Teachers finding it hard to crack IM lingo slang of teens
Teachers start to find new creep of errors from pupils all over the world. I am talking about the IM(instant messaging) language of the teens. The IM started way back a decade ago. Now its the official language style for the teens. Now, not only in IMs but in mobile messaging too.One could see an increase in the number of classwork submissions containing "b4," "ur," "2" and "wata" -- words that may confuse adults but are part of the teens' everyday lives.
Teachers worldwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children's everyday lives that the tech spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments. It looks viral.
"The IM-speak is so prevalent now," said Austin, a language arts teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando. "I'm always having to instruct my students against using it."
Some educators, like David Warlick from North Carolina, see the young burgeoning band of instant messengers as a phenomenon that should be celebrated and encouraged. Teachers should credit their students with inventing a new language ideal for communicating in a high-tech world, said Warlick, who has authored three books on technology in the classroom.
But the good thing about it is:
Most of them avoid those pitfalls once they enter college, said Larry Beason, director of freshman composition at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.
"Some of the same kids that I teach now were probably guilty of techno spellings in high school," Beason said. "But most students realize that they need to put their adolescent spellings behind them by the time they get to college."
Some of the IM codes:
| lol | laughing out loud |
| brb | be right back |
| btw | by the way |
| bbiab | be back in a bit |
| bbl | be back later |
| thx | thanks |
| sup | What's up |
| l8r | later |
| ttyl | talk to you later |
| ttfn | ta ta for now |
| gmta | great minds think alike |
| imho | in my humble opinion |
| np | no problem |
| gtg | got to go |
Technorati Tags: IM lingo, IM slang
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