Is cht spk dstryng nglsh?

1. States which side you agree with and why
2. Uses quotes from the text
3. States what questions resulted from reading the text

The article "Is Chatspeak Destroying English" pits the curmudgeon against the rebel. I choose rebel. Curmudgeon says that "Students may very well become so familiar and comfortable with chatspeak that it will be difficult to switch gears and construct adequate, meaningful academic
papers and other assignments." I don't see this as a concern. When I speak with my classmates, I have an informal way of speaking. However when I'm chatting online, I use a distinct set of vocabulary and grammar that is different.

This has been true for years. When I was running a BBS, I chatted with people online. BRB was the first chatspeak that I learned. However, when I spoke with those same people, I was gratified that they spoke proper English. I also saw some of their longer form postings and they wrote in proper English as well. It's crazy to think that people can't switch back and forth.

A question that I found when I was reading was that of whether chatspeak is intentionally meant to confuse the older generation. It would seem that the jury is still out on that one. Even though it may not be intentional, it seems to be having the effect. The example that Greg Monfils gives at the beginning of his article (“hey, i cant find hw n the conf can u help.”) confuse even me. Maybe that's okay. As long as the kids know how to move between languages, it's cool.