The State Examinations Commission in Ireland have announced that writing standards among Irish schoolchildren have dropped severely. Mobile phones have been blamed for this with a report finding that the frequency of errors in grammar and punctuation is becoming a serious concern. The Irish Times
is reports on what is becoming a very familiar story..
“The emergence of the mobile phone and the rise of text messaging as a popular means of communication would appear to have impacted on standards of writing as evidenced in the responses of candidates. Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing. Candidates are unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary.”
Personally I’m not a big fan of this text speak, especially with T9 doing most of the work for you. If you’re having trouble understanding a recent text then sites like transl8it.com will help with a translation. I alwys typ msgz coReclE wen sndN dem 2 my M8s.
Links – The Irish Times – transl8it.com