Communication through text messaging and other instant online communication is short and basic. Some people think this will be the death of grammar and spelling. Do you agree or disagree?
Some people believe that instant communication apps like short messenger or social apps are becoming fundamental. Using these apps could lead to a downgrade of the English language by incorrect grammar and spelling. In my opinion, I support this stance as this would make people lose their command over the English language, which they have learned for many years in education.
To begin with, though English is widely recognized as the most spoken language globally, it is still not used as the native language in many parts of the world. So it is always a part of the study curriculum from primary education. We have learned this language for years, especially the native speakers, who struggle to get accustomed to English. In past decades, calls were the only medium of communication that would still keep intact with the language used. Gradually, after entering the internet and email era, writing also had less impact as the flow of conversation seemed quite formal and structured. However, now that the popularity is going upwards in the usage of short communicators for talks, people use short forms such as “WRU” or “HRU” for where are you or How are you? All these short forms of slang like “LOL”, meaning laugh out loud or “OMG”, meaning Oh my god, are becoming a part of regular conversations instead of complete sentences.
Moreover, the downfall of this use of short texts and slang can also affect the grammatically correct sentences as it would skip the connectors and the compound and complex sentences. This is a disadvantage for many people, especially those who are preparing for some entrance tests after graduation where they would be writing English or Verbal comprehension tests and get assessed based on it. Even popular English tests like IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, and so on., are the primary factors before applying for the academic course of permanent residency in countries like Canada and Australia, U.K. Apart from these, International working professionals are not much affected because of their regular practices in speaking, writing emails, giving presentations, and documentation as compared to the students or other professionals where usage of English is less. It is not just fluency that matters. Also, punctuation marks like simple full stops, commas, and exclamation marks can alter the sentence’s meaning altogether if missed.
Some people have a short and quick way in which grammar and spelling are sometimes neglected, and some people, including me, believe that it can affect the fluency and coherence of the English language. To save time over long conversation texts, one can degrade one’s linguistic abilities, which could have unsaid repercussions.
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