My summer hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr3:-@ kids FTF. ILNY, it's gr8. Can you understand this sentence? If you can't, don't feel too bad; neither could the middle school teacher in England who received this as homework. This is Netspeak: the language of computerized communication found on Internet or cell phones. To new comers, it can look like a completely foreign language. So, what is the translation of the sentence above? My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's great. School teachers and parents say this new form of writing is harming the English language. Increasing spelling and grammatical mistakes can be seen in students' writing. They fear the language could become corrupted . "Everyone should just relax", say linguists . They believe Netspeak is in fact more of a good thing. David Crystal, from the University of Wales, argues that Netspeak and Internet create a new language use and the almost lost art of diary writing, has been picked up again. Geoffrey Nurberg, from Stanford University, agrees. "People get better at writing by writing," he says. "kids who are now doing text messaging, e-mails, and instant messages will write at least as well as, and possibly better than their parents." Linguist James says, for centuries, it is believed without exception that young people are harming the language. And you can _ that when today's teenagers become tomorrow's parents. They too will think this way. James argues that languages do not and cannot become corrupted. They simply change to meet the new needs. However, Netspeakers do agree that it is important to teach young people how to speak and write standard English. Cynthia McVey says, "I can understand Netspeak worries teachers and it's important that they get across to their pupils that text messaging is for fun, but learning to write proper English is a must for their future." Perhaps we should give teenagers a little more trust anyway. Erin, aged 12, says, "I wouldn't use text language in my homework. Texting is just for fun. "
who is David Crystal? what does he think netspeak creates? where does Geoffrey work? who has three children? what does cwot mean? what does gf mean? what is this language called? where is it found? who thinks it harms the language? what can be seen in the kids writing? who thinks everyone should calm down? who works at Stanford University? how long have young people been thought to be ruining the language? who thinks netspeak may not be a bad thing? how does one get better at writing? who becomes tomorrow's parents? what cannot become corrupted? who needs to learn standard english? what is a lost art? what is James' job?
Professor at the University of Wales A new language use Stanford University my brother complete waste of time girlfriend Netspeak On the internet or cell phones School teachers and parents spelling and grammatical mistakes linguists Geoffrey Nurberg for centuries linguists By writing teenagers languages young people diary writing linguist