Whenever one visits most of junior and high schools, and compare it to the same classes a decade ago, they will be definitely lost. Hand-written notes delivered to the teachers in classrooms or written notes between students no longer reflect our classrooms. Instead, students smuggles cell phones into the bathrooms or concealed in the sweatshirt pockets trade high frequency text messages. The use of phones and other technological devices affect the formality in writing, as I will discuss later in the writing.
We only think of essays and emails whenever formal writing is mentioned. However, how often do we consider formal writings teens do in their informal e-communication exchanges in the digital screens? According to research findings by the National Commission on Writing, “teenagers’ lives are filled with writing. All teens write for school, and 93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure.” The findings indicates that most notably, the vast majority of teens “have eagerly embraced written communication with their peers as they share messages on their social network pages, in emails and instant messages online, and through fast-paced thumb choreography on their cell phones.” (National Commission of Writing pg 3) Parents too believe that their children write more as teens than they did at that age.
However, despite this diversity in writing among various people, the quality of writing among people is being degraded by the encroachment of electronic communication while we consider the laxity in punctuation, carefree spelling, acronym shortcuts, and grammar because of use of technological devices. In fact majority rely on texts as a major mode of communications raising concerns whether this return to text-driven communication is instead inspiring new appreciation for writing among people especially the teens.
It is important to note that the e-communication presents a paradoxical riddle to unravel. Most people especially the teenagers spent many of their time composing texts in an attempt to avoid direct communication. However, they do not know that a lot of the material they create electronically such as ‘exchanging instant messages, emails, texts, as well as social network posts is real writing however much they appropriate ignore the writing mechanism. It should be clear that these forms of written communications carry the same weight as well as phone calls and between class hallway greetings.’ (Horrigan 202)
Several debates and researches have been held on formal writing and e-communication. These exchanges have included the teens as well to comprehend to what extent the state of writing has affected their lives. For instance, responding to this information laxity, through internet, American Life Project and National Commission on Writing conducted a national telephone survey to see what teens and their parents say about the state of writing and impact of technological writing both in and out of school writing. The report compiled “looks at teens’ basic definition of writing they do. It also sought their assessment about what impact e-communication has in their writing and probes for guidance about how writing might be improved
The incorporation of technologically in writing, according to the research findings, separates the writings students do for school and outside school for personal reasons. The communications they enjoy through instant messaging and phone text messaging or email for example amongst them differ from the formal writing they would participate in especially for school purposes.
In addition, the use of these technologically aided texts “enable most writers to reinforce the informal styles of writing that includes emotions (symbols like smiley faces), text shortcuts such as “LOL” (that stands for Laugh out loud) and improper writing styles such as capitalization and punctuation. Despite the teens denial of the fact technology negatively influence the quality of their writing, they actually acknowledges that the informal styles of writing marked by the use of these text-based technologies for many teens often filter into their school work and affecting their writing styles”. (http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2007/w0001.asp pg 5)
While most people enjoy personal informal and non-school writing, this barely translates into enjoyment of school-based writing. In most cases, students claim they have done writing outside of school in the previous year consistently and regularly. From research, it shows that half of the students who write regularly enjoy writing outside of school compared to those who enjoy writing school related or formal intensive writing.
Irrespective of the writing style, formal or informal, people write for a variety of reasons—to get grades, as part of a school assignment, to stay in touch with friends, to share their artistic creations with others or simply to put their thoughts virtually to paper. In researchers’ focus groups of teens, the teens are motivated to write when they can select topics that are relevant to their lives and interests, and report greater enjoyment of school/formal writing when they have the opportunity to write creatively. Having teachers or other adults who challenge them, present them with interesting curricula and give them detailed feedback also serves as a motivator for them to write properly. Despite the technological progress in writing, writing’s intent influences the formality issues involved as well as the technological use. (Lenhart, Madden & Hitlin pg 320)
References
Amanda, Lenhart. Mary Madden & Paul, Hitlin. “Teens and Technology: Youth are Leading the
Transition to a Fully Wired and Mobile Nation”, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC, July 27, 2005
http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2007/w0001.asp
John, Horrigan. “The Broadband Difference: How online Americans' behavior changes with high-speed Internet connections at home,” Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC, 2002.
National Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges Writing: A ticket to work or a ticket out. New York, NY. 2004.
National Commission on Writing. Writing: The View from Campus, National Commission on
Writing for America’s Families, Schools, and Colleges. 2006
