Criteria

A: Rationale (2)
B: Task and Content (8)
C: Organisation (5)
D: Language and Style (5)

Text type:
 Newspaper opinion column written by an angry parent on how social media has changed
language of communication amongst the youth

Rationale
 After studying the way language has morphed over generations and it’s susceptibility to
change
 written task written from Part 2 of the course demonstrates how language is used in the media
 In a recent study of 2,000 parents, conducted by Samsung, 86% of participants said that they
felt teens and young people spoke an entirely different language on social media. According
to the study there is now a ‘seismic generational gap’ regarding how modern informal
language is being used. (Language Services Direct 2017)
 Text type chosen a newspaper opinion column: allows to contrast the language use for
someone of an older generation who has observed the metamorphosis of language amongst
teenagers using social media
 Newspapers are becoming a redundant form of communication, thus, using this text type
emphasises the way youth who increasingly use social media are transforming traditional
English Language etiquettes as redundant which reflects a parallel shift
 Can establish a tone and formal voice, to critique the portrayal of language
 Can display understanding of language discourse and composition

Content and Important Points

 New vocabulary and Neologism
 Abbreviations
 Non-verbal communication using Emoji’s/GIFS/memes
 Parlance/lingo which are idioms in context
 Acronyms such as ‘lol’ have made the transition into verbal speech

E.g. Language of Twitter

Banger, ting, mate, peng, clapt, fam, dunno

Other ideas:
 Transcribed interview for a magazine about how language is used to stereotype minorities

Works Cited
Language Services Direct. "How is social media changing the English language? | Language Services
Direct." Language Services Direct. 29 Aug. 2017. Web. 28 Nov. 2017.
<https://www.languageservicesdirect.co.uk/social-media-changing-english-language/>

 A language of filth!

I’m writing to express my rage and to convey the barbarity which I am first hand witnessing amongst
all our children. As a parent, I can no longer tolerate the destructive habits of my adolescents. Social
media is transforming their habits but now, it has reached a climax where I feel like I can no longer
understand them. This because of theirand they way it has influenced How is it possible
Rational
Outline
  Outrage – mostly defining the problem at hand, emphasising the way it is difficult to
understand what teens are now saying; unable to connect with my child; continuous
regurgitation of false id
 Deterioration of traditional values and language: there is no respect anymore
 How text-speak is affecting speech
 What educators need to realise and their new responsibility
 Am I a bad parent? Questioning of their own fault towards this destruction

I can’t accept this. How are my children indulging in the voluntary destruction of our traditional
language?

This ailing disease is spreading quick amongst the youth and as I sit here to write this – I write to all
mothers. Mothers like me. I write to you. I write to you in a language rich with eloquence and fervour.
A language I am witnessing decompose and rot in front of my eyes by our very own. I fear the
extinction of the art created from our language, such as literature and poetry. Shakespeare and Keats
would not bear wamust truly be turning in their graves if they were to know and forms of
communication

My children, both Alice and Tom, have succumbed into this viral infection (pun intended). I observe
the way they talk now. It’s different. An alien language. Fragments. Non-sensical sounds and phrases
I have never heard before. “You gotta chill Ma, lol, I’ll ttyl!” Alice said the other day. I stood,
dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what my daughter had just said. How could it be? I am her
mother, after all.

If ever you dare to

Is it a code? Have I not raised her right?
It’s quite difficult to compete against the realm of electronic communications technology. I fear that
these phones may raise my children against the conventions of the English language they learn at
school. My kids no longer apply their
I am a simpleton.

Surely, there must be a

Tuc-tuc-tuc! That is the sound of brain cells a