The deterioration of language

A recent article on NCTE's listserv describes the attitudes of educators toward text-messaging slang such as "TTYL." The article discusses the original fear of many in the ELA field when such slang became popular, fearing that expressive and effective language use will be replaced by "BRB" and "LOL." The tone of the article is one of a reformed general consensus, one that has
accepted the technological slang as part of our ever-changing English language. One language arts teacher contributed:

"We've always been [a society that bemoans] `Oh, kids these days,'" says Tarbox. "It happens with every generation, and anything that's new. ... But technology is here to stay. You can't fight it."

With this passive, relaxed consensus among ELA educators, I absolutely disagree. We should incorporate all types of media into our classrooms in order to teach our students to analyze our increasingly visual culture. We should not do this merely because our culture is so visual and so fast-moving in the realm of technology; we should not do this merely to keep up with trends. We should do this also, and perhaps more importantly, to be aware of the effects of technology. The young people of our society are more technologically savvy than ever before. They can be simultaneously text-messaging, instant-messaging, surfing the web, which flashes numerous pop-ups and simultaneous advertisements, while listening to i-tunes with the t.v. on next to them. For us English teachers, this is a new text. Shall we passively accept it onto our shelves? Or shall we analyze it for its implications? Hopefully, we choose to engage it actively and analytically. Is our lanugage use (such as TTYL, BRB, and LOL) reflective of a shift in thinking? Or vice-versa? Wherever technology may lead us in the future, I hope at least some of us do not stoop to such a passive attitude toward dramatic changes in language. At the very least, I hope we are--as all ELA people should be--ready to analyze this (technological) text.

To that general consensus of ELA teachers, please refer to M.T. Anderson's novel Feed and consider my poem, found below.



A Sestina
By Dana Lutters


the deterioration of language is, like,
not even a little bit cool.
it makes me want to ask, really?
you represent the 21st century, dude?
you can barely speak. but whatever,
you’re so brain-dead, you don’t even care what’s up.

you go up to someone these days and ask what’s up?
they roll their eyes, say “nothing” like, like
you barely exist—in person—compared to the “whatever”
they are urgently typing to the BF on AIM, so not cool.
you might try for a conversation again, about the online boyfriend: “who is this dude?”
“no one,” they spit out, and you think sarcastically, really?

Anonymity is rampant these days, really.
you try and verbalize a question and it comes out as “what’s up?”
try and describe an object, just a thing; a person, just a dude.
try and communicate something meaningful and it’s like, like
finding water in a dry, dry desert, you know? not cool.
It’s too hard. It makes you want to give up and just say whatever.

but the frustration is still there. I’m mad or whatever.
It makes me want to go to the mall and shout “Hey! Come on! Really!”
but the shoppers won’t know what I’m so upset about, they’ll roll their eyes and think, not cool.
I’ll get angrier still, but I’ll try to keep my cool, I’ll smile if someone asks what’s up.
with me? well, what’s up is that this all makes me so mad, like,
the mall, the shoppers, the empty words, all of it, dude.

maybe some kind mall security guard will say “listen, dude,”
“there’s a sale at Abercrombie, why don’t you try on some new jeans or whatever.”
I give up trying to talk above the, like,
blaring music at A&F and look at some good deals, really.
the people here are seriously shopping, not even time for a “what’s up?”
I buy a graphic tee that just says “Dude.”

maybe in the future we’ll have to wear shirts from Abercrombie, not just to be cool,
but to explain who we are. mine will say “Dude.”
because we can’t use, like, our words, to explain what’s up,
to explain who we are. our purchases will explain, or whatever.
but even if the shirt says “blondes have more fun,” that’s not the person, really.
I guess the malls will decide who we are, what we’re like.

we can’t decide. what will we say? “like, cool…”
or maybe we’ll start with “really, dude…”
or maybe just “whatever. what’s up?”