Even science guys know grammar...or do they?
Honestly, that guy I had for Biochemistry I had the absolute worst handwriting ever...but in any event....
Recently, I've been having some "discussions" with my students on the importance of having good grammar, syntax, and overall usage of the English language in both their spoken and written word. Naturally their reaction is something along the lines of "You're a science teacher though!" True, my first inclinations were always with numbers and calculators, but as you hopefully are noticing with my blog posts, I can construct a complete thought! In addition, I have been noticing some mild grievances being aired on social media as well.
You may or may not agree with it, but I don't think anyone can argue that my thoughts are complete.
Why is that? We are up against what I call the "Twitterazi:" the mortal enemy of good grammar, and yes, I did just make up that word. It should not be too hard to tell that it is a portmanteau of "Twitter" and "Paparazzi," and I believe that this evolution is just the latest step in a progression that has been ongoing since the advent of news media.
Think about it. The ultimate sign of success for a news outlet is getting the "scoop," being the first one to report on a big story. If you get to the story first, then everyone else is citing YOU as a source instead of the other way around. Historically, print media was king. If it didn't make the New York Times, then it wasn't worth your time. Then, radio and television supplanted print media. If Walter Cronkite didn't report on it, then it wasn't worth your time either. Broadcast media eventually gave way to cable news. At first it was just CNN, but then MSNBC and Fox News got into the business. This was right around the time the Internet and World Wide Web was starting to become a viable outlet for news.
Then came social media, and that wonderful tool that is Twitter. Now, as most of you know, I am not on Twitter, but have a relatively strong presence on Facebook (which is probably how most of you accessed this page). While I have certainly toyed with the idea of starting a Twitter handle, I have always decided against it. My reasoning is two-fold. First, one social media account is more than enough for me. Second, if I were to start a Twitter, I probably would just be followed by the same people with whom I am already friends on Facebook, so it would be redundant. Nevertheless, anybody who is anybody in the pop culture world is on Twitter, and that's where most of the news-consuming public goes for their big scoops.
It does have its advantages. It is fast, it is to the point. However, that 140-character limit can be a bit of a drag. If a big story is about to break, it is a race among the news outlets to get their 140-character scoop out there first. Long-form articles can wait, once it's on Twitter, then the whole world knows. Since usually a lot of information has to be packed in that 140-character window, normal words of the English language become bastardized, and you need an acronym decryption kit in order to read it. On top of that, even in 140 characters, people have been known to...ahem...put their foot in their mouth using the service. Nevertheless, Twitter is what all the kids are on nowadays, so this influence rubs off on them. As a result, priorities in writing are no longer can you construct a complete thought, with proper syntax, spelling, pronunciation, and punctuation. It's now how much information can you cram into 140 characters or less, and hope that the reader can make sense of it.
I see it all the time on my writing assignments, particularly lab reports. The lost art of proofreading has escaped everyone. "You" is now just "u," and "great" is now just "gr8." I could continue, but you get the point. As you know, I cannot constrict myself to a 140-character limit, yet another reason why I do not get on Twitter. In education, kids have to understand that Twitter is not going to be the be-all end-all of communication. There will come a time eventually, regardless of their feelings toward my lab reports, when they will have to construct research papers where Twitter-speak is highly discouraged. College essays are another example. The writing sample may be gone from the SAT, but once you get to college, writing will be essential, and let me tell you, in English 101 at the University of Maryland, they take NO prisoners when it comes to grammar. By the time you get there, you have to get it.
I try to do my part by being as complete and thorough as possible with my writing, and I pass that on to my students. Just because I teach science and math does not mean I am incapable of teaching them good writing skills and good grammar.
Full disclosure...if I made ANY grammatical mistakes in this piece, please do bring them to my attention, and they will be corrected at once.
Thank you,
Management
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