Language and Culture Journal

Journal 12: Language and Technology Debate

Is technology dumbing down the English language?

I remember when I was younger we wrote notes and ended the notes with ttyl. The shorthand we learned then is part of the new text talk. Did that talk dumb down English then? No it did not. It is not doing it now either. There were classes in school that taught how to write shorthand for secretaries needing to take down dictation during meetings. What more is text talk than that? It is a shorter way to say words because those tiny cell phones get smaller every year and fingers are only able to keep up at a certain rate!

I understand the argument that students are using cell phone talk in normal writing, but that is to be expected. What child would rather do more work when they know of a short cut? What adult would rather do more work when they know of a short cut? I love short cuts. Teachers do have quite a job with pointing out the differences between the written word formally and text talk, but it could also be a great learning tool in English class. I can just imagine an assignment that has the students write a paper using all text talk then write it again formally. That would create great discussion about the difference between the two languages in everyday life compared to business life. That must be the teacher in me thinking.

Even with the argument of punctuation and grammar, I do not see it as dumbing down the English language.

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