Secondary school students will be able to use text speak in written examinations this year, legitimising a language loved by teenagers.
Of all the ridiculous things to do... It's bad enough that none of them have any common sense these days, now this. The country is going to become void of any common sense and the ability to construct a proper sentence. I sure hope they all learn how to use F7 to spellcheck since they will also no longer be capable of spelling correctly.
Funnily enough, also in today's news is a story about some guy who died because he was texting whilst driving.
4 comments:
You know I really didn't think it was such a big deal. You have English class to learn English, Maths to learn Maths. I don't expect English teachers to correct mathematical mistakes in an English essay.. so why the other way round?
Because the English standards in this country are pathetic. Why encourage them to get worse? English crosses over to all subjects in some form or another.
I don't agree that it encourages poor English. Sure it crosses into other subjects - part of subjects like History on Social Studies requires the student to be able to communicate ideas effectively. For those subjects there are marks given for style in essays.
If poor English is problem, then by the gods teach English better, but marking a Maths/Physics/Chemistry etc exam on spelling isn't going to help - it will only hinder those students who, for whatever reason, are good at Math and not at English. Requiring perfect English in these subjects would only skew the data in favour of literate kids - it would not achieve a net increase in English ability.
There seems to be this perception that since the NZQA will accept txtspeak, students will start using it just because they can. That isn't the case - it is far easier to write more or less correctly. The rule is there to provide markers with guidelines for what they should do when, if the exam does not require it, less than perfect English is encountered. The rule is there for the benefit of the markers, not the students.
Aww, and I thought that you were referring to me leaving for Oz ;)
Anyhoo, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)
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