The Internet Vs The English Language

By Maddy Lloyd

As an internet user, you may have become aware of the diverse range of new language spurting from social networking site such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Commonly used nouns like 'hashtag' or 'Youtuber' may have more or less been accepted into our everyday lexicon by most people, however, some areas of this new usage have been slated by those who deem themselves protectors of English as a language.  

Creative sentence structures like 'I can't even' or non-standard spelling for effect like 'teh' and 'halp' are used frequently by Tumblr users to emphasise one point or another and are generally well understood and useful for those in the know. But while a well-placed 'aslajkghsdl;' (Internet for 'I'm too overwhelmed for words so I will just smash my face to the keys') can provide additional emotion and hilarity to devoted internet users, many people are lamenting the loss of 'decent' spelling and blaming new technology for the downfall of literacy. 

Claims that the youth of today are losing the ability to construct accurate sentences or convey formality during exams are fuelled by tales of despairing teachers telling of that time when Johnny from Year 11 wrote his entire Romeo and Juliet essay exclusively in txt spk. David Crystal, on the other hand, dismisses these patronising shouts with calm logic and a backlog of studies.  As one of the most prominent linguists of the moment, he has made multiple appearances fighting for our corner – take a look at this one, where he likens the internet to the printing press. 

His argument is that in the grand scheme of things, where our language consists of millions of separate words, a few hundred more won't make much difference. The exuberant, over the top writing style favoured by the fangirls on Tumblr or the snarky, concise tweets from the millions of twitter users are just that: styles no different than the one you use to write the history essay due next week, or whatever evaluation your son's forgotten to do for fifth lesson tomorrow.  Crystal claims that technology usage is actually improving language skills in teenagers because they're constantly reading and writing, even if in non-standard ways. There has also been no significant increase in woeful accounts of txt spk exam scripts, despite what you may hear down the grapevine.  Teenagers today are just as capable as ever of identifying the time and place for a sneaky 'I can't even omg halp aslkafngeslk' and when their years of essay writing should be employed. 

But what do you think? Is the English language now doomed forever after the invasion of internet neologisms? Or is it just a new way to use words that we have yet to adapt to?