New Zealand To Allow 'Text-Speak' On Exams 421
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.
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?
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Re:What's wrong with his post? (Score:5, Funny)
I fixed it for you guys.
WRONGO! (Score:2)
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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.
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No, stop, that just makes you do it even more!!!!uno
Verililly, the profit be speakin, an shi' (Score:2)
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Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
From Slashdot of course.
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Since beginning posting here, I've got a regular co
Re:Are they kidding? (Score:5, Funny)
Ebonified leet (Score:2)
I took a text sample and ran it through both a ebonics translator and a leet traslator...
Wh3n 1n d4 k0uR23 0' hUm4n 3v3n72, D4 7H4n9 83C0m32 n3C3554rY pH0' 0N3 n1920r2 74 D1550LV3 d4 p0l171C4l 84nd2 wh1Ch h42 k0NN3c73D D3M w1Ff 4N07h3r, 4N' 74 422uM3 4M0N9 d4 p0w3r2 0' d4 34R7h, d4 53p4r473 4n' 3kw4l 574710n 74 WH1CH d4 L4w2 0' n47uR3 4n' 0' N47UR3'2 90d 3n717l3 D3M, Uh D3C3N7 R35P3c7 74 D4 0P1N10N2 0' M4nk1ND R3kw1R32 D47 d4 n1920r2 5H0Uld D3cL4r3 d4 K4U532 wH1cH 1Mp3L D3M 7
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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.
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This is f***ing arrogant. /. isn't reserved for native English speakers; though your 'whenever I see someone' implies everyone was just that.
You're right, and at times I wonder if the non-english-as-first-language ppl were not better in grammar than the natives ?
With the help of the Kiwis, the latter will become a reality for future generations.
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That is so f***ing presumptuous. In my experience, it is native english speakers that make that mistake the most, including people I know *personally*. This is why I said I was talking about native speakers, because I *wouldn't* be so arrogant as to include second language speakers in such a comment.
"You're right"
Thank you
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Meaning, that we agree. A rare occasion on Slashdot.
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No we don't!!!
Yes, clarity is what really matters (Score:3, Insightful)
That, I think, is the key thing: we're talking about communication here. Abbreviations that require the reader to think twice about the meaning of the writing are an impairment to efficient communication. Depending on the context, they may also be an indication that you consider your time spent writing to be more valuable than the
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"Abbreviations that require the reader to think twice about the meaning of the writing are an impairment to efficient communication"
Yes I think that's precisely it, that is I guess what I do. Get the message across as accurately and efficiently as possible, and not create an image in the reader that I'm sloppy. I don't know why so many people are adverse to the idea that more is conveyed in your writings than the actual
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No, not Prince... you know, thingy. I'd tell you his new name, but the Unicode character set hasn't been updated to support him yet.
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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.
yeah, imagine that ! (Score:2)
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I'm mainly just thinking that it would be kind of a shame if the language (at least the spelling, and some of the grammar), does turn into textspeak as a standard characteristic of the language.
LG's T9/Word works fine for me (Score:2)
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I have a motorola razr (first phone telus offered with bluetooth), and the predictive text input on it is great. After you type a few words, it usually gives a suggestion (which it shows you by completing the remaining lette
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That a generation or two from now, the entire English language is going to primarily be reduced to textspeak and leetspeak or something.
Nah, every generation has their own version of slang. Textspeak and l33tspeak are just a written version of slang so that teenagers can feel unique from their parents (along with wacky fashions, wacky hair color, etc). When people grow up, they typically abandon it, feel embarrassed, and grow annoyed at the new generation. :)
The good thing about these abbreviations is
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Plain inaccurate (Score:5, Informative)
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That's what I suspected... it's always been the case that you're marked on what you're able to demonstrate that you know. If text speak demonstrates the required knowledge/understanding, that's fine.
It seems unlikely that it would work in an English exam, obviously. You'd lose marks for spelling/grammar, even if it's technically possible to get the marks for understanding.
It's quite similar to the fact that I can get away with having atrocious handwriting as long as it's good enough to be understood. So
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)
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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.
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A common misconception: as Locutus of Borg put it, "A narrow vision." The belief that only those fields which predominantly deal with written language should be required to exercise it properly is in error. Seriously in error, and the widespread adoption of this mistake is costing us dearly.
The reality for people of all walks of life, whether they be physicist, math
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Sure, require your stupids to write "properly." Sure, hit them over the head if they don't. But having it effect their math grade doesn't make any sense.
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Sure, require your stupids to write "properly." Sure, hit them over the head if they don't. But having it affect their math grade doesn't make any sense.
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The place to learn proper English is in an English class, but the place to make use of it is in all the other classes. You do realise that not everyone who takes an English class becomes an author, don't you?
And so it begins. (Score:3)
Graffiti (Score:2)
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In college I rarely actualy wrote something down, it either went into my visor (it was a sad day when the screen broke and I found out that they no longer exist) or was typed directly into my computer. The few times I actualy had to write something (generaly for a test) I would sit there and have ot remind my self not to write a 7 instead of a T, how K and E are formed, and a slew of other horrible things...
Text readin (Score:2)
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!
Subject (Score:2)
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!
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When did New Zealand become part of the UK? They're not even in the same hemisphere.
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Wouldn't you have better left out that first sentence of yours ?
Re:IAAEM (Score:4, Funny)
Does "Text speak" always communicate clearly? (Score:2)
In theory, I don't really have a problem with it. Obviously, it wouldn't be appropriate in English class (since non-fucked-up composition is the very thing that the student is supposed to demonstrate) but if someone can communicate a math problem solution, it doesn't matter how they do it.
The catch is that "text speak" (wtf? is that really what it's called now?!) does not clearly communicate. Some people can read it, and others have trouble. I know for a fact that I read it and decipher it much more slo
Breaking News! (Score:2)
--
Does that seem like a good idea?
Makes perfect sense (Score:2)
Yeah, and if it weren't for that crippling electron shortage we'd never abbreviate at all! Face it, "text-speak" is lazy no matter what medium you're using.
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.
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No results found for devolation
It looks like it's already devolving now.
Re:The nature of language (Score:5, Funny)
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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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According to what metric would adding a new word to a language be some kind of devolution? Noone forces you to use it and it doesn't reduce your ability to express yourself with existing words. This is like France's crusade against the word "computer" and it makes even less se
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You'd best get busy, especially since you've picked like the worst language to try to defend as such; between the lingual exchanges that came about from the British Empire and immigration into the US, you've got your work cut out for you to get us all back
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And he sin't even making it all that hard
j00 |-|4\/3 4 |*r0|3|_3m5 \/\/17 |33+?
I am not going any further.
Admitedly, learning leet does have a good purpose, you can make very secure passwords.
1) Take a word you will remember
2) Write it backwards/ROT13 or what ever you want
3) Leet it ussing substitutions you personaly use, if they alow non alphanumeric chars, all the better
4) ?????
5) Profit?
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Your idea for passwords in l33t doesn't seem that great, sure it might be moderately secure but it might be harder to remember than just having something like "-85,/" before a simple word as a password, the word is really easy to remember and that stuff before it shouldn't be too difficult. This makes it at least as hard to brute force (ie. nearly impossible) and saves a little on the remembering.
Also, as a
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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
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Well
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.
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The obvious problem here, however, is that these students can use proper English. If they can't spell "you" as "y-o-u" instead of "u," then they're idiots. I don't ca