For all its advantages, technology has some disadvantages too. The case stated in this article seems ironic; programs like ICQ and instant messenger are designed to increase the level of communication between people, but the language common to chat programs appears to have blurred communication when it is used outside the technical environment. Interesting indeed! Certainly worthy of a full page, single-spaced written response.

Now, it appears that there are two distinct sides to this issue:

1) Language must suit its environment.The language you may use with your friends on a Saturday night may not be the language you choose to use in a classroom or job interview, or around your parents or other adults whom you respect. Somewhere along the line you have realised that there is a time and place for certain language uses. Similarly, the written language should follow this well-founded, if unwritten rule. Ultimately, it is the student's responsibility to make the necessary adjustments in the appropriate environment.

2) Language is always evolving.The English language is a constantly changing, evolving phenomenon. Words are discarded on a regular basis as people move away from using them. Words like anhungry or mawgry are difficult to find in the most thorough of dictionaries. One glimpse through a Shakespearean play will show you many words that have been discarded for modern versions.

On the other side of the coin, new words are developed every day. After all, was there a need for a word like "internet" or "blog", or even "car", until these things existed? No one questions the acceptance of these words, so why not "ppl", "LOL", L8R, and "ROTFL"?

Feel free to choose one side or the other, pick points from both sides, or devise a new position altogether. Once again, the challenge is to write a FULL PAGE, SINGLE SPACED journal entry, adopting and defending your position.