Number of Posts: 9
Posts 1 - 9
Leserbriefe
(Letters to the editor)
Newspaper | Sonntagszeitung
Date | 18.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, texting, Twitter, word/writing
Summary | The Pisa study results show that the Swiss language education concept has failed. The reading skills of Swiss students are very poor. More time is being dedicated to foreign languages than to the native language - are children now supposed to learn German from Tweets and text messages in Swiss German?
Image Description | N/A
Logisches Pisa-Ergebnis
(Logical Pisa result)
Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 15.12.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | childhood, research/study, school, social media, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | The Pisa study shows that Swiss students have decreasing writing and reading skills. This is not suprising considering the high percentage of foreign heritage children in Switzerland, the many national languages and distinct dialects, and the fact that children learn two foreign languages while still in primary school - let alone the dubious influence of new media, texting, social media, and so on.
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Junge schreiben - mehr als je zuvor
(Youths write - more than ever)
Newspaper | Appenzeller Zeitung
Date | 29.1.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | code-switching, language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, social media, spelling, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | There is a public hysteria about how youths are no longer capable of spelling correctly or writing appropriately and skillfully. All this is seen to be caused by new media such as smartphones. BUt young people today write far more than previous generations did: they post on social media and text every day. The only difference is that this writing culture is very informal and colloquial. Researchers however assume that one cannot simply state that this spoils their writing skills generally, most students are easily capable of code-switching from informal registers to a formal register appropriate for school.
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Das eigene Verhalten überdenken
(Reflect one’s own behavior)
Newspaper | St. Galler Tagblatt
Date | 17.2.2016
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | school, technology-free, texting, WhatsApp, youth
Summary | A Sunday school teacher reports that more and more younger people give up part of their multi-media consumption for lent instead of food. Many will for instance give up their use of WhatsApp, text messaging, or video games rather than food. This shows that youths think very critically about their consumption habits.
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Studenten können nicht mehr richtig schreiben
(Students cannot write properly anymore)
Newspaper | 20 Minuten
Date | 21.1.2015
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, school, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | Students' writing skills are poorer than in previous years. It may be due to the fact that elementary schools no longer correct every spelling mistake in first and second grade but rather value content over form. Another reason that can explain students' lower writing skills is new media use. Most of young people's writing and reading is done through new media nowadays, and informal writing is prevalent in those digital spheres. The increasing informalization of language on social media is seen as a threat to our language.
Image Description | Photograph taken from behind of an elementary classroom with children.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), school
Schriftliche Forschheiten: Vom Niedergang der Höflichkeit
(Written briskness: On the demise of politeness)
Newspaper | Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)
Date | 1.9.2014
Language | German
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | email, language threat, politeness, school, texting, WhatsApp, word/writing
Summary | Communication researchers agree that politeness in professional writing has decreased with the rise of digital communication. Rules of formal writing are omitted: what was“Honored Professor So-and-so” is now a simple “Hello”. Both students and also professors are reported to have a relaxed level of formality in email exchanges. This is usually seen as an influence of texting, where traditional messages of respect are omitted, but it can also be argued that the new brief communication style is a form of respecting the addressee’s time by writing efficiently.
Image Description | Photograph of a female texting; the shot does not show the person's face but emphasizes the phone.
Image Tags | female(s), hand(s), smartphone, text
Non, le langage “sms” ne nuit pas à l’orthographe!
(No, text message language does not harm spelling!)
Newspaper | 24 heures
Date | 22.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, texting, youth
Summary | Some people are worried that the new language of text messages is going to replace grammar, and that our children might forget how to write words properly. According to a study published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, the answer is no. The results of the study show that 48% of the words are spelled according to standard spelling. The research also shows that there is no link between traditional spelling skills and text message features. Finally, they claim that the best students are the ones who use text message features the most. Other similar studies prove the same point.
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Il faut archiver nos vies pour que l’histoire vivante ne s’arrête pas
(We need to archive our lives so that history does not stop)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 26.3.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, spelling, texting, youth
Summary | Some people claim that writing with abbreviations is harmful for standard language. Others claim that it does not; some studies demonstrate that students can perfectly write abbreviations and their "standard" equivalent. Moreover, a study showed that students who are skilled in text message language have also better spelling skills in general. Writing is part of our culture; we write more and more. Thus, our practices resemble our forefathers’. The only difference is that nowadays it is more difficult to save and record our texts, whereas in the past people used to keep their letters and messages.
Image Description | Photograph of Benjamin Chaix, the author of the opinion piece.
Image Tags | male(s)
Le langage sms, éternel accusé de tous les maux des mots
(Text message language, always blamed for the ills of the words)
Newspaper | La Tribune de Genève
Date | 30.8.2014
Language | French
Country | Switzerland
Topic Tags | language threat, research/study, school, smartphone, texting, youth
Summary | Although we can now send unlimited texts on our smartphones using the spellcheck feature, text message language is still widely used, especially among the younger generation. Should we be worried about that? Researchers claim that we shouldn’t be worried; texting does not threaten the French language. According to a study, young students can make the difference between a text message and a written school assignment; they can adapt their language according to the medium. Although no study has demonstrated that text messages have any deleterious effect on spelling skills, more research is needed.
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