Mention MySpace and other online "social networks" to educators and parents and you'll likely get a reaction worthy of Edvard Munch's The Scream. Take a peek at the Internet-style spelling and grammar on these sites and you might belt out a shriek yourself. But not so fast, says an educator named Joe Bellacero. A veteran New York City English teacher, Joe is now the associate director of The New York City Writing Project, a professional development organization that stresses teachers teaching teachers. As you can imagine, he knows a thing or two about the language arts. Joe explains why he thinks popular social networks might just be a boon for students -- and how teachers can tap their hidden value.
VT: Has cryptic online "computer speak" caused kids to forget how to write?
Joe: Well, you could take that view. On the other hand, they are writing. And they're reinventing writing. If you take a broad view, it's similar to when English was coming into existence back in the days when German and French were being amalgamated, and people were unselfconsciously creating a language. I don't look at what's happening on the Internet with language as if kids are losing something. I think they're developing something. They're developing something new -- and don't forget, they'll be taking over after you and me.
What's happening online right now is a real opportunity for young people to invent language and invent conventions. And it's a real opportunity for us as teachers to get students to understand and learn about language and conventions through what they're doing on the Internet. Some people may see this as a loss. "A lot" may become one word and "you" may become the letter "u." But I don't think that this is a loss. I think this is growth.
VT: How so?
Joe: When I see my son on MySpace, quite often he will write in a kind of a short hand and use a lot of metaphors. His friends online understand him because they know the context for, say, a short phrase or even the letters that they use, like "LMIRL" ["let's meet in real life"]. These words and phrases take on different nuances as people use them in different ways. It's a growing language, that's what it is.
As teachers begin to recognize this and start to understand what kids are saying, they can use it to point out how communication actually works. They can show how kids online are not just communicating their "message," they're also telling their friends something about the kind of person they are. They're communicating much more than just what the language says. By using that language they're saying, I'm part of the club; what we call a Discourse Community. The thing is, of course, that all language does that. So here's an opportunity for teachers to say, for example, let's look at Shakespeare now and see how he's doing exactly the same thing. Both teachers and students should realize that Shakespeare was doing exactly what MySpace users do, he was reinventing the language. Over 1700 words were first recorded in his works; imagine what today's language purists would have made of that!
VT: So teachers can harness this language to teach?
Joe: That's right. But you know what happens, of course? As soon as teachers get a hold of this online language, it changes. Kids stop using it or they move onto something else. Think what would happen if I went into MySpace and started communicating online there--it wouldn't take two seconds before they'd know that it was an adult writing.
I'm communicating a great deal by the language I choose, of course. But as long as you can help students recognize the importance of these conventions, these on-line language practices, it's very useful. If we can help students understand this then we're also helping them understand a great deal about why language conventions are important. We can use places like MySpace to teach them that we have to consider the conventions of writing. Once you decide which audience you want to communicate to, you have to use the conventions that they understand -- whether on MySpace or in the classroom.
VT: So MySpace can serve as an excellent example.
Joe: That's right, because in life we "code shift" all the time. Everybody does. We have a "family" language at home. And when we go to church we have a different language. We don't say, "How the heck are you, God?"
This code switching is something kids really grow up with now. I look at my son at the computer. He's got four Instant Message windows going on at once. He's typing a paper and responding to someone on email. Each one of these modes of communication requires a different kind of code, a different kind of language -- and he's switching back and forth with no problem.
VT: What does this portend for educators?
Joe: If teachers can grab hold of this, they can use it to help students recognize how conventions work and why they should internalize the conventions of standard language. Kids are now writing so much more than they ever did before because of the Internet. We have the opportunity to create stronger language skills in students thanks to this evolution.
