TESL 0110: Unit 2 Reflection
TESL 0110 Unit 2
Reflection: Texting Abbreviations and Acronyms
While I was comparing and contrasting the grammar found in
writing and speaking, I made mention of emojis and how they help add context
and nuance to writing. This then got me thinking about the language and grammar
used on the internet and within text messages. Quite often to speed up
communication, people (including myself) make use of abbreviations and acronyms,
such as “ppl” and “lol”. Upon seeing these, one might ask whether or not these can
be considered “grammatically correct”. Some may argue that there is no place
for such crude language forms, while others may insist that they are simply
reflective of how English is changing with the times.
I think these abbreviations and acronyms do have a place in
the English language, but it all depends on the context. This brings me to the
question on whether these should be discussed within an ESL classroom setting.
On the one hand, we want to focus on teaching our students correct forms, the
standard English used around the world. However, students will most likely come
across this language at some point. Should we simply let them discover these on
their own or should we mention them in the classroom? I think this boils down
to the distinction between prescriptive grammar vs. descriptive grammar. As I
had mentioned in last week’s blog post, prescriptive grammar is that which is
taught in textbooks and is considered the “correct” and standard form of a
language. On the other hand, descriptive grammar reflects the language that is
actually used by people; this includes local dialects, slang, and what not. These
abbreviations and acronyms that are used in texting and on the internet would fall
under descriptive grammar.
Taking this all into account, I think that teaching these
abbreviations and acronyms could certainly be taught in an ESL classroom.
However, I think it’d be important to highlight the situations where they would
be appropriate. For example, I’d highlight that using “ppl” is acceptable to
use in a casual text message, but not necessarily within a formal essay. Overall,
I think this would be a very interesting topic to discuss with ESL students and
would help them to understand the everyday language that they might encounter.
I find it fascinating how language has adapted to today’s
technology and continues to do so. It’s really reflective of how malleable the
English language is and how the change we see in English really starts within
grassroots movements. What we consider “ungrammatical” today, might very well
become the standard in the future.
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