In today’s society there are many technological advances that have contributed to advanced communication. While these are great things to have and can help people communicate across the globe, they have become a hindrance to critical thinking. With the advancement of technology throughout the world people are able to think less while still “functioning” as a human being. Literacy is thrown to the wayside while texting “lingo” runs rampant. Why read a book when you can watch the movie? Students are becoming less interested in language, reading, and writing and more involved with surfing the web for answers. This shift in the value of literacy opens the world up to many dangers that if not confronted and demolished could lead to a society unable …show more content…
“Constantly ‘the average American’ is surrounded by premeditated language, in newspapers and magazines, on signs and billboards, on TV and radio” (Berry). Words are shortened in texts to “save time” and tweets are limited to a 140 characters. Other social media, like Snapchat, not only limits the amount of characters but also encourages the use of images instead of words. Images have replaced conversation; moreover, all of these limitations will cause people to limit their thoughts. Communication is diminishing in a world slowly throwing away the importance of words. Berry notices this when he says, “We must know a better language. We must speak, and teach our children to speak, a language precise and articulate and lively enough to tell the truth about the world as we know it” (Berry). The world needs to start a change now and cast off the condensing of language so that they may teach their children to love words. When someone loves language it helps them cultivate an appreciation for literacy. With this love, people can start to bring back the language and raise up a nation of critical
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
In today’s society many technological advances have contributed to advanced communication. While these are advantageous and can improve communication across the globe, they have become a hindrance to critical thinking. With the advancement of technology throughout the world human beings are able to think less while still “functioning.” Literacy is thrown to the wayside and texting “lingo” runs rampant. Why read a book when you can watch the movie? Students are becoming less interested in language, reading, and writing and more involved with surfing the web for answers. This shift in the value of literacy opens the world up to many dangers that if not confronted and demolished could lead to a society unable to think for themselves.
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.
Unlike Mr. Gopnik, I would be lying if I referred to myself as “smartphone-loving” or claimed I have a Twitter account—I’m afraid merely checking my email and reading the news online are the upper limits of my internet capabilities. But what I do have is grandchildren, and as I have observed, Twitter and online chatting in general is simply destroying the beauty of the English language and replacing it with a multitude of abbreviations and slang. On the internet, a fast reply which makes you sound cool is more important than a well-written one with correct spelling and grammar. The issue has deteriorated so much that ‘textspeak’ has transferred from online to real life, and to my horror you may often hear young people today say “LOL” instead of actually laughing, or “hashtag YOLO” instead of something which sounds remotely
In the article “Clive Thompson on the New Literacy,” writer Clive Thompson argues that the widespread use of technology and social media does not make kids illiterate and unable to form coherent sentences, but instead, keeps them actively writing and learning. Thompson’s article is based off of a study done by Andrea Lunsford, a writing professor at Stanford University. Thompson agrees with Lunsford that the use of social media and the Internet allow students to be creative and get better at writing. In his article, Thompson quotes John Sutherland, an English professor at University College of London, to inform the audience of the opposite side of the argument. He states, “Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have
Many teachers believe, as James Billington, Librarian of Congress, suggested, young American’s SMS communication may be damaging “the basic unit of human thought – the sentence.” (Pew Internet, 2009) However, the claim that use of text talk may be damaging children’s literacy is disputed by Clare Wood, Emma Jackson, Beverly Plester, and Lucy Wilde (2009), who claim texting allows children to experiment with language, which may enhance the development of skills used in the acquisition of literacy. They demonstrate understanding of how words can be manipul...
sender and the other is the receiver. The importance of communication is how the sender expresses
Critical thinking is taking the time to analyze and research everyday situations in order to know how to deal with them. From authors to senators thinking critically is a must. According to Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder in “The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking” “Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated” (Paul and Elder 4). Thinking critically is not easy and it is not supposed to be, which makes it difficult for the younger generations to accomplish it or even understand why it is so important. The age of critical thinking is dying and we need to take steps in order to instill Universal Intellectual Standards into our schools curriculums, which promotes methods of questioning clarity, logic and accuracy (Paul and Elder 10).
Language. It is a sign of who we are and where we come from. As language defines us, so does it unite us, but it can also impose barriers that drive us apart. As our society aggressively pursues globalization, individuals who maintain cultural sensitivity and strive for effective communication despite language barriers will be an increasingly important commodity; individuals who can also pass the gift of adept communication to others will be invaluable. On the eve of my college graduation, the culmination of four years ' immersion in language and communication and the beginning of a lifetime of educating others in these disciplines, I feel increasingly the weight of
The Importance of Communication & nbsp; I believe that one of my strengths lies in the way I communicate and deal with children. I think that we must become active listeners in order to understand each other. During my internship with the Institute for Social Justice, I worked with inmates on research for alternative social models of punishment. In order to do the job effectively, I needed to empathize with the inmates so that I could understand their concerns and needs and remedy any self-destructive conduct they exhibit. The work also involved an all out hunt on my part to place these inmates into environments and programs that would prove healthy for them. & nbsp ; I maintained a working relationship with my friends at the Institute and checked their progress weekly. I believe that the power to empathize, or the ability to put yourself in someone else's place begins with an open mind. When I say that we must become active listeners in order to understand one another, I mean to say that there are subtle movements in our speech, certain words that we use, certain utterances that are not directed towards us, certain circumstances unrevealed to us. We must endeavor to in my studies in your department. & nbsp;
Language is a form of verbal communication via words and its pronunciation that is used and comprehended by various people of the same nation, culture, or geographical background. It has been said to be dated back as far as one thousand years ago before writing. Like culture, language is passed on through the process of enculturation. Meaning that it is something that is learned (Kottak, 101). In the video, “TED TALK: Texting is killing language,” Ted starts off the video by saying that “The idea is that texting spells the decline and fall of any kind of serious literacy, or at least writing ability, among young people in the United States and now the whole world today (Ted, 2013). Throughout the film discussion, what stuck out to me the most was how drastic language has changed via technology. Although Ted disagrees with the above statement, in my opinion, I believe that a language can be altered if it is changed by enough speakers and writers. With the constant use of various forms of technology, communication via texting has become a very popular leisure activity for people all o...
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.
Advice should always be taken with a grain of salt due to every individual, and every individual relationship differing one another. One constant denominator of any successful relationship is quality conversation and communication. Maintaining the ability to self-disclose and affectively communicate will allow any couple to grow together, instead of growing apart. Any human being, regardless of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation desires to be listened to, understood, and cared for. To maintain and succeed in any intimate relationship affective efforts in communication must be taken.
As technology has had a wide- ranging impact, it can be debated that its trends have uncovered several changes in language. Before these trends, the world was limited in the means of interaction with others. Advances in technology have created a continuing eruption in the ways people communicate and reach others. Smart phones, text messaging, the internet and social networking is becoming the dominant ways people interact and communicate thus illustrating changes in spoken language, written communication and how words have different meanings in our time such as tweets. As a result of these changes, some people are incapable of carrying out a verbal conversation because of the dependency of social media. Seeing that it is a communication tool with an essential adaptive function to pass information hastily, it is viewed that technology affects the development of language presenting the big question: How have technological trends uncovered changes in language?
Communication. Most people nowadays would say a phone is primarily their main source of communication. But, if we go back even just a couple of generations ago, the only form of communication was face-to-face, and it was very personal. The difference between the two is that one involves physical emotion, while the other is all electronic connection. That’s what social media has done to today’s society; it’s made phones the dominant form of communication. There is an undeniable difference in the way the two interactions effect people. It’s easy to sit behind a 6 by 3 inch screen and say things that would be otherwise difficult if it were a physical interaction. It’s provided almost a safe haven for people who don’t like going out and associating