spelling and abbreviations. As most teenagers get used to short texting, some of their grades dropped due to the spelling errors they make. Many teenagers get used to wing abbreviations that they write that way.