It is officially time to become aware of a new problem that is sweeping not only our school, but schools across the nation as well: the use of “internet grammar” in academic writing.
Both students and teachers have seen a noticeable increase within the past few years, but clearly, teachers feel the stronger effects of it because it is their job to read and grade such assignments.
Marcella Oathout, a junior English and yearbook teacher, places the blame primarily on a lack of understanding among students.
“Unfortunately, people sometimes don’t understand that there are different ways of communicating… and that appropriate grammar [and similar stylistic aspects] are expected in the academic arena.”
Oathout also went on to talk about how there has been “an increase in the informal writing that’s inappropriate for academics.” She also attributed some of the problem to students’ lack of care or concern for the standards of their schoolwork.
Senior Tom Garncarz discussed another cause for the problem. He argued fervently that many students let it slip through accidentally, especially when they are working on the same medium through which they talk to friends (like on the computer), or when they are up very late at night trying to do schoolwork. That in and of itself is another issue entirely.
He also brought up an extremely good point, that “seeing it and just being exposed to it on a consistent basis means that it just sort of seeps into your vocabulary.” So even if you don’t choose to use a less formal means to communicate with friends, he argues that your exposure to it can still very well hinder you.
How do we then fix the problem? Senior Kyle Daugherty discussed his means for avoiding such mistakes in his academic work.
“I sometimes find myself starting to write abbreviations or acronyms more and more often but quickly correct myself,” he said. The effort he puts into his assignments really helps to keep him focused with the kind of language he feels he should be using. “I also try to type things out entirely in my text or chat and such to avoid getting in a bad habit with it,” he added.
Clearly, the regular use of or exposure to internet grammar and similar habits can have a negative effect upon your writing. There is a solution, however; with a little bit of effort on all sides, it seems we could pretty much clear up the problem as soon as everyone acknowledged it.