Txt Reks R Speling?

We have entered the 21st Century. Technically we entered it almost a decade ago – but who’s counting? Therefore, should it surprise us that our students use a language born and bred in the 21st century to communicate with each other? Kristen Hawley Turner, a professor at Fordam University, recently wrote an article in Phi Delta Kappan magazine in which she coined the term “digitalk” to help define this new language that seems so far removed from our traditional English language – yet understood by every teen with a cell phone.

If we were to import a typical digital conversation between two 21st Century students into a word processor like Microsoft Word my guess is that we would see red…lots of red! The software would do all but reach out, grab our shoulders and shake us screaming, “This is wrong – all wrong!”  Some educators lament the fact that proper grammar and digitalk may coexist in school writing samples. Foreigners in the digital world may struggle to understand the following question; “I 1-D-R wi rents tink im C-P all-t?” (“I wonder why my parents feel like I am sleepy all the time?”). But it is important that as 21st Century educators we appreciate digitalk for what it is: different and new…not necessarily wrong.


As technology spawns more social networking opportunities and digital communication becomes the norm we must anticipate and accept new forms of literacy. While digital literacy has a time and place, if educators communicate to students that their “language”, or form of literacy, is wrong the gap between student and teacher widens and the all-important relationship within that dynamic becomes difficult to create. Should we stop teaching grammar in schools? No. Should we appreciate and embrace the language that tomorrow’s leaders are using to communicate with each other? Absolutely!


One of the most important, and at times elusive, aspects of effective teaching in the 21st Century is relevance. What could be more relevant than employing adolescent’s mode of communication as a teaching tool? We could use instant messaging tools or Google Apps to have students work on a collaborative paper and encouraging them to communicate with each other about ideas and corrections – in their own language.


Before condemning digitalk we should consider the evolution of the English language. What we now call English is actually a blend of many languages. Old English was spoken in England until the 12th or 13th Century. The language was transformed due to influences by Scandinavians and later the Normans around the 11th Century. Then Middle English followed for approx. 300 years after the Norman Conquest. Early Modern English became popular in the 15th Century and Shakespeare modernized the language even further while the first known English dictionary was published in 1604. Latin and Greek influences became the norm and ushered in Modern English which was marked by an expanded vocabulary. Many new words were created to meet the needs of the technologically advanced Industrial Revolution and new words being adopted from other cultures due to the English Empire covering nearly 25% of the earth. Each phase of development for the English language marked a time of transition, new words and the birth of a new and expanded language.


Manipulating language to effectively and efficiently convey intended messages requires creativity and mastery of a new literacy for the digital generation. Digitalk is powerful within the communities of adolescents that we are in contact with each and every day. By giving value to the literacy that students bring to class teachers can more easily engage students in discussions about content and critical thinking. Teaching traditional academic English is most certainly an important component of a liberal arts education in the United States but the ability to speak and incorporate their language is a key to our ability to effectively teach 21st Century students.


TAFN (for a comprehensive review of digitalk acronyms - including TAFN - please see the following link)