Text Speak and Slang in School/Uni/Exams?

[sprogjcrisis]

So, an interesting topic came up in English and that was whether 'Text Speak' should be permitted in exams? The question has been brought up before with the UK Exam Chiefs, but it was never carried out; now, it's become noticeable that informal language is more commonly accepted in exams and school. For example: instead of "The poem suggests that the writer is trying to convey her views on feminism and sexism" I've seen people write (in practice exams) "The poem shows that the writer is trying to show her views on feminism + sexism"

Notice what's wrong there? It's a fairly reasonable change, but the '+' makes it informal. I've also seen people use smileys, and abbreviations ect. for taking notes down, for writing paragraphs or using them in essays. It has become more acceptable, and some exam boards will not mark you down for using these abbreviations or slang (I wouldn't say the same for emoticons, but its clear it could be heading that way).

I personally think that this should not be allowed. Yes, people evolve and so do languages, but this is just making children lazy and it is having a poor effect on their language skills.

Here's a video which basically supports what I'm trying to say (and mocks it as well)
http://www.youtube.com/embed/eYyN_6GmzWI

What are your views?

[Mykka]

I agree with you. They should not be allowed at all.
One thing is to use them while writing an email to your friends, talking on msn and such. But for an essay, exam...School/Uni/Work?? It's stupid.
It shows that people are getting lazy trying to make things 'easier', as well as it shows people are getting more...informal. I will not say impolite, since it does not necessarily means that.
If they will allow people to use such 'language', why bother and teach them any grammar on the first place?
When I was still in high school, I saw once a girl write part of the exam with abbreviations(U instead of you, i.e.). I thought it was awful how she would use them in the exam, and how she was doing that without realizing.
I dont know about emoticons/smilies and such.....but if this all starts to be accepted, then why should the kids even learn how to write properly?
I know I am not expert, and always make lots of mistakes, but one thing is make mistakes and other is to be lazy on the way you write....

So yeah, really think this should not be allowed..

[sprogjcrisis]

I agree, I was marking a friend of mine's essay (a thing we do in history all the time to help us understand the layout) and she was using 'u' instead of 'you' and '+' instead of 'and'. I literally scribbled and circled with red pen all over it, and I noticed she had been doing it in her other work because that's how she talks with chat. It is obvious that this is becomming more acceptable and the idea of 'decent' and 'basic' reading and writing is quickly becomming forgotten. It is like a whole knew script is being invented, but instead of writing like "I love you" we'll be writing "i <3 u" I might have to go and live on the moon if that happens...

[Nubi]

I agree that text speak and slang should not be used in any kind of exams, projects, etc. since those kinds of things are supposed to be serious and kept professional. One of the points of schools and universities is so that a person can practice professionalism, maturity and discipline - qualities that you would need in the workplace. Writing in text speak totally defeats that purpose I think. It doesn't teach you these qualities at all.

Writing "+" however is okay for me (as long as it's not an exam where "+" actually means something else). After all, if you write "+" really quickly in a loop, it looks similar to "&" which still legitimately means "and".

[alex1_phang3]

My stand is it should never be allowed.

My main argument is that text speak is very unprofessional and can be misleading.

Many journals in studies, news, literature are written in proper language. If lets say you are learning English Literature, it is required that your English abilities are tested, even though the understanding of the literature you are studying is important as well. The thing about this is, although it is not required that you use strictly proper English everyday, it wouldn't kill you to at least communicate properly during an assessment on your abilities.

Comparing the text speak with the relatively well established English language, it is impossible to use text speak on official writings without causing severe problems. For example policies, business writings, agreements, etc. The things about text speak is that every language has its own text speak, that would only make things more difficult for the examiners as they might mean different things in different contexts. This is made worse by using smiley that are not very commonplace, like this :{I .

Some might argue that it is hard to communicate emotions and tone through text alone, thus the smiley and text speak can help in establishing the proper atmosphere and context. However it should be highlighted that no such thing existed in official writings and yet it still worked perfectly. I admit that my English vocabulary is not as wide as a normal English speaking person, and using smiley and such does convey a bit more convenient. But in exams especially, this only makes people think that you are taking them lightly because it is an official thing. The gap between the examiner and you, that makes them frown at your text speak for if it was allowed in exams, all teachers would have to learn them too, and arguments about which ones should be allowed or not in exams will only waste time and mess up the syllabus.


*will write more when I am back*

[Ame]

Meh. I loathe text/slang. I try to type to the best of my abilities on the phone, or in chat, or private message, etc. The most I'll really do is LOL or something along those lines. However, I find it really ridiculous and outrageous even to hear of this type of stuff in EXAMS. I wouldn't even use any type of slang in person, let alone school because I'd be afraid of it diminishing my intellect, and my teacher's view of me as a student.

I agree it's unprofessional, and it shows a lack of effort and discipline as a student.

[sprogjcrisis]

I agree Yoko-san. I can't stand it when people at school go "Lol" or "B.R.B." It drives me insane.

I think formal language, with proper grammar and spelling should be accepted more. I find it strange in Model United Nations (and somewhat amusing) when the delegates speak publicly and can't even string a sentence together without some abrreviation or slang. I think it should not be accepted, if it were the real United Nations, it would have to be formal and nothing else.

As alex said, it is misleading. There are many misleading interpretations in the English language alone (example: 'freedom fighters' and 'terrorists') and to bring emoticons and slang into it is worsenning the problem. If we can't read journals and articles (which is what the outcome will be if slang becomes more acceptable) then I think it would be impossible to anaylse or understand them.

[Ame]

I cannot believe that people in your school want that to become an actual part of the examination linguo. And you are right, English slang is too much to keep up with. Since the actual language is already hard enough to learn, keeping up with all the changes (especially since it's the most popular language in the world), is just too hard for non-English speakers. =/

[74|\||\|3R]

I tend to agree with the consensus that we shouldn't allow text/slang lingo in exams, But the flip side is that English is a language that has, and always will be in Flux. How we speak express and interact with each other is affected by the world around us, and as things Change the ways we express ourselves change as well. While it is true that text speak breaks from convention. (and i nearly cried when i saw they were adding symbols as words in the dictionary) I kinda understand how things are moving. The main issue i see is because of the rate and speed communication takes place now adays, these chages that... would have been more subtle in the past are happening at an accelerated pace and the world wants to keep up. As far as schools go... i dont think they belong anywhere in this race. We go to school to learn what is the proper way to do things, not the easiest. To build in our experience and learn things we might not know. Language is a Beautiful thing, and words allow us to express ourselves in Infinite ways and we should be embracing learning how to use this knowledge to our fullest capacity, and not short Changing it through the use of cheap emoticons and slang tricks. *Hope this made sense*

Though i will laugh if i ever see a doctoral discertation with ;) on the cover. xD

[sprogjcrisis]

I agree with this; if we take Greek for example, they have their own language, their own way of writing it ect. and I think the same goes for English. We need to embrace the whole language, and like you said, not 'short change it' because it is a means of expressing ideas, emotions and other things. I think with slang a lot of it is 'lost in translation'