Thursday, April 2, 2009
Blog Posting #9
My final essay is in the very early forms of development but I want to share with everyone what I have so far in hopes to get some suggestions. I have chosen to concentrate on the effects that web 2.0 is having on English grammar and language; and I personally think that it is negatively effecting our grammar. The most important thing I will establish from the beginning of the essay is what I mean by grammar and what I mean by Web 2.0. Originally when I thought of grammar I thought of sentence structure, capitalization, misspelling of words, etc. But through research I discovered people have many different ideas of what grammar is. What are the top three things you associate with grammar? Also, when I use the term Web 2.0 I am referring to Facebook, MySpace, blogging, instant messaging and the ability to leave comments and reviews for products and/or news articles. My basic outline would be the following. Present my thesis, define grammar and its importance, define web 2.0, use an article that discusses the each of these individually, use an article that combines the two elements, and then find examples of people using grammar poorly throughout web 2.0. The last part will obviously be the easiest! The reason I chose this topic is because these discussions are what I found most interesting in our class. I know and recognize the good aspects of web 2.0 like giving shy students a way to express themselves and giving more people a voice but I think the “harmful” aspects of web 2.0 were overlooked. At some point, even if these students have good ideas and a solid voice, they are going to have to fill out at online application, or send an e-mail to someone who cares about more than their “voice” and if they don’t have the proper grammar skills to project their ideas it will not matter what they are saying. A lot of students express that English is boring because they have to sit through countless hours of grammar, spelling and punctuation but there is much importance in acquiring a good understanding of these basic concepts. I am having trouble finding research and articles that combine the two elements: how web 2.0 effects grammar, so if you find any please feel free to e-mail me. I would really appreciate it. Lindsey.priess@ttu.edu
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Good Idea for a blog. Unfortunately, I am a very computer0illiterate fellow, not having the least idea of what "Web 2.0" means. If you were to write an essay like this one, you may need to clarify all of the jargon for someone like me. Good idea, though.
ReplyDeleteI like this idea. I think it might be a tough one to tackle just because things like MySpace and Facebook are still so new. How can we really measure their affect so soon? You might want to look into some alternative news sources. There is a cool news channel on satellite called Current. I bet they have website.
ReplyDeleteI think of punctuation, capitalization, and weird words like "subject, verb, cooridinating conjunction, and gerunds" when I hear the word "grammar." I also think of Noam Chompsky's idea of "internal grammar."
ReplyDeleteLastly, if I allow myself, I cringe. I hated diagramming in high school.
I think that most people hate grammar and it is due to the way that it is taught in class. If you can find a way to tie it into your paper maybe you could add ways that web 2.0 could be positive for grammar...I bet it would be easier to find research on that as well!
ReplyDeletehaha, i think our papers are almost polar opposites. However, it is a good idea. is there some type of happy medium that could be aquired besides sitting through hours and hours of grammar worksheets? is there another way it can be taught?
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