I read that same article. I thought it was a pretty cool way to make sure kids know when to use what language, IM lingo versus standard English. I thought this was a very good example of code-switching. I also thought it was neat that one teacher allowed her students to use whatever spelling and even IM lingo in their drafts, but when editing and revising they had to switch to standard English.

I also read that article and found it really interesting that IM lingo is accepted on all school work in Finland, according to our teacher. I think these new languages could be very helpful in school situations, if taught along with standard English, but could also be very misleading and confusing for students who mix the two together on schoolwork.

I also read that article as well. I found that article to be very interesting as well. I have talked on aim since probably my sophomore year of high school and I am into the text messaging as well. But I never imagined kids talking on aim at age 11 and having cell phones at that age either. Things have changed even since I was 11 and that was only 10 years ago. I did not know there were that many abbreviations for everything. I think it would be alright to do code switching in drafts but definitely not in papers.

I read the article too, and was also amazed at how many things were abbreviated. It really is a whole new language. This reminds me of the accent and dialect talk we had in class. Although this type is mainly written, it is still a difference of communication from generation to generation. If I were to grade papers written by elementary school students right now and see the abbreviations and numbers, I would think that they didn’t know how to write. With lower grades, that really could be the case, they might use the number 2 to say “twoâ€

I did not read this article but I think that it is a really good idea. I know that one of the main reasons that people shorten their words when chatting or texting is so its less to type. This would be a really good thing to encourage kids to do when writing 1st drafts so that they can spend more time thinking and less time writing.
We as teachers need to be sure to explain to them that final drafts and any important papers or letters should not be written this way though.