A recent survey was done concerning the topic of text language or informal writing. Text language is shorthand usually used by teenagers in text messages (ex: omg, lol, ttyl). Sixty four percent of the 700 students said that, sometimes, their texting language slips into their formally written school assignments. Writing in text language shouldn’t be accepted by teachers as a piece of formal school work.
Some people say that this new way of writing could change the way we write normally. First of all, informal writing is immature and should not be thought of as a new way of language. When people see a piece of informal writing, it looks sloppy and it seems like it took you five minutes on something you might have worked hard on. If you’ve ever read something in text language, you’ve seen that capitalization and punctuation are often missing, which is important for an impressive piece of writing.
With that said, text language is not a good thing to be familiar with in your writing. For example, in school it might seem fine to write informally, but when you get older, you’re going to look unprofessional to future employers. If you write a resume or an essay for college in text language, they’re going to see you as immature and not experienced. When you write informally you tend to leave out big words that make you sound smart. If you don’t look smart, why would the school or an employer want you?
If you have even tried to read texting shorthand you’ve noticed that, finally, informal writing is hard to understand. When people write in text language, they make most of it up as they go along. There is no universal book on “how to talk in text language”, so everybody’s take on the words aren’t going to be the same. The words are usually spelled exactly how they sound, but when you see the word, the letters don’t make the same sound in your head as when you look at it. Plus, different people sound out words differently than others.
There are many reasons to stop informal writing. It’s immature, hard to understand and unprofessional. Writing in text language should not sneak into formal things for school.
