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New Zealand To Allow 'Text-Speak' On Exams

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the beginning-of-the-end dept.

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.

29 of 421 comments (clear)

  1. Are they kidding? by Announcer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How are kids supposed to learn proper spelling & grammar?

    Anyone remember "Ebonics"?

    --
    Willie...
    1. Re:Are they kidding? by black+mariah · · Score: 5, Funny

      Proper spelling and grammar are unnatural constructs foisted upon the world by upper class tits that needed another way to make themselves feel special.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    2. Re:Are they kidding? by Celt · · Score: 4, Funny

      and yet you condone it by using it in your post, you should stop writing altogether if it upsets you so much :)

      --
      "WebTV: bringing the Internet into the shallow end of the gene pool since 1995" - Martin Bishop
    3. Re:Are they kidding? by Hope+Thelps · · Score: 5, Funny
      How are kids supposed to learn proper spelling & grammar?

      From Slashdot of course.
      --
      To summarise the summary of the summary: people are a problem. ~ h2g2
    4. Re:Are they kidding? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      shit ya yo. fucking titties fucking uppah claas fukin titties yo. grammuh only dare to keeps the fucking lower class down yo!

      Me shud B a fucking cee Eee OOh dat a fuckin' coperashun.

      fuck yo!

      cuz speelin dont be making you any smartur.fuck.

    5. Re:Are they kidding? by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Funny

      Pah, spelling and grammar is a holdover from stuffy, old academic rigidity. It has no place in today's classroom. We need to be moving forward as educators and leave all that 'history' behind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class on "Group sex: sharing can be caring" to teach to third graders.

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    6. Re:Are they kidding? by msromike · · Score: 3, Insightful

      As an example, Perl (I will not use .NET as an example since this is Slashdot) depends on proper spelling and grammar used in unnatural constructs. Learning how to do things "properly" used to be a given, and something that the majority strived for. Now, "perfecting the details" (learning how to write in standard English for example) is an unnecessary a bother that cuts into time that is better used for watching MTV and such. We live in the land of "close enough." The problem is that in many cases close enough isn't good enough.

    7. Re:Are they kidding? by LS · · Score: 4, 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.

      --
      There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  2. If they are letting text speak through... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 4, Funny

    what about l33t sp33k?

    t3h kn33 b0n3 15 c0nn3ct3d t0 teh th1g|-| b0n3!

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  3. :P by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I 4 1 wlcm our txtg ovrlrds ...and let the stupid texting jokes begin!

  4. Does this mean... by shawnseat · · Score: 3, Funny

    that frst pst is worth +5, insightful in New Zealand?

    --
    Religion is the opiate of the masses. The wealthy smoke the real stuff.
  5. Indian Offshoring... by kisrael · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sometimes "text-speak" (surprised it's not "txt-spk") appears in odd places. Like 90% of the offshore folks from India I've interacted with, even in e-mail that was otherwise very professional and well written. Now some of these guys were bozos, but even for the ones that I knew were solid, smart workers...I just couldn't be sure if they even knew that "you" is not spelled "u"

    Is "The Artist Formerly Know As" popular over there? I blame him for all this in general.

    --
    SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
    1. Re:Indian Offshoring... by x2A · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why? I mean, I actually get quite surprised whenever I see someone on slashdot spell 'lose' correctly, and that's from english-as-first-language ppl.

      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.

      --
      The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
    2. Re:Indian Offshoring... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I just couldn't be sure if they even knew that "you" is not spelled "u"
      I've seen the same from Indian, Malaysian and Chinese IT professionals, and given the level of their English, they must have known that "you" is spelled "y-o-u-".

      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.
      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  6. I'm growing increasingly concerned.... by TomHandy · · Score: 3, Insightful
    That a generation or two from now, the entire English language is going to primarily be reduced to textspeak and leetspeak or something.

    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.

  7. Plain inaccurate by mscnln · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bali Haque, deputy chief executive of the authority, said there had been no change to guidelines and there was no specific policy about text language. However, he warned: "If people are expecting they can come up with an exam script full of text and pass, then they're dreaming. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1 &ObjectID=10410066

  8. Which subject? by vadim_t · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Text speak in an English exam of course should result in failing it. On the other hand, I think bad grammar and spelling should be ignored on a math or a chemistry exam, so long the answer is understandable.

    1. Re:Which subject? by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Text speak in an English exam of course should result in failing it. On the other hand, I think bad grammar and spelling should be ignored on a math or a chemistry exam, so long the answer is understandable.

      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.
      --
      Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
  9. Re:What's wrong with his post? by jawtheshark · · 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.

    --
    Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
  10. Re:The nature of language by joto · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's simply because "devolvation" is not dictionarified yet. But you comprehense it anyway.

  11. Are the graders allowed to mark the exam with by antifoidulus · · Score: 3, Funny

    text speak? Such as "u r an 1d10t" or "u fail it"

    --
    Monstar L
  12. Re:The nature of language by wkitchen · · Score: 3, Funny
    If we say LOL out loud,
    Let me guess. You're from the DOR Department, right?
  13. Re:What's wrong with his post? by thrillseeker · · Score: 5, Funny

    On the other hand, you have serious problems with comprehension.

    What?

  14. New Rulz ! by udippel · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wrong ! it is B4 instead of B3f0r3.
    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

  15. Re:What's wrong with his post? by kayditty · · Score: 5, Funny
    Sure there is.
    Proper spelling and grammar are unnatural constructs foisted upon the world by upper class tits that needed another way to make themselves feel special.
    Proper spelling and grammar are unnatural constructs which were foisted upon the world by upper class tits who needed another way to make themselves feel special.

    I fixed it for you guys.
  16. Re:This may be an unpopular opinion... by shudde · · Score: 4, 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.

  17. Re:IAAEM by n3k5 · · Score: 3, Funny
    I am an english major.
    In the light of the horrible mistakes you made in your post, I hope you intended to say that you're an officer in Britain's armed forces?
    --
    but what do i know, i'm just a model.
  18. Re:The nature of language by rjstanford · · Score: 3, Funny
    Sorry for my grammar (I'm Hungarian, best excuse ever), but I think I made with it my point. :-)


    If you're using Hungarian as an excuse, shouldn't that read:

    advSorry prpFor prnMy nGrammar ... emtcn:-)
    --
    You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
  19. It's all a misunderstanding... by pidge-nz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Short Answer: Move along, nothing to see here, it's an unsubstantiated rumour.

    Long Answer:

    From a New Zealand Herald article, 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.