A new, abbreviated language is emerging, thanks to computers and cell phones. Since students are so accustomed to this type of communication, they have a tendency to use it in formal writing.
An article on washingtonpost.com talks about the IM shorthand. A phrase like "I know what you mean" is reduced to "IKWUM" in text-speak; "OTFL" translates to "on the floor laughing."
The new shorthand is showing up in compositions at all levels, even college. Teachers and professors are learning to understand what their students are saying, but they have their concerns about students using IM in formal settings.
"The drawback of text messaging is that most services limit the messages to 30 words, and the ingenious young writers using that service have created symbols and abbreviations that lead to a very cryptic method of communication that does not lend itself to being transferred to academic writing," said John Briggs, a professor of English at the University of California at Riverside, who heads the university's entry-level writing program for students.
Teachers and students will have to come to some common ground about when the IM shorthand is acceptable. There can be great humor here. Teachers could come up with their own abbreviations to write on papers. I can even imagine a group of senior citizens coming up with their own IM phrases.
Funniest of all was a comment about the rapper, Ludacris.
Edward Hardin, who works in test development for the College Board, which administers the SAT and AP exams, said that although some students slip an occasional IM-ism into an essay, the mistake he most often sees these days is students who confuse the word ludicrous--causing laughter because of absurdity--with Ludacris, the rapper.
"The guy has redefined the spelling of that word," Hardin said with a chuckle.