Running head: LONG WRITING ESSENTIAL TO YOUNG ENGLISH SPEAKERS

Longer Forms of Writing are Essential for Young English Speakers

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LONG WRITING ESSENTIAL TO YOUNG ENGLISH SPEAKERS

2Abstract
This essay will explain the reasons why longer forms of writing are necessary for young
English speakers. It will explain why abbreviated forms of writing are not enough for theyoung people of today and why their declining writing abilities need to be assessed as quickly
as possible. Longer forms of English writing are needed to keep English a worldwide
language which can be used at international events, to allow people to communicatesmoothly with other people of different generations and backgrounds, and to allow people oftoday to learn from people of the past and pass down information for the future. These cannot
be achieved by short, abbreviated forms of writing that are commonly used by young people
for mobile texting. There is no substitute to longer forms of English writing in the way thatthey connect billions of people in many regions and many generations, and it is essential foryoung speakers to continue to use them.

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Longer Forms of Writing are Essential for Young English Speakers
In recent times, it is said that the writing abilities of young English speakers aroundthe world is declining. Barrett (2010) says that up to 30% of the high school students thattake the English language exam at Waterloo University have poor grammar such as
punctuation and spelling errors. New advanced technology and social networking sites thathave allowed teenagers to text to friends, post on Facebook, and tweet something on Twitter
have not helped the cause. This is because most teenagers type in abbreviated forms on
mobile phones to save time, energy, and the batteries of the phone. Abbreviated forms ofwriting are written sentences that leave out necessary words such as subjects or verbs, ornecessary punctuation such as periods or capital letters. They can also be sentences that
contain abbreviated words or slang. Writing like this has spread throughout the young
English speaking population and used so commonly, that it raises the question of the valuesof longer forms of writing for young English speakers. The values are that they keep Englisha language that people of most regions can understand, that they allow all generations ofEnglish speakers to communicate with each other, and that they make it possible for young
people to enjoy English writings in the past and to write works that are understandable forpeople of future generations. This essay will explain these three values.
Communication with Other Regions
Many millions of people around the world understand English, and it has a history ofover 15 centuries (English Club, n.d.). English is the official language of more countries thanany other language. It is the language which is used most often when two or more countries
which do not use the same language as each other interact, and it is the language used mostcommonly for international events and business. Therefore, it is a language not only used bypeople of English speaking regions but a language used by many people of other regions as a

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4foreign language. In fact, around three quarters of the English speaking population use alanguage other than English at home (British Council, 1997). It is the closest thing the world
has to a universal language, and it is becoming necessary for non-English speaking countries
like Japan to be able to communicate in English. Companies in Japan such as Nissan,Rakuten, Lawson, and Fast Retailing., the company behind Uniqlo, have made English as
their official language and hold company meetings in English in order to try to thrive outsideof Japan as well (Matsutani, 2012). Also, in Japan, English is a compulsory subject for every
single secondary school student (McCurry, 2011).
On the other hand, abbreviated forms of English writing cannot be understood by alarge number of people. Abbreviated forms of writing are not something one learns at school
but something that was made up when using electronic devices to communicate. It is
primarily the people who consider English as their strongest language who use andunderstand abbreviated forms of writing. People who do not consider English as theirstrongest language mainly use their native language when they want to deliver quick
messages, thus not having an opportunity to use and understand abbreviated forms of English
writing. This is why it is hard for people who do not come from English speaking
backgrounds to get to understand abbreviated forms of writing. As mentioned above, many
English users do not use English as their first language, so without longer forms of writing,English would not be anything close to the worldwide language it is now. English would
become just another language out of the countless dialects that are spoken on this planet.
Longer forms of English writing are necessary between strong English writers aswell. Even if the person one is communicating with is a person who can understandabbreviated forms of writing, there could be many misunderstandings depending on therelationship between them. Abbreviated forms of writing sometimes leave out key words andleave it to the reader to figure out for themselves on what is being left out. This may vary on

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how well the two people know each other or the background of the person at the other end.
People’s interpretations could change on what part of the world they live in or what kind ofpeople they grew up with. These misunderstandings could lead to a dispute and could evenput an end to relationships. This is why it is safer to use longer forms of writing whencommunicating with people of different backgrounds.
Communication with Other Generations
Longer forms of English writing are also understood by all generations, from theyoung people to the elderly. Although there might have been different ways of teaching, theEnglish language that is taught now and that was taught a century ago is hardly different(Thanasoulas, 2002). It is rather easy to communicate with people of different generations byusing longer forms of writing. For example, young children could write a letter to theirgrandparents in a longer form of writing, and their grandparents would seldom have aproblem understanding it.
On the other hand, if young children sent a text message in an abbreviated form ofwriting with their mobile phones, most grandparents would undoubtedly have trouble
understanding it. This is because it has only been 40 years since the first call with a mobile
phone has been made (Sky News, 2013). Texting with mobile phones did not even exist 60years ago, so they did not have an opportunity to use and understand abbreviated forms ofwriting in their younger years. In 2008, there was a study in the United States that showedthat only 20% of adults aged 55 to 64 used mobile phones for texting (Tiemeyer, 2008). For
people older than 64, the percentage would surely go down. This explains that not manyelderly people have caught on to the trend of texting, and that it is hard for them to try tounderstand abbreviated forms of writing from their older years. Also, many of them do not
usually use Facebook or Twitter since they were only created this century. This is why mostelderly people do not understand abbreviated forms of English writing, and it is clear that

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longer forms of writing are needed to communicate well with them.
Similar to the example above about the strong English writers misunderstanding
each other, there could also be problems even between people who often use mobile texting
to communicate. Even if the person one is communicating with is a regular user of mobiletexting, there could be many misunderstandings due to key words being omitted. The way theother person interprets the text could vary on their age group and the sayings that were
popular when they grew up. Like the example above, these misunderstandings may be fatal torelationships, and this shows that it is safer to use longer forms of writing to try to avoid thesemisunderstandings.
Works of the Past and Works for the Future
Since the birth of the English language, there have been many pieces of work such asessays, stories and plays that have been written in longer forms. It might be possible forpeople who only know abbreviated forms of English writing to enjoy them, but for young
English speakers to fully understand and feel the beauty of them, they need to learn about
longer forms of English writing. Especially works such as William Shakespeare’s that are
hard to interpret need proper education on longer forms of writing to understand them (TheLiterature Network, 2006). It is important for young English speakers worldwide to study
longer forms of writing and read works that have been made in the past. It is essential foryoung people of any region to learn from past works and to understand about the history ofthe language.
Just as the people of the past have left behind famous works, young people of today
need to leave behind works for the future. People of today need to pass information down tothe people of the future, and they need to write down the ideas that they have thought of. As
Harri Baker and Browning (2002) say, “someday, a long, long time from now, people will
want to know about how we lived in this time.” Whether it is a fictional story, or whether it isLONG WRITING ESSENTIAL TO YOUNG ENGLISH SPEAKERS

7a researched essay, they need to be understandable so it can be read by the people of thefuture. Therefore, they need to be written in longer forms of English. As mentioned above,abbreviated forms of English writing may cause confusion and misunderstanding. This isespecially so when one is looking to leave behind works for centuries to come. Some people
might say that it would only be a handful of people who are going leave behind writing works
that are going to be read in the future, and it would be more convenient to have them study
longer forms of writing on their own. However, there are more than a handful of people who
actually write works, but it is only a handful that gets selected to be passed down to the future.
For this reason it is important for all young English speakers to learn how to write in longer
forms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, longer forms of writing are needed for young English speakers because
the fact that they keep English as the main language that is accepted worldwide, that they
allow them to be able to communicate with people of many different generations and regions
around the world, and that they allow them to communicate with the people of the past andpeople of the future through writing. Most importantly, longer forms of English writing canpass on information more accurately than abbreviated forms of English writing. It may be
convenient to use abbreviated forms when texting friends with mobile phones, but longer
forms of writing is more important as it needs to be used in formal situations.

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8References
British Council. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions The English Language. Retrieved August
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Harri Baker, T., & Browning, J. (2002). An Arkansas History for Young People (3rd ed.).
China: University of Arkansas Press
Kelley, S. (2010, February 1). Texting, Twittering contributing to students’ poor grammar
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Matsutani, M. (2012, July 30). Mikitani and his “Englishnization” of Japanese business. The
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McCurry, J. (2011, March 8). Japan launches primary push to teach English. The Guardian.
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from http://www.englishclub.com/tefl-articles/history-english-language-teaching.htm

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9Tiemeyer, M. (2008, October 22). Thanks to Millennials, Older Adults Increasing Adopt Text
Messaging. Sprint. Retrieved from http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?
article_id=759