Call it TMI: ‘IM-speak’ slipping into students’ papers

ORLANDO, Fla.

Middle school teacher Julia Austin is noticing a new generation of errors creeping into her pupils’ essays. Sure, they still commit the classic blunders — such as the commonly used “ain’t.”

But an increasing number of Miss Austin’s eighth-graders also submit classwork containing “b4,” “ur,” “2” and “wata” — words that may confuse adults but are part of the teens’ everyday lives.

This “instant messaging-speak,” or “IM-speak,” emerged more than a decade ago. Used in e-mails and cell-phone text messages, most teens are familiar with this tech talk and use it to flirt, plan dates and gossip.

But junior high and high school teachers nationwide say they see a troubling trend: The words have become so commonplace in children’s social lives that the techno spellings are finding their way into essays and other writing assignments.

“The IM-speak is so prevalent now,” said Miss Austin, a language-arts teacher at Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Orlando. “I’m always having to instruct my students against using it.”

Vicki A. Davis, a high school teacher at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Ga., said she finds the abbreviated words even in term papers.

“If students use it on their own time, then that’s fine,” Miss Davis said. “But I’m of the viewpoint that there has to be standards to communicate.”

Fourteen-year-old Brandi Concepcion, a pupil of Miss Austin’s, is a texter whose chitchat has slipped into her schoolwork.

Wit, da and dat — used in place of with, the and that — are examples of the IM-speak Brandi said she has used in her homework.

“I write like that in the rough draft, but I try to catch the mistakes before I turn in the final draft,” Brandi said.

One of Miss Davis’ students, 10th-grader Andrew Stargel, said he has even noticed the cyber-language spoken in face-to-face conversations.

“My friend’s little sister walked up at a school basketball game, and we asked her what she was up to,” Andrew said. “She said ‘NMH,’ for nothing much here.”

Andrew used the IM-speak himself a few years ago but said that it was just a phase.

“Everyone uses that language in junior high,” he said.

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