As a life-long fan of the English language, I went to school to earn my English degree. My second year into long-term substitute teaching, I have grown discouraged by this technology-savvy generation. There was no texting while I was growing up, and most of us knew how to put together a decent essay because we had been trained many years to do so. Now, I cringe when too many of my students turn in papers full of abbreviations, misspellings, and little punctuation. Could this be because kids spend more time texting than they do having to actually write anything on paper? I have even found that many kids rely too heavily on the spell check on their computers to spell words they do not even know how to spell themselves. These are the most common grammar rules I have seen diminish in recent years:
1. Where’s the punctuation?
Kids will write a whole paragraph with no punctuation except for a period at the very end. It’s one long run-on sentence.
She and her friend Holly decided to go to the mall and they had lunch went to a movieand then went home Holly’s mom picked her up and they met back at school in themorning and told everyone of what fun they had they made plans to meet up with some more of their friends during the weekend to see a movie there.
My brain goes into serious overload when I have to try and decipher sentences such as this one. Picking this apart is no fun, when it would just take a few periods to have it all make sense.
2. Commas.
Do kids even know what these are anymore? The most common use of forgotten commas include: 1) separating two independent clauses when they are joined by a conjunction, 2) after introductory clauses or phrases, 3) separating nonessential words or phrases in the middle of a sentence, and 4) separating words or phrases written in a series.
How many comma mistakes can you find in this sentence?
After lunch Susan went to work and her husband went to the store to get bananas peaches and tomatoes.
This sentence would be perfectly acceptable to many of my students. Should it be? Does typing out those missing commas on their computers take too much effort, or has this technology age seriously hindered the writing abilities of the new generation?
3. A and An
Kids do not know when to use “a” and when to use “an.” This is such a small thing, but it changes the way a sentence reads. It’s simple. Use “a” before a consonant, and use “an” before a vowel. For example: A language. An apple.
Now, try it the incorrect way. An language. A apple. It just does not sound right!
4. Abbreviations.
We cannot abbreviate everything, kids! Sum1 give me a gud papr plz.
How terrible does that look? This technology age has brought us so many good things. I just hope it can bring us many good writers too.