Argument Essay

Roberts 1
Breon Roberts
S. C. McGriff
ENC 1101
10/29/19
Does electronic communication stunt the English language?
While electronic communication has done a lot to help improve the exchange of ideas
and opinions, there have been some setbacks it has caused. Some believe that electric
communication has damaged the English language, while others think it has improved overall
communication. After all as john Mcworther states in Is texting killing the human langue
“Texting is developing it’s own kind of grammar”(4) Meaning that there are two types of writing
that we use. Over the course of my writing, I will go over if electronic communication has
damaged the English language, enlarged our social interaction and vocabulary, and finally
limited the way people communicate.
Some say that Online communication hasn’t damaged the English language at all, and I
wonder if they have ever texted anyone. Much less have had a conversation in a chat room.
Typically, common grammar rules are ignored, people tend to just talk in the simplest way
possible to speed up a conversation. So no, I do not agree with that side, my personal view is that
texting, emailing, and group chats have destroyed our language. Most of the time, people won’t
even fully respond to you in text, they just send a fragment, and this is completely normal now.
As stated in Gerald Graff’s They say, I say: The Moves that Matter “When, for instance, you’re
replying to a friend’s text asking, “Meet in front of the theater at 7?” a mere “OK” suffices…”
This is utter proof of how Online communication has changed the way we talk.
Last Name 2
People argue that it has enlarged our social interaction and vocabulary. People such as
John Mcworther, speaker for texting is killing language jk sates “Once you have things in your
pocket that can receive that message, then you have the conditions that allow that we can write as
we speak. And that's where texting comes in. And so, texting is very loose in its structure. No
one thinks about capital letters or punctuation when one texts, but then again, do you think about
those things when you talk? No, and so, therefore, why would you when you were texting?”.
(2:32-3:10)There is a flaw in Mcworther’s views, while it is understandable that People
Shouldn’t have to text formally during text the problem is people bring that way of talking past
just texting. I know I find it hard not to use certain words in a paper because I’m so used to using
them in text.
It's not that texting is the issue exactly. It’s the mindset of texting that carries over into
formal writing that causes an issue.
I don’t think Online communication has limited the way we communicate. Others may
say that communication has limited the ways we talk, they bring up how we no longer speak in
person and how we no longer call. Well duh, there are multiple ways to communicate with
someone now that is simpler. Each method fits the needs of a certain type of individual. The
article Textese gr8 training 4 poets of 2moro by The Age (Melbourne, Australia) states “She was
surprised to find 86 percent of children aged between 10 and 12 had mobile phones and all sent
text messages. When asked how many they sent and received a day, the children's estimates
ranged from less than one to 315. "Even sending 200 messages a day would mean an average of
one message every five minutes every available waking hour, which seems excessive," Dr.
Kemp says. Eighty percent of children claimed to send and receive 100 short messages a day.”.
(11-14). From this I conclude that we talk enough, it’s just the way people communicate has
Last Name 3
changed. The world has changed and so has the way we speak to each other, there is nothing
wrong with that.
Overall, I don’t believe technology is adherently bad or evil, I do not think that It has
caused all these issues by itself. I do however believe that it has played its role in these issues.
Everyone at some point in their life will use technology, I think this is a good thing. I just wish to
see the English language not be destroyed by these types of communications. While they are
simpler, and even I use some myself it just seems to mess up my formal writing the more I do it.
I’m not exactly choosing sides on the matter I’m just simply giving my world views and
opinions.
Last Name 4
Works cited
"Textese gr8 training 4 poets of 2moro." Age [Melbourne, Australia], 12 Sept. 2011, p.
16. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A279554922/OVIC?u=lincclin_sjrcc&sid=OVIC&xid=53
f94273. Accessed 30 Oct. 2019.
McWhorter, John. “Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!” TED,
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk?language=en.
Graff, Gerald, And Cathy Birkenstein. They say I say: The Moves that Matter. W.W.
Norton and company, 2018.
McWhorter, John. “Is Texting Killing the English Language?” Time, Time, 25 Apr. 2013,
http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/25/is-texting-killing-the-english-language/.

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Roberts 1

Does electronic communication stunt the English language?

limited the way people communicate.

(2:32-3:10)There is a flaw in Mcworther’s views, while it is understandable that People

formal writing that causes an issue.

wrong with that.

16. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

f94273. Accessed 30 Oct. 2019.

McWhorter, John. “Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!” TED,

Norton and company, 2018.

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