Double Entry Journal 3

This Week We read Two Articles:
Are Digital Media Changing Language?
The Keypad Solution

There wasn't Anything that jumped out at me from the second article, but I did find two quotes from the first article that struck me.

"Diminished concern over spelling and punctuation. Spell-check, along with online search engines, may be convincing us that devoting energy to honing spelling skills is anachronistic. Even before you finish typing a word containing an error, spell-check often automatically corrects the word. Similarly, if you type a misspelled word (or phrase) into Google, chances are the search engine will land you pretty much at the same list of sites you would have reached had you been a finalist in the National Spelling Bee."

I really agree with this quote, and it reminded me of a poem I read once about the spell check problem.  Another problem with spell check, that she doesn't mention here is that, even if you type a word correctly, it may me a word that sounds the same, but means something entirely different.  Also if you type a word incorrectly, there are a lot of instances where spell check will change it to an entirely different word than the one you were intending.  Also, she overestimates the cockiness of google, the minute you type the wrong word in that engine they come back with a "didn't you mean ___."

"No longer do we say that Li Po "talks strangely"; rather, she is an "English language learner." Instead of criticizing Bill from Appalachia (who says "Him and me went home"), we note that Bill speaks another dialect of English."
This one bothered me a little.  In her effort to say that we are no longer racist, she was incredibly racist.  Li Po?  Did she right down as many stereotypical names as she could think of and throw a dart to choose which she'd use?  The same thing with Bill.  And as someone from Southern Appalachia, I'm personally insulted by the 'him and me went home' crack.  Granted I will admit, I happen to have a chip on my shoulders about where I come from, but I still think there are better ways she could have addressed that issue.

Here is a poem that shows all that can go wrong with your spell checking experience:  Ode to a Spell Checker

Baron, N. S. (2009). Are digital media changing language?. Educational leadership, 66(6), 42-46. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language¢.aspx

Shea, A. (2010, January 22). The keypad solution. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html

Ode to a spell checker.  Retrieved from

http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/humor/spell.html