BTW, teen writing may cause teachers to :( - CNN.com - 0 views
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It's a teachable moment," said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at Pew. "If you find that in a child's or student's writing, that's an opportunity to address the differences between formal and informal writing. They learn to make the distinction ... just as they learn not to use slang terms in formal writing.
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Teachers Without Borders on 25 Apr 08It's also a great opportunity for teachers who use blogging in their classes. At the same time, I don't think discouraging informal writing is the right thing to do. Students should have the freedom to use the kind of language they feel is most appropriate given their audience and content. Teaching to adjust one's voice based on audience is therefore crucial.
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Teens who consider electronic communications with friends as "writing" are more likely to carry the informal elements into school assignments than those who distinguish the two.
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I'd be interested to learn how many teachers use emoticons or other informal elements when writing on blogs or communicating with students outside of formal class assignments. For example, do teachers use informal elements when leaving comments on student blogs. Shouldn't they if they want to be seen as readers rather than evaluators?
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Teens who keep blogs are more likely to engage in personal writing. They also tend to believe that writing will prove crucial to their eventual success in life. Parents are more likely than teenagers to believe that Internet-based writing such as e-mail and instant messaging affects writing overall, though both groups are split on whether the electronic communications help or hurt. Nonetheless, 73 percent of teens and 40 percent of parents said they believe Internet writing makes no difference either way.
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If the teacher models informal and formal writing well then this kind of informal writing is not likely to affect students' grasp of formal writing. However, the freedom to use informal, expressive writing might help students develop a stronger sense of voice in all kinds of written work, leading to improved confidence.
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