I like the fact that the focus is on descriptive language rather than prescriptive. Being a linguist myself I stronlgy support this view as well. It is also something I wish to teach my students. There is not just formal standard language which is acceptable, BUT if my students wish to use jargon or slang, they have to know when it is appropriate.
I wonder whether it would be useful to create „texting-pals“ similar to pen-pals, so students can use the media they are using on a daily basis anyway in informal language learning.
I strongly support the statement of “texting language” not being harmful to (formal) language but being a dialect.
In a way, all people speak different languages even if none of them is foreign – we speak (and write) completely different depending on who we communicate with and via which medium.
So, I really welcome the idea of not neccessarily sticking to formal language all the time but rather to teach different styles of language for different occasions.
I am not sure that I would consider texting a dialect but maybe a certain register. The more able and competent I am (or become) as the speaker of a certain language, the more registers I will often have access to. If I am part of a team of gardeners with only primary school education, I will speak differently than when I am taking part in a university course. When I engage in role play with my five-year-old, I will use language differently than when I talk to the insurance agent on the phone. When I text my friend, I use language differently than when I write an email even to that same friend.
And me, too, I appreciate respecting these different ways of using language and having learners find out that they may or may not be appropriate in a given situation.
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4 Comments
I like the fact that the focus is on descriptive language rather than prescriptive. Being a linguist myself I stronlgy support this view as well. It is also something I wish to teach my students. There is not just formal standard language which is acceptable, BUT if my students wish to use jargon or slang, they have to know when it is appropriate.
I wonder whether it would be useful to create „texting-pals“ similar to pen-pals, so students can use the media they are using on a daily basis anyway in informal language learning.
I strongly support the statement of “texting language” not being harmful to (formal) language but being a dialect.
In a way, all people speak different languages even if none of them is foreign – we speak (and write) completely different depending on who we communicate with and via which medium.
So, I really welcome the idea of not neccessarily sticking to formal language all the time but rather to teach different styles of language for different occasions.
I am not sure that I would consider texting a dialect but maybe a certain register. The more able and competent I am (or become) as the speaker of a certain language, the more registers I will often have access to. If I am part of a team of gardeners with only primary school education, I will speak differently than when I am taking part in a university course. When I engage in role play with my five-year-old, I will use language differently than when I talk to the insurance agent on the phone. When I text my friend, I use language differently than when I write an email even to that same friend.
And me, too, I appreciate respecting these different ways of using language and having learners find out that they may or may not be appropriate in a given situation.