I’ve been tossing these ideas around in my mind for awhile about the place of texting in school. Now that I have the opportunity to use chat rooms and discussion forums in my high school English classroom, the thoughts have skyrocketed! If I allow text-ling (sic) and lowercase proper nouns and smileys and unconventional punctuation, am I doing a disservice to my students?
— Ruth, Standard English vs. Texting.
This is something that most teachers of English/Linguistics grapple with most of the time.
The writer provides the answer and its justification somewhere in her post, so be sure to read it. In any case, it fits in with my own gut feeling about code-switching, and making students aware of the need and necessity to use appropriate forms of English at distinct moments e.g. writing a formal letter to request for employment versus ordering food at the canteen.
