One of the strengths of the English language is its flexibility; we English-speakers are an omnivorous bunch, and we snarf up words from many other languages. It is widely believed that English contains nearly a million words; French, in contrast, has fewer than 100,000. We English-speakers love to steal words as well as create new ones. I don’t think this is a problem – I think having a vibrant, flexible language is a strength. Think of how much more precisely we can express ourselves!
Chatspeak is simply another twist in our languages long history. Chatspeak is a fun and playful slang, not the end of proper verbal and written expression that worrywarts think. To the argument that teens who constantly use chatspeak will be rendered unable to communicate in proper English, I would like to quote Greg Monfils: “We teach them different languages all the time. We don’t fear that a Spanish class will diminish a student’s command of English. And a teenager experimenting with a sprinkling of profanities in her conversation with peers will not suddenly forget how to converse properly with her grandmother.” (2007)
English is pretty tough, and can ably withstand – and probably will co-opt – the threat of chatspeak. As long as we Language Arts teachers to our jobs teaching proper grammar and writing (and requiring formal work to be correct), our students will be able to switch from English to chatspeak with no problems.
I totally agree that English is an extremely complicated language. New words are created every day. With chatspeak, I fear that kids will carry it over too much into their daily lives. Even if you as a Language Arts teacher do your job and teach them properly, the students will still use chatspeak. Personally, I can't stand it when some of the kids I coach speak to me in chatspeak. They need to understand when it is appropriate and when regular English should be used.
ReplyDeleteI agree that English language is a very difficult because of many words that more than any languages in the world. And how I know English grammar from time to time have changed.
ReplyDeleteIt is one problem for English learners and for English teachers too.
Chatspeak is not good for newcomer English learners because there are many people from different countries and different accents.
I agree with you Amy. It's up to us Language Arts teachers, and all other teachers, really, to make sure that students understand what appropriate, standard English is. Slang, and especially chatspeak, shows us how flexible language is and how much fun we can have with this flexibility. When we understand that our language will change and evolve no matter how rigid we try to be with our rules, I think we'll start having a lot more fun with it.
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