WorkThe argument that bad grammar habits stem from digital technology is just the most recent of what professor Harvey Daniels call “language panics.” The idea of language panics is “the assertion that new forms of communication signal the end of the world.” (Warnock. 302) With help from linguist Josef Fruehwald, Scott Warnock presents a better idea about textism. Simply that there is no correlation between texting and grammar skills and that students know when to differentiate. They believe students can identify that writing is literary while texting is a form of communication. There have always been complaints about bad grammar skills in teens being linked to digital communication. This is a bad idea not only because there has never been any accurate science behind the theory but because times change, and language evolves with it. In the article “Texting ruins students grammar skills” Scott Warnock debunked some of these theories and offers a better idea about writing.
The concern that new forms of expressing thoughts and ideas have always been feared. It is said that even the philosopher Plato “expressed concern that writing might be dangerous… and offered only a semblance of wisdom” (Warnock 302) Warnock explains how there will always be some fear of a disintegrating English language with new technologies arising. These language panics are as common as grammar rants. Grammar rants stem from the views on what is considered grammatical. Warnock introduces “The Phenomenology of Error” by Joseph Williams, where Williams tests his theory that people only look for errors that they want to find. He says that even teachers ignore the error they do not expect to find. Williams ask a question “If an error is on this page but one sees it, is it really an error? Does it matter” (Warnock 302) This shows that people interpret correctness in different ways, so it’s impossible to present the idea about a correlation between texting and grammar unless you understand the difference between grammar and language.
Warnock and Fruehwald presents that when assessing grammar, people usually have the wrong idea of what it is. He goes into detail about the misconceptions people have about the meaning of grammar in different contexts. They believe that the context in which we use when referring to grammar and writing determines what judgement is made about the writer. He quotes from a book by Patrick Hartwell “Linguistic etiquette is not grammar at all, but usage” (Warnock. 303) Warnock believes that those judgments are not based on writer’s abilities or knowledge but more on style and what is perceived as proper and improper. People who believe in this bad idea about writing tend to associate the wrong components of writing with grammar, “Punctuation, comma rules, spelling conventions, etc. are all only arbitrary decisions settled upon a long time ago, and have nothing, nothing to do with human language.” (Fruehwald 2012) Fruehwald goes on to say that things like subject/verb agreement are more along the lines of grammar. He was concerned about one of the questions on an assessment that tested the theory, where both answers where acceptable in the English language. “One of the men forgot to bring (his, their) tools.”(Fruehwald 2012)
In conclusion, Warnock, and his like-minded associates agree that texting does not ruin grammar skills in students. They explain how it is nothing new that “culprits of bad writing have been found” (Warnock 303) Warnock explains how culture and language change with time and how it is nothing to be alarmed about. Warnock explains how this bad idea could be rooted from people only looking for errors they expect to find while ignoring the ones they would not expect. Fruehwald detailed how the assessments used to test the theory are not as useful because the questions were not grammar based. Warnock and Fruehwald agree that people who believe technology ruins grammar skills do not have a proper understanding of what grammar is. Instead of tense and subject verb agreement they relate things like punctuation and writing etiquette to grammar. Warnock states that teaching that one way is better than the other poses potential danger and can “help to perpetuate cultural prejudices regarding class and race that are mirrored in what is often referred to as the difference between ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ or between ‘proper’ and ‘improper’ language use. “Do you agree with the authors? Has your Tech talk ever leaked over to your literary writing?”
Work Cited.
Warnock, Scott “Texting ruins students grammar Skills” in Ball, Cheryl and Drew Lowe, eds. Bad ideas about writing.
Fruehwald, Josef “Teens, Texting and Grammar” 2012