Fred Da Head
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2002
- Messages
- 959
- Reaction score
- 4
The shift away from proper language skills: a short analysis
Kids can't write. Heck, people my age can't write.
Now, it might be because I'm a French major (along with History) and I read a whole lot of books, but I have a lot of trouble respecting someone who rits lik diz n cnt spel prprly bcoz dey r so kewl. (For those who don't read retard: someone who writes like this and cannot spell properly because they are so cool.) Sure, if you're chatting on MSN you can use shorthand--if you really have to because you're chatting on MSN using your cell phone, or you're really pressed for time, or whatever reason. Same if you're speaking; I sound like a bloody valley person sometimes. (Working on that. I want to at least speak Mockney. Sure beats Newfie!)
There also appears to be some confusion regarding the use of paragraphs. More specifically, it appears as though people have forgotten that paragraphs even exist. After Holocaust-deniers, we have paragraph-deniers. People who write two pages of poorly worded, error-ridden excrement, without hitting the Enter key once.
To go back to the respect aspect of the question, now. I think if someone doesn't respect me enough to offer the most basic of courtesies by writing properly and legibly, I shouldn't respect them enough to even bother reading what they've written, let alone help them if they're asking for my help. Would you send a letter to your grandmother ritin lik diz n makin weird sntnce w/out ritin full word and usin propr gramr n spelin? I think not. So why disrespect everyone else by writing like a complete retard? Unless you're in elementary school--in which case you probably shouldn't be reading this--you have absolutely no reason to not write properly. This is especially true of university students. I can't imagine how many points some of these people lost just in terms of grammar/spelling/etc errors.
This brings me to my second subtopic: the root cause.
Now, I can't conclusively lay the blame on anyone; I'm not a sociologist and my knowledge of education theories is severely limited. However, I can theorize on a few possible culprits.
First, the education system. Like I said, I don't know about theories and I don't know about the various systems in place and all that jazz. What I do know, is that students coming out of high school seem to lack a basic set of language skills in their first language. While the cause might lay elsewhere, the education system is at fault if only for allowing students to graduate and go on to university while lacking those basic skills. If the education system enforced the need for language skills--grammar and spelling, at least--then the problem would at least start to go away. I'm fairly certain that if someone is told they will not graduate from high school because they cannot write properly, they will learn how to do so and apply those skills, if only they can get that minimum wage job at the factory, that requires a high school diploma as a minimum.
Second, the internet generation phenomena. The problem of being unable to write seems to have appeared in large part with the internet. Even the MTV generation, while they might have some trouble writing in an eloquent, more "elevated" language, have the basic skills to communicate in written form. They might have trouble conjugating (especially in French) or they might forget an "s" here or there, but they generally write somewhat properly. However, the generation immediately following the MTV generation--those of us who grew up with the internet, and those that are coming up after us--seems to have forgotten that beyond the wild world of "1337sp33k" and "msn speek," there is the real world where real people interact in the Queen's English and in French. (And in German, Spanish, and all the other languages, except msn speek.)
This poses a very serious problem. While Generation Xers and those of us who came either at the tail end of Generation X, or at the junction point between Generation X and the Internet Generation, have language skills, it is likely we will not reach the higher echelons of power within our productive lives. The previous generations will still cling to power and the GenXers will only seep through slowly; that seepage will accelerate and eventually people from my generation will start getting in, but that process will be limited. The Internet Generation, however, will come of age at a time where the previous generations will be getting out of power--most of today's politicians will be too old to stay in office. This is scary, because those men and women of the future will likely still have trouble writing effectively. How will they sign treaties, pass new laws, and generally run the world, if they can't even write a sentence without making some major mistakes? There are other problems the Internet Generation will face on it's way to power, but that's for another day.
Generally, the Internet Generation is at a crossroads between looking "kewl" while they're teenagers and learning the language skills they will need not only to enter the real world, but to lead it, decades later.
The third culprit, and the last, (it's the triumvirate of evil!) is the parents. Now, I know it's not easy being a parent in the twenty-first century. Or at the very least, I can imagine it being very difficult. That being said, there seems to be a paradigm shift between the parenting of old, which basically meant one of the parents stayed at home during the formative years and then sent the child to kindergarten when he/she was old enough and made sure the child learned basic skills and aptitudes to later apply them in elementary school and throughout high school, and to foster a thirst for learning, towards a new parenting based on nannies, sitting a baby in front of the TV, and generally being an absent parent. The surge in utterly mindless, useless made-for-toddlers TV is a good sign of this paradigm. After all, my generation had Carebears and Mr. Rogers. This generation has Tele Tubbies. We learned about morals and how to count and how to make finger puppets; they learn about how to roll around in astroturf--not even real grass--and look up at a computer-rendered sky that has a baby's face superimposed on the sun. We read Goosebumps and other such short, quality novels; they read Harry Potter LXXIV.
Parents are distancing themselves from raising their children. While I appreciate the need for both parents to work in many families, I don't know if I can understand the need to not take any time off for at least a year or two while the child grows up and learns to understand the world.
To sum up my parenting point, I think that parents of today, most likely due to the economic and societal paradigms of the twenty-first century, are not only raising fewer children than previous generations, furthering the lack of future employment, but they are also raising "lower-quality" children who, because of the various faults in parenting during their "most important years" (from birth to about five years old), will grow up to be less educated, less competent, and generally will make up a generation of lost souls. As I've pointed out, they'll be the ones who will have to rise and lead the countries in a few decades; I'm not sure I feel very good about that.
For those who have skimmed through this and only read the first few words of each paragraph, this is where you should start reading so you know what I said. First, kids, and even people my age, simply cannot write properly for the most part, and I find it disrespectful. Second, I theorized that there are three main culprits: the education system, the phenomena of the Internet Generation, and poor parenting. The education system does not value good writing skills as much as it should, the Internet Generation is growing up using MSN and not writing properly and will eventually end up leading--poorly--the world, and parents are distancing themselves from actually parenting and are raising a generation of illiterate, uncultured, generally apathetic children who will, like I said, lead the world. Something should be done, must be done, if we are to change the situation and not only have children and young adults who can read and write properly, but also who can think critically and understand the world enough to have a good grasp on its problems so that those problems might be addressed.
That is all. Thank you, good night, and God bless Canada.
------------------------------
I just thought this might spark some discussion. Also, I'm fine with being quoted elsewhere (though why anyone would do that is beyond me) as long as you ask for my permission, which I will generally grant as soon as you ask.
Kids can't write. Heck, people my age can't write.
Now, it might be because I'm a French major (along with History) and I read a whole lot of books, but I have a lot of trouble respecting someone who rits lik diz n cnt spel prprly bcoz dey r so kewl. (For those who don't read retard: someone who writes like this and cannot spell properly because they are so cool.) Sure, if you're chatting on MSN you can use shorthand--if you really have to because you're chatting on MSN using your cell phone, or you're really pressed for time, or whatever reason. Same if you're speaking; I sound like a bloody valley person sometimes. (Working on that. I want to at least speak Mockney. Sure beats Newfie!)
There also appears to be some confusion regarding the use of paragraphs. More specifically, it appears as though people have forgotten that paragraphs even exist. After Holocaust-deniers, we have paragraph-deniers. People who write two pages of poorly worded, error-ridden excrement, without hitting the Enter key once.
To go back to the respect aspect of the question, now. I think if someone doesn't respect me enough to offer the most basic of courtesies by writing properly and legibly, I shouldn't respect them enough to even bother reading what they've written, let alone help them if they're asking for my help. Would you send a letter to your grandmother ritin lik diz n makin weird sntnce w/out ritin full word and usin propr gramr n spelin? I think not. So why disrespect everyone else by writing like a complete retard? Unless you're in elementary school--in which case you probably shouldn't be reading this--you have absolutely no reason to not write properly. This is especially true of university students. I can't imagine how many points some of these people lost just in terms of grammar/spelling/etc errors.
This brings me to my second subtopic: the root cause.
Now, I can't conclusively lay the blame on anyone; I'm not a sociologist and my knowledge of education theories is severely limited. However, I can theorize on a few possible culprits.
First, the education system. Like I said, I don't know about theories and I don't know about the various systems in place and all that jazz. What I do know, is that students coming out of high school seem to lack a basic set of language skills in their first language. While the cause might lay elsewhere, the education system is at fault if only for allowing students to graduate and go on to university while lacking those basic skills. If the education system enforced the need for language skills--grammar and spelling, at least--then the problem would at least start to go away. I'm fairly certain that if someone is told they will not graduate from high school because they cannot write properly, they will learn how to do so and apply those skills, if only they can get that minimum wage job at the factory, that requires a high school diploma as a minimum.
Second, the internet generation phenomena. The problem of being unable to write seems to have appeared in large part with the internet. Even the MTV generation, while they might have some trouble writing in an eloquent, more "elevated" language, have the basic skills to communicate in written form. They might have trouble conjugating (especially in French) or they might forget an "s" here or there, but they generally write somewhat properly. However, the generation immediately following the MTV generation--those of us who grew up with the internet, and those that are coming up after us--seems to have forgotten that beyond the wild world of "1337sp33k" and "msn speek," there is the real world where real people interact in the Queen's English and in French. (And in German, Spanish, and all the other languages, except msn speek.)
This poses a very serious problem. While Generation Xers and those of us who came either at the tail end of Generation X, or at the junction point between Generation X and the Internet Generation, have language skills, it is likely we will not reach the higher echelons of power within our productive lives. The previous generations will still cling to power and the GenXers will only seep through slowly; that seepage will accelerate and eventually people from my generation will start getting in, but that process will be limited. The Internet Generation, however, will come of age at a time where the previous generations will be getting out of power--most of today's politicians will be too old to stay in office. This is scary, because those men and women of the future will likely still have trouble writing effectively. How will they sign treaties, pass new laws, and generally run the world, if they can't even write a sentence without making some major mistakes? There are other problems the Internet Generation will face on it's way to power, but that's for another day.
Generally, the Internet Generation is at a crossroads between looking "kewl" while they're teenagers and learning the language skills they will need not only to enter the real world, but to lead it, decades later.
The third culprit, and the last, (it's the triumvirate of evil!) is the parents. Now, I know it's not easy being a parent in the twenty-first century. Or at the very least, I can imagine it being very difficult. That being said, there seems to be a paradigm shift between the parenting of old, which basically meant one of the parents stayed at home during the formative years and then sent the child to kindergarten when he/she was old enough and made sure the child learned basic skills and aptitudes to later apply them in elementary school and throughout high school, and to foster a thirst for learning, towards a new parenting based on nannies, sitting a baby in front of the TV, and generally being an absent parent. The surge in utterly mindless, useless made-for-toddlers TV is a good sign of this paradigm. After all, my generation had Carebears and Mr. Rogers. This generation has Tele Tubbies. We learned about morals and how to count and how to make finger puppets; they learn about how to roll around in astroturf--not even real grass--and look up at a computer-rendered sky that has a baby's face superimposed on the sun. We read Goosebumps and other such short, quality novels; they read Harry Potter LXXIV.
Parents are distancing themselves from raising their children. While I appreciate the need for both parents to work in many families, I don't know if I can understand the need to not take any time off for at least a year or two while the child grows up and learns to understand the world.
To sum up my parenting point, I think that parents of today, most likely due to the economic and societal paradigms of the twenty-first century, are not only raising fewer children than previous generations, furthering the lack of future employment, but they are also raising "lower-quality" children who, because of the various faults in parenting during their "most important years" (from birth to about five years old), will grow up to be less educated, less competent, and generally will make up a generation of lost souls. As I've pointed out, they'll be the ones who will have to rise and lead the countries in a few decades; I'm not sure I feel very good about that.
For those who have skimmed through this and only read the first few words of each paragraph, this is where you should start reading so you know what I said. First, kids, and even people my age, simply cannot write properly for the most part, and I find it disrespectful. Second, I theorized that there are three main culprits: the education system, the phenomena of the Internet Generation, and poor parenting. The education system does not value good writing skills as much as it should, the Internet Generation is growing up using MSN and not writing properly and will eventually end up leading--poorly--the world, and parents are distancing themselves from actually parenting and are raising a generation of illiterate, uncultured, generally apathetic children who will, like I said, lead the world. Something should be done, must be done, if we are to change the situation and not only have children and young adults who can read and write properly, but also who can think critically and understand the world enough to have a good grasp on its problems so that those problems might be addressed.
That is all. Thank you, good night, and God bless Canada.
------------------------------
I just thought this might spark some discussion. Also, I'm fine with being quoted elsewhere (though why anyone would do that is beyond me) as long as you ask for my permission, which I will generally grant as soon as you ask.
