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New Zealand To Allow 'Text-Speak' On Exams
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:19 AM
from the beginning-of-the-end dept.
from the beginning-of-the-end dept.
ScentCone writes "New Zealand's Qualification Authority (which sets testing standards for the public schools) is confident that those grading papers will understand the meaning of students' responses, even if they use phone/IM-style text-speak. From the article: 'credit will be given if the answer "clearly shows the required understanding," even if it contains text-speak.' Many teachers are not amused, and critics say that the move will devalue NZ's equivalent of a high school diploma." Not to mention that graders will need to be restrained so they don't gouge their own eyes out. While in the medium of text messages, some shorthand might be in order, but I didn't realize that world paper, pencil, and ink shortages were so severe so that text-speak is necessary everywhere.
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Are they kidding? (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone remember "Ebonics"?
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Insightful)
The ability to detect humor by slashdot moderators has seriously suffered recently. I've seen several posts modded as 5, Funny, that are mocking a parent poster's ironic joke that the poster and the moderators did not get themselves. Either that or the poster is purposely just sucking karma from the parent.
Re:What's wrong with his post? (Score:5, Funny)
You spelling and grammar knowlegde is perfectly fine, as far as I can tell (I'm a non english speaker though). On the other hand, you have serious problems with comprehension.
Re:What's wrong with his post? (Score:5, Funny)
What?
Re:What's wrong with his post? (Score:5, Funny)
I fixed it for you guys.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Insightful)
Me shud B a fucking cee Eee OOh dat a fuckin' coperashun.
fuck yo!
cuz speelin dont be making you any smartur.fuck.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
From Slashdot of course.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If they are letting text speak through... (Score:4, Funny)
t3h kn33 b0n3 15 c0nn3ct3d t0 teh th1g|-| b0n3!
:P (Score:5, Funny)
Does this mean... (Score:4, Funny)
Indian Offshoring... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is "The Artist Formerly Know As" popular over there? I blame him for all this in general.
Re:Indian Offshoring... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm quite picky with what I'll abreviate. You and for are such short words anyway, I think cutting down to 'u' and '4' is plain tacky, and makes you come across as being... well... somewhat cheap. But, as you can see, a six lettered word I don't mind so much, even on the internet, which is in fact where I picked that up, long before text messaging took off. Also, through and though have become thru and tho, but I do know the difference between thru and threw which I do see mixed up from time to time. Too and to are never 2, which should only mean two.
So I guess I don't have a fundamental problem with it, as long as ambiguity isn't formed, it remains easy to read, and you draw yourself a line so u dont spk lyk vis al du tym.
Yes, clarity is what really matters (Score:3, Insightful)
That, I think, is the key thing: we're talking about communication here. Abb
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Indian Offshoring... (Score:4, Insightful)
Some of the Indians I work with get training in dealing with western cultures, i.e. western management style, conflict resolution with Westerners, and English colloquialisms. My guess is that the quality of such trainings vary... some people, always from the same one or two companies, put the oddest colloqualisms in their emails. They are technically correct, but they just look out of place in business communication. Writing "u" instead of "you" is just one of those things.
I'm growing increasingly concerned.... (Score:4, Insightful)
One thing that would give me hope though is that textspeak is really only required right now because with so many modern phones, text input is still cumbersome, so it is a necessity. Seemingly when new technologies come into place which would make text entry more efficient (maybe better predictive text input, speech-to-text built into phones, etc.) textspeak won't even be needed.
At least that's what I hope for.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Plain inaccurate (Score:5, Informative)
The obvious solution is... (Score:2)
WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
The meaning behind "Credit will be given"? (Score:3, Insightful)
If the examiner can't correctly work out what the writer is trying to say, then marks will be lost. Presentation also carries a portion of the mark in most subjects, and using txt spk will almost certainly lose that.
So, it's basically allowing people to use txt spk, and actually have a non-zero mark (credit given for the understanding of the subject where it's communicated successfully), but in all probability, they won't be garnering the kind of mark they would otherwise be achieving if they used correct English.
It's possibly the kind of discrepancy that would make the difference between a fail and an average pass mark (depending on how obfuscated the text was by using txt spk).
Which subject? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Which subject? (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? Why? Are mathematicians and chemists not required to communicate? I can understand, perhaps, allowing a little more leeway, given that it is not specifically the subject being tested, but ultimately spelling and grammar matters. A large part of mathematics is being able to clearly communicate your reasoning to other people. Now mathematics does provide its own language and symbols to do a lot of that communication, however as someone who grades math papers, I am as sensitive to misuse of mathematical symbols as I am to misspelling and poor grammar, and I will mark people down for either if it is consistently poor (I will tolerate occasional mistakes). Any ambiguity introduced undermines the entire mathematical argument. Whether it "can be understood" is not enough - markers should not be required to try and figure out what a student meant: what they mean should be immediately clear, and that is an important part of the subject.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
A common misconception: as Locutus of Borg put it, "A narrow vision." The belief that only those fields which predo
And so it begins. (Score:3)
Obligatory Futurama Reference (Score:3, Interesting)
Leela: Don't take this the wrong way, Fry, but you don't seem like the educated type.
Fry: Oh yeah? (Produces Notice of Failure to Graduated from CICC.) Read it and weep. I'm a certified college drop-out.
Leela: Please. Everyone knows twentieth century colleges were basically expensive day care centers.
Professor: That's true. By current academic standards, you're merely a high school dropout.
Fry: What? That's not fair. I deserve the same respect any other college dropout gets. By God, I'm going to enroll here at Mars University and drop out all over again!
Are the graders allowed to mark the exam with (Score:4, Funny)
As someone who grades papers: (Score:3, Funny)
g, su me
i dr
IAAEM (Score:3, Funny)
In some poor parts of the world an English degree means studying how to spell and speak properly.
This is exceedingly unfortunate because the true value of an appreciation of English comes from the ability to understand the nuances of a persons expressions, and in turn to control ones own nuances.
As a Comp Sci major I think the best way to explain this would be to say that it adds bandwidth to people's ability to communicate, before I became an English major I thought it would add bandwidth in the way facial expressions do. Now I understand that a true understanding of English adds more bandwidth than anything short of the original use of language.
This is difficult to explain to people who are so used to people using casual expressions and syntax and choosing topics without enough thought.
When an author puts a word on a page that is the word he has chosen and he has chosen it for a reason, he chose it instead of every other word there is.
Anyway, I'm disgusted with New Zealanders, fortunately in my country approx 50-60% of people end up going to university, and they call it university because your forced to take English.
Cheers!
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Wouldn't you have better left out that first sentence of yours ?
Re:IAAEM (Score:4, Funny)
It's all a misunderstanding... (Score:5, Informative)
Short Answer: Move along, nothing to see here, it's an unsubstantiated rumour.
Long Answer:
From a New Zealand Herald article [nzherald.co.nz], somewhat more authorative on what's going on in New Zealand than CNN.
Text language risky move in NCEA examinations
Friday November 10, 2006
By Claire Trevett
Students are being warned not to use cellphone texting abbreviations in NCEA exams after reports suggested the shorthand was to be allowed.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is dashing media reports that students could use text abbreviations in exams without penalty if their answers otherwise showed the required understanding.
...
Read the article for more. And get it while it's hot, as NZ Herald only allows access to non-subscribers for a week.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
No results found for devolation
It looks like it's already devolving now.
Re:The nature of language (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The nature of language (Score:4, Funny)
If you're using Hungarian as an excuse, shouldn't that read:
advSorry prpFor prnMy nGrammar
Re:The nature of language (Score:4, Funny)
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New Rulz ! (Score:4, Insightful)
The Emporor's new clothes: The king is dead - Long live the king ! leet sp33k will |-|4v3 gr4m4
I 4 1 wlcm our new overlords: The leet sp33k Grammar Nazis
Re:This may be an unpopular opinion... (Score:5, Funny)
Note: I am an American high school student.
The poster knows what he's talking about, his people butchered the English language a long time ago.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)