Language and Technology

To the Editor,

Technology nowadays has a huge impact on social and academic communication amongst the younger generations. Growing up with a standard pack of devices has led to this ‘concern’, which in turn has been aggravated by a set of frustrated language purists and leading head teachers who dramatically claim to see a decrease in academic and grammatically correct writing skills. The ‘erosion’ of standard English is supposedly the cause of text speak and therefore the influence of technology as a whole as well. However, the arguments that Ms. Clark states have limited value to support her argument and are irrelevant as she ignores the skills of youths code-switching nowadays and neglects the evolution of language parallel to the increase of technological advancements. On the contrary, its usage has had a positive effect as people spend less time communicating in a creative way. In a sense, text speak is a language on its own, giving it the right to be part of someone’s cultural identity. Younger generations master the technological language whereas the older generations (who were introduced to technology a bit later then we were) have difficulty understanding it, and since its impact will keep expanding it is important that the youth keeps up to date with the use of text speak. How would you expect people to develop socially, technologically and culturally if text speak is off limits? Youngsters are very much aware of their use of language in relation to a certain context: “we know when to use technological language and when to speak and interact from an academic perspective,” said by one of the students in Al Raha International School during English class. In order for one to use text speak; one should be familiar with the original spelling. In addition to that Ms. Clark, you mentioned: “If youngsters are not reading in the same way, and if they are spending a lot of time using social media, I wonder how much new vocabulary they are exposed to.” Highly recommended and respected schools as the Private Girl’s School in Oxford should be responsible to remain formative communication in both wittingly and oral forms amongst the younger generations. Text speak and Standard English are both separately utilized, just like one’s self adjusts their language and/or dialect in the context of one of the four identities. In conclusion, the next time Ms. Clark you make such biased assumptions ask yourself ‘Why might people change the way they speak and write in various contexts to express themselves?’ instead of declaring the offensive directly on social media and technology. There is always a reason if you're willing to perceive ideas from different perspectives, in this case the impact of technological use of language in comparison to academic grammar is much more coherent then you might think.