It's Not So Gr8 When Email Slang Slips Into Students' Schoolwork, Teacher Survey Says

By R. Scott Lindsey, Executive Director (Patch Partner)

Sylvan Learning of Fredericksburg and Stafford

Plz practice your writing B4 U head bak 2 school. C U in a few wkz.

Millions of children (and adults!) use language like this to chat with friends, make weekend plans and stay in touch with out-of-town relatives via email, Twitter and Instant Messaging (IM). As students head back to school, it is important that this informal writing style of shortened words, improper grammar, lack of punctuation and use of “emoticons,” such as smiley faces and other keyboard-created graphics, does not follow them back to the classroom.

Parents should talk to their children about using different styles of language to communicate with different audiences, as adults do in work and home environments. Just as students would talk to an adult at school differently than to a friend at the beach, they also need to remember to adjust their writing styles. Formal writing for the classroom must be grammatically correct, with full words and proper sentence structure. Slang and shortcuts are commonplace in email, Twitter and Instant Messaging, but not acceptable in schoolwork.

Email and IM style of writing isn’t completely bad, since it does encourage students to write more often. In fact, many educators agree that children can benefit from email and IM as learning opportunities. When crafting emails, children are challenged to carefully choose their words, keep it simple and use relatively few words to convey tone and meaning appropriately. The popularity of Internet writing is also helping children see writing as a fun activity that encourages creative writing, and not just something they “have to do.”

What Parents Need to Know

Parents are noticing an increasing demand for children to express themselves more strongly in writing. For example, more states are testing writing skills on proficiency exams. College entrance exams, such as the SAT, also include a writing section that requires students to write a short essay that reflects their mastery of core reading and language skills.

In order to do well on these important exams, students need to know how to write clear, well-organized essays in the short time allotted. Help your child develop an understanding of the writing process by spending time thinking about a writing project, developing a brief outline and rewriting drafts. By showing your children that writing is a multi-step process and not always instantaneous, parents can help their children make the shift to an academic style of writing easier.

What Parents Can Do

Parents can make the most of their child’s interest in email and other computer writing by helping them to avoid using an informal style of writing too often. Show children that writing can be more than a means of communicating with another person by introducing them to online journaling or Web sites that publish children’s poems, letters, editorials, essays or stories. Remember, a healthy combination of both styles can provide the best writing experience for your child.

To help children boost their effective writing skills, the experts at Sylvan Learning offer parents the following tips to avoid IM, Twitter and email-style language making its way into schoolwork:

● Talk to children about using different writing styles to communicate with different audiences. Describe the importance of personalizing messages and why it’s important that students know their audience. While it’s okay to close a letter with “C ya” to a friend in an IM, it is not okay to include this slang in homework assignments. Remind them that formality is required in school.

● Have fun with writing. Provide children with enjoyable ways to practice their writing. Involve your child with writing grocery lists, thank you notes, dates on calendars and messages. Or, play games like Blurt! ®, TriBond® and MadGab® that help build language and vocabulary skills.

● Review schoolwork for IM and email-style language. Encourage your children to write properly and take the time to carefully review assignments several times before submitting them to the teacher. Review your child’s homework to ensure he or she is not using shortcuts or slang.

● Talk with children to establish ground rules for using IM, Twitter and email. Work with your child to develop a plan for using IM and email to make sure other responsibilities, such as completing homework and chores, are met before going online to chat with friends. Discuss time limits with your children and ensure they are kept. Consider putting your family rules in writing and posting them near the computer.

● Create a writing zone. Whether writing on a computer or with a notebook and pencil, it’s important that your child has a well-organized place to write. Set up an area in your home for writing - a desk or table with a flat surface and good lighting. Make sure the area is free from potential distractions and that writing tools, including a dictionary, paper and pens, are at your child’s fingertips.

● Encourage your child to read. Read with your child at least 15 minutes per day – or one hour per week – since reading will help teach children about sentence structure, grammar and vocabulary. Reading and writing support each other and good readers become good writers. The more your child does of each, the better she will be at both.

How Sylvan Can Help

Sylvan offers parents a variety of tools and activities to help children practice and have fun with writing, including tips for boosting effective writing skills and a free online writing journal. Parents can download the free writing journal, complete with suggested writing topics and decorative pages from the “Parent Resources” area of www.SylvanLearning.com.

For additional information on sharpening your child’s writing skills, email me at scott@sylvanstafford.com, visit www.SylvanLearning.com/us/stafford-va or call me at 540-602-2360.