Text Messaging to be part of English GCSE exam

[daffy654]

http://www.dailymail....le-phone-texting.html

I am disgusted that this is being introduced.
Text messaging is not proper English and should not be taught and tested in schools!
My 12 year old son doesn't even own a mobile phone and has no need for one so despite the fact he has the vocabulary,spelling ability and reading ability far above his actual age he is being disadvantaged by this.

[lslowry]

You're quite right this is just another example of dumbed down Britain. In a gcse exam multiple choice question what is better for you? A grilled fish or B sausage in batter

[naomi24]

I agree daffy.

Are you serious, Islowry?

[lslowry]

yes, an article in the paper gave several questions in a similar vein

[naomi24]

Good grief! That's terrible! I was aware that exams had been dumbed down, but I had no idea to what extent. No surprise there are so many passes is it?

[naomi24]

Actually, I think it's very sad. We are doing our children no favours.

[New Judge]

It's part of the government's plot to ensure that State educated people do not have too much of an enquiring mind, will simply do "what's good fior them" (as determined by the State) and, if they work at all, are only fit for menial tasks.

Children today believe all the left-wing clap trap spouted by their so-called teachers and are being moulded perfectly into compliant citizens.

[Sandy-Wroe]

Must be the sausage in batter, followed by a deep fried Mars Bar?

[Toxophilus]

Does everybody think like me that the law (and the government) is an donkey? They have no connection with the outside world to which the rest of us belong. Frequently I am amazed at their stupidity and think it could be the last to open my eyes wide. Then they come up with something else. Will they ever stop? and get their facts straight before they act? Where are the good politicians of yesterday?

[lslowry]

sandy- wroe theres only one way to find out FIIIIGHT !!

[olddutch]

Wholly agree with New Judge - who has always got his finger on the pulse.

Re Islowrys FIIIGHT - battered sausage would definitely lose cos he'd be battered !

Re Toxophilus - it's not something I would like to catch and is there a cure for it ? but concede that the law might be a Donkey however silly !

[Coobeastie]

It's not going to be an exam on who can write in text speak, they'll be expected to analyse its use in an essay.

[daffy654]

This means the kids who are lazy and don't want to learn will get some marks in their English exam I suppose.

I do hope my son manages to pick up some txt spk though or his overall mark in this subject will be 10% lower than if he was tested on his ability to use our language in the correct way,and that makes me both sad and very angry!

[sp1814]

The story is a little bit loaded.

It's A section of just one exam paper which asks pupils to critique the use of text language. If you are someone with a poor grasp on English, it's constructs and grammar, you're not going to do well in that section.

The subject may be trivial, but analyzing the subject, drawing conclusions and supporting those conclusions takes skill.

[tigerlily11]

It might sound a bit on the daft side but English is a constantly changing language.
If you look over the last thousand years, the changes in how we speak and write are massive.
WE might not like but its here to stay although I cannot see why we need to have in included in the exams. We don't include things like American English and we hear a lot more of that and have done over quite a few decades now. We have also merged some of it in to our own. I was amazed at how many of the words we take as English have come from else where.
I don't understand Shakespear at all.