THE ERROR OF TEXTING IS UPON US

 

One thing that puts me off is seeing a text with words like 'dis' instead of 'this' or 'ze' instead of 'the' and so on, some words that I cannot even decipher. Of course, I am old school. I believe in complete words and sentences. I find pleasure in seeing correct spellings and good use of grammar. The challenge with the modern generation is that they have not learned how to define the text language from proper words. The former has strayed to the essay, application letter and curriculum vitae. You can even see some of it in a manuscript that is supposed to find its way to the Zambian market for other people to read. When we were young, we used to develop encoded language for the purpose of hiding information from our elders. That was the only reason. When it was time for school, the language became formal. The vocabulary that was exchanged in play grounds did not cross over to the classroom. In fact, in those days, economising of words was so good that even a telegram which was one of the first forms short messaging, was not compromised on quality.

 

Yet, today the overuse of the new shortened forms have down-graded the quality of writing. With the coming of the short messaging system contractions have lost their place and abbreviations and acronyms have since disappeared. What happened to words like aren’t, you’re, didn’t, won’t, etc. There used to be common abbreviations that could be used without offending anyone; std. for standard or s/holder for shareholder or stakeholder, ltd. for limited.

The problem with today’s short forms is that they do not have a place in formal writing. Additionally, the words are not commonly understood and seem to be limited to regions or cultures. For instance, the recent derivation of lol or Laugh Out Loud, in the local Bemba language cannot be used anywhere else. The relentless usage of text language has ushered in new way of writing. The question is, should this kind of writing be given a formal place?

Communication devices are equipped to keep a user as close as possible to the proper way of writing however, with time, the software meant for auto correct, spell check and auto spell adapt to the new words that are insistently types.

Another thing that irritates me when I receive a text message is when words are misplaced and misused. The consistent mix-up of homophones (words that have the same pronunciation) and homographs (words that are spelt the same way but do not have the same meaning). The misplacement of synonyms (words that have similar meaning) and antonyms (words that have opposite meanings). Common examples in Zambia; ‘the, there, they, their’ or ‘raise up your hand’ or ‘where, were, we’re’ or ‘leave, live’ etc.

English is not our first language but it remains the official mode of communication. This being the case, there is a small percentage of tolerating mistakes that seep into English as a result of first language interference. However, Zambia belongs to a global village and if we have to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, we must be able to tell our stories in manner that the rest of the world can understand and appreciate what we are communicating. The most unfortunate part is that even when we decide to use our own languages to write, we fall short on quality as most young people cannot even spell most local words. So whether you choose English or vernacular to write, use words properly, write grammatical sentences and get the spellings right.

LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY

It has been deemed the age of technology and rightly so because practically everything in the world today is being led by speed, gadgets and the internet. The digital era has spun the way people look at the world. In fact there is so much to read, watch and listen to that it has raised a red flag. Generally, there is a high rate of abuse of the media age.  A lot of misinformation can now be communicated or damage caused through a simple mobile device. The use of social media has become a ‘bone of contention’, is it a good or bad thing? The amount of pornography that is being shared carelessly is shocking. Bullying has now infiltrated the internet. There is a serious concern that the values of learning and teaching are being diluted by the click of a button.

The United Nations Agency reports that more than 3 billion people in the world are now using the internet (UNA report 2015). ZICTA (2016) reports that 6.1 million people are internet users. The question is what are the majority of Zambians using the internet for? Of course, the positive side is access to knowledge but what else is being accessed? What impact does all this information have on the younger population, on the school boy or girl? If you take time to read some comments on some social media pages you will get a clear picture that literacy and technology are closely linked. Of course, you will get a headache just trying to read through the misspelt words, ungrammatical sentences and vulgar language, which is a clear indicator of literacy levels of those who have access to the internet. Most mobile devices have in-built dictionaries and spellers but the question is how many make use of this technology?

Access? It would be interesting to get details of what percentage of the 6.1 million are aged below 16 years, the critical developmental stage of childhood and the most vulnerable. The education sector has had its fair share of the battle between good and evil in as far as internet access is concerned. Much as educators wish to promote the usage of the many opportunities on the internet, protecting children from straying to illegal and dangerous sites overturns their good intentions. The cellular phone is the main culprit. In the modern age when parents want to keep in touch with their children all day, the schools suffer the consequences of children brining their mobiles to school. First of all, it is seen as a distraction to the learning period. Secondly, the cellular phone is the main source of transmitting pornography and opens doors to cyber bullying that parents are busy complaining about. Let us just leave this thought here; to buy or not to buy your child a mobile phone?

Literacy? There is a wealth of information on the internet. It is an open library, there is a lot of education materials. But what about the other information sites, what about social media? The minimum age to open a social media account is set at 18 years and according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), a child is a boy or girl below the age of 18 years. Yet, there are social media groups for school going children. Here is where the problem begins. Literacy skills on these groups leave much to be desired. The jargon that has now strayed into school essays has clearly devalued the quality of reading and writing. That we have a generation that cannot spell or give simple directions to where they live, is surely a source of concern.

We cannot deny access to technology for anyone. However, parents need to do more to support the efforts of educators to uphold the value of education and to promote good values and ethics in as far as utilization of technology is concerned. For example, if you buy your child a mobile device or a computer, get interested to know what they are doing with that piece of technology.

Should we ban social media platforms? What is more important is to sensitize people on the positive usage of the internet, especially social media. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian Genre’, we must take advantage of this grand opportunity to develop our literary abilities. Positive use of technology is individual responsibility. Rather than read jokes and poorly constructed sentences on social media, look for pages and sites that can help you build your literacy skills.