In a topic-driven, well-organized, and well-substantiated paragraph, SUMMARIZE McWhorter’s argument—his “they say”—in his TED Talk: “Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!”
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and DO copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
Devante Wrenn
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
Ted talk: McWhorter
In the Ted talk McWhorter talk about how our conversation, meaning s talking in person, has gone down. We don’t talk to each other anymore we just text each other more. He calls it “fingered speech” because we aren’t carrying a conversation in person, but we use texting as our speech. When we text each other we seem to talk about more things and feel more comfortable than in person. He believes that texting is keeping us away from talking in person. We also tend to short our words and sentences in texting so now when we talk we tend to text talk. We would accidently say what we would say if we were texting a person in front of us. Texting has also made people talk less in person because they feel comfortable texting but not talking. He also states that when we text we don’t think about what we text. He mentions an actually text and the girl in the message said “lol” most of the time to everything she said, but in person you wouldn’t really “lol” to what you said. We start to text things that don’t make sense and eventually it will catch up to us in person and we may say the wrong thing.
Gabrielle Tallman
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
ENG 1003
24 September 2015
Language has been around since, well basically forever. Writing didn't come around until much later. It was more formal than speech. This was true until, of course, technology came along. This beautiful thing, called texting, became popular and some refer to it as, "fingered speech." We, as humans, used to speak like we write but now it has been totally reversed to where you, "write like you speak." The statement, that John McWhorter made about how, "Texting is not writing at all." makes sense because we type messages to people similarly formed as how we speak, not write. The emergent complexity we see in texting is a new kind of language with a new structure.
Peter Cote
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 Sept. 2015
Txting is Killing Language. JK!!! Summary
According to John McWhorter, texting has become an evolved type of writing that allows people to write like they talk. John McWhorter is a linguist professor at Columbia University. He has written several books on linguistics and racial tensions. John McWhorter points out several benefits to the texting life by explaining the way texting allows others to “write like we speak.” He believes that texting has helped society explain what they are trying to say with the emotions they are trying to say it with. McWhorter shows that people are seeing “a whole new way of writing that young people are developing.” He is stating this to show that texting has created a unique way of expressing oneself into a written language. In some ways, McWhorter believes texting has become a language of it’s own. Texting has caused people to express themselves the way they would if they were talking in front of the another person unlike regular writing does. McWhorter believes that writing is always developing into unique styles changing as the years go by.
Aidan Bish
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
SWU English 1003
24 September 2015
McWhorter on Texting and Language
According to John McWhorter, texting is not spelling the decline of intellectual writing because it is not writing at all. Speech is language, he says, while writing is something separate. Texting falls into the category of speech and of casual language, while writing is something much more reflective and formal. Although texting is written, McWhorter calls it “fingered speech”. Therefore, all of the developments of texting (such as “lol”) are not retrogressions of writing but “pragmatic particles” and all of the complaints about it are simply misdirected. He concludes by tracing complaints about student writing ability from today back through history to 63 AD, making the point that this sort of issue is not new.
Kaylee Young
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
McWhorter Summary
McWhorter, compared to recently studied writers, holds the glass half full opinion on technology. He says, “Texting is a miraculous thing.” He believes that texting is beneficial because it is a new language that young people have creatively developed. In today’s society we do not talk like we write, but we “write like we speak.” Texting, according to McWhorter, is a fingered speech where we can write shorthand and casual just like how we would say it in face to face conversation. Texting is, in a sense, another language we use alongside our true writing skills. According to McWhorter, this situation makes a person bilingual, which is cognitively beneficial. I believe that he is correct, regarding all the details discussed, because texting is a new, loose structured language that has become a “linguistic miracle,” that we have all become accustomed to today.
Anna Newton
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
Txting is Killing Language. JK!!! Summary
John McWhorter argues in this TED Talk, that texting is a miraculous thing. Language arose as talking, and writing came along a lot later. One advantage with writing is that you can look back at it later, but speaking is much looser and reliable. Texting is the best of both worlds, it’s a recorded writing, in the form of how we speak. It is much easier, because no grammar is involved, and it is just like holding a conversation. Some might call texting a “fingered speech.” McWhorter believes that texting is a beneficial way to communicate with someone, faster and more effectively.
Professor Kirk
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1003
24 September 2015
Txting is Killing Language. JK!!! Summary
John McWhorter objects to the common opinion that texting is slowly killing our abilities to speak and write by stating that texting is a form of communication within itself. Texting has evolved into what McWhorter refers to as “fingered speech”. McWhorter uses the common phrase “speak like you write” to demonstrate that texting has reversed the roles in which people now write like they speak. It has caused language to evolve into a casual speech (7-10 words) in where people communicate using what has become a “texting” language of its own. Phrases such as “lol” and “slash” have taken on a totally different meaning and use than what would be used in spoken language. McWhorter presents the idea that texting has not stunted our ability to grow in speech and language, but instead broadened it by allowing us to adjust our ways of speech into new forms, strengthening our ability to communicate.
Austin Bennett
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
Txting is Killing Language, JK!!! Summary
John McWhorter is a renowned linguist, bringing an unpopular opinion into view. McWhorter states that while most people believe texting is detrimental to speech and language, the opposite is true. Language and writing are not the same thing. Writing is relatively new compared to language. Texting is a way for people to speak through text. A much less formal way of communicating. McWhorter calls texting "fingered speech", to compare it to talking. He points out that in much the same way people do not consider punctuation or grammar in texts, it is not conscious in speech either. McWhorter overall believes texting is mostly beneficial.
Logan Radwanski
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
“Txtng Is Killing Language. JK!!!” Summary McWhorter delivers his speech about texting with a glass half full attitude. Not saying texting is horrific and no one should do it but tell us “texting isn’t writing at all”. He goes on to say it’s an expansion of young people’s linguistics, a fingered speech that has been developed by young people who use it along with their ordinary writing skills. It’s almost like young people have become bi-dialect by being to deep read, text, and speak formal English & slang. Even though in texting you usually aren’t texting with perfect spelling or grammar but that has been happening throughout time as McWhorter delivers examples of a Harvard Dean back in the 1870s worrying scholars use of poor spelling and grammar. But no one speaks perfectly Shakespearian always and writes like Jane Austen. As “Once you have things in your pocket that can receive that message, then you have conditions that allow that we can write like we speak.” This generation of young people balanced their way of texting and speaking proper English also developed when it is proper to use “LOL” and other “rules” of texting that we all use and comprehend. McWhorter believes we have changed our way of writing due to texting but have found the balance for it in our writing and our speech.
Breanna Roper
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
The Evolution of Communication
John McWhorter delivers a speech "Txting is Killing Language. JK!!!", in which he describes this new era of communication, texting, as a positive factor. Instead of stating the obvious downsides to texting, he enters the argument with a refreshingly positive outlook, pointing out the upsides to what speech has evolved to. In an earlier time in history, writing was not casual, it was made to sound of high intelligence and formal, the ideal writing style. Now that texting is dominating most of society, we write how we speak. With the common exception such as "lol", and "haha" considering haha isn't truly how someone laughs. Texting to McWhorter is what he calls "fingered speech", a new, modern form of communication, not a decline of the English language.
Breanna Roper
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
24 September 2015
The Evolution of Communication
John McWhorter delivers a speech "Txting is Killing Language. JK!!!", in which he describes this new era of communication, texting, as a positive factor. Instead of stating the obvious downsides to texting, he enters the argument with a refreshingly positive outlook, pointing out the upsides to what speech has evolved to. In an earlier time in history, writing was not casual, it was made to sound of high intelligence and formal, the ideal writing style. Now that texting is dominating most of society, we write how we speak. With the common exception such as "lol", and "haha" considering haha isn't truly how someone laughs. Texting to McWhorter is what he calls "fingered speech", a new, modern form of communication, not a decline of the English language.
Trevor Porter
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
September 24, 2015
Texting is bad language, or isn't it?
In a TED talk based around texting, most people would assume that it's a negative statement about what it is doing to us as writers and as speakers. That is not the case with McWhorter, he delivers a speech from a glass half full perspective. He believes that, if done resposibly, texting is good for language.He enjoys it, he feels that it is a whole new language that has been developed by todays youth. He describes it as, "fingered speech". Usually when we write, its more formal than our speech. John appreciates texting, he believes it is more true to the way we speak with eachother. He views texting as just another form of writing that is used today.
Carter Groomes
ReplyDeleteProfessor Kirk
English 1003
23 September 2015
TED Talk
In John McWhorter’s TED talk his point is that texting has opened up another part of our brain, and is a totally different kind of writing style. Texting is like a second language to our generation now. John McWhorter proclaims that “If you speak like you write then you should want to sometimes write like you think”. The way we text is the way we wish we could talk to people in person, but we have adapted to only have work packets of only 7-10 words when we talk. Texting is definitely a good thing because it teaches us how we are supposed to talk, all we have to do is learn how to speak the part.