k. I felt that suc-cumbing to the shortened "u"for "you" and writing in frag-mented, seemingly unintelli-gible sentences was contributing to what mybrother humorously calls the "downfall of the En-glish language
She starts off worrying that texting is ruining proper writing. I get that. A lot of teachers probably felt that way at first.
I myself have devel-oped the ability to code-switch effortlessly betweenthe text speak I use online and the Standard EnglishI use in my academic life
I like that she practices what she teaches. It makes her point stronger because she lives it too.
ely. Ifteachers and parents can ac-knowledge that text speak isindeed appropriate in the digital world that stu-dents navigate daily, then perhaps we can see its usein school as a difference, rather than a d
This sums it up perfectly—text speak isn’t a problem, it’s just a different language style. What matters is knowing when to flip the switch.
Issues of correctness cannot be ignored, and stu-dents must be expected to polish drafts of theirwriting using conventions of Standard Englis
I agree. You can express yourself however you want, but Standard English still matters in school and work. Knowing both gives you more options.
viting students to look critically at their writing, Ibrought the issues of vernacular and standard cor-rectness to the forefron
She lets students figure out their own writing habits instead of just marking errors. That teaches awareness instead of fear of being wrong.
This type of activity introduces the idea tostudents that language varies by con
Exactly, it’s not about what’s “right” or “wrong.” It’s about understanding when to be casual and when to be formal. That’s a skill, not a rule.
, "Hey . . . how r u?
Funny example but it makes sense. It shows how easily you can switch tones once you know your audience.
To begin the Flip the Switch lesson, teachersask students to identify settings in which they com-municat
This lesson is smart, it helps students realize they already switch how they talk depending on the situation. She’s just giving that a name.
t. The authors suggest that teach-ing students to navigate between home and schooldiscourses, a task they call code-switching, privi-leges both language
This is her main point: students can use both styles, but they need to understand which one fits where. That’s what real communication skills are about.
Because digital language represents such a largepart of the primary discourse of today's adolescents(Prensky), it is not surprising that the style of elec-tronic communication is "seeping into their school-work
She’s explaining why texting shows up in schoolwork, it’s what students do all day. It’s not bad writing, just habit, and that’s an important difference.
."However, I quickly realized that most texters,and especially those who were sitting in my class-room as students, did not view text speak as ademon sent to destroy Standard En
She realizes her students don’t see texting as wrong. It’s just how people communicate now, which changes how teachers have to approach writing.