Graduate DiplomaReading & Writing

Spring Term Session 13

Facts and OpinionsUsing Source Materials

Note-taking Review

TRUE OR FALSE?

1. Seiko is from Okinawa.2. Vaclav is wearing shoes.3. Yasir’s glasses look really good.4. Naif is the most attractive student in the class.5. Bandar can say “hello” in eight different

languages.6. Maggie sounds like an injured cat when she

sings.7. Abdulaziz is the best student in the class.8. Lucy is the youngest student in the class.9. Konstantinos looks older than Chimuco.10.Omar is more handsome than Mark.11.England is the best place to learn English.12.Naif seems intelligent.13.Chao should be here but he’s not.

FACT OR OPINION?

1. Seiko is from Okinawa.2. Vaclav is wearing shoes.3. Yasir’s glasses look really good.4. Naif is the most attractive student in the class.5. Bandar can say “hello” in eight different

languages.6. Maggie sounds like an injured cat when she

sings.7. Abdulaziz is the best student in the class.8. Lucy is the youngest student in the class.9. Konstantinos looks older than Chimuco.10.Omar is more handsome than Mark.11.England is the best place to learn English.12.Naif seems intelligent.13.Chao should be here but he’s not.

DISTINGUISHING FACT FROM OPINION

Consider whether the following statements are being presented as facts or opinions. Note that whether they or TRUE OR FALSE is a separate issue.

Presented as opinion or fact?

Agree or disagree? True or false?

Example:The USA has the biggest economy in the world. Fact True

a) Shakespeare was a great writer.

b) Shakespeare wrote textbooks.

c) Smoking can be dangerous.

d) Too many people smoke in the UK.

e) 95% of criminals cannot read.

f) Poor education causes half of all crime.

Presented as opinion or fact?

Agree or disagree? True or false?

Example:The USA has the biggest economy in the world. Fact True

a) Shakespeare was a great writer. Opinion

b) Shakespeare wrote textbooks. Fact False

c) Smoking can be dangerous. Fact True

d) Too many people smoke in the UK. Opinion

e) 95% of criminals cannot read. Fact False (in the UK)

f) Poor education causes half of all crime. Fact It’s impossible to tell.

READING, NOTE-TAKING, AND USING SOURCE MATERIALS

txtin iz messin, mi headn'me englis, try2rite essays, they all come out txtis. gran not plsed w/letters shes getn, swears i wrote better b4 comin2uni. &she's african Hetty Hughes

from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2001/may/03/internet.poetry

i w8 fr yr mesg the beep yr wrds of rude luv. U mke me blush w The curve of yr letters u tch me thru my palms, my eyes Lucy Sweetman

2b or not 2b?

Despite doom-laden prophecies, texting has not been the disaster for language many feared, argues linguistics professor David Crystal. On the contrary, it improves children's writing and spellingDavid Crystal The Guardian, Saturday 5 July 2008

Last year, in a newspaper article headed "I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language", John Humphrys argued that texters are "vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbours 800 years ago. They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped.“

As a new variety of language, texting has been condemned as "textese", "slanguage", a "digital virus". According to John Sutherland of University College London, writing in this paper in 2002, it is "bleak, bald, sad shorthand. Drab shrinktalk ... Linguistically it's all pig's ear ... it masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness. Texting is penmanship for illiterates.“

Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into people's minds - people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language. Scares accompanied the introduction of the telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting. But has there ever been a linguistic phenomenon that has aroused such curiosity, suspicion, fear, confusion, antagonism, fascination, excitement and enthusiasm all at once as texting? And in such a short space of time. Less than a decade ago, hardly anyone had heard of it.

The idea of a point-to-point short message service (or SMS) began to be discussed as part of the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications network in the mid-1980s, but it wasn't until the early 90s that phone companies started to develop its commercial possibilities. Text communicated by pagers were replaced by text messages, at first only 20 characters in length. It took five years or more before numbers of users started to build up. The average number of texts per GSM customer in 1995 was 0.4 per month; by the end of 2000 it was still only 35.

David Crystal (2008) 2b or not 2b The Guardian

David Crystal - linguistics professor : it improves children's writing and spelling

OPPOSITIONJohn Humphrys (2007) "I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language“ – texting damages our language

John Sutherland, University College London : “Linguistically it's all pig's ear ... it masks dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness. Texting is penmanship for illiterates.“

Since arrival of printing people have been arguing that new tech = disastrous language. e.g. with intro telegraph, telephone, and broadcasting. Opinions on texting = v. strong

HISTORYmid-1980s: point-to-point short message service (SMS) discussed,

early 90s commercial possibilities developed…SMS from pagers to mobile

1995 avg. txts per customer = 0.4pcmend of 2000 = 35

Look back at your notes. What do you think about the following statements?

1. Crystal (2008) hates text messages.

2. Crystal (2008) claims that text messages are “wrecking our language”.

3. Crystal (2008) condemns texting as “a digital virus”.

4. Crystal (2008) quotes John Humphrys and John Sutherland in his summary of the argument against the language of text messages.

5. Crystal (2008) quotes John Sutherland of University College London, who claimed that, linguistically, texting is “pig’s ear”.

6. Crystal (2008) believes that the arrival of printing was caused by the devil.

1. Crystal (2008) hates text messages. NO HE DOESN’T – JOHN HUMPHRYS HATES TEXT MESSAGES

2. Crystal (2008) claims that text messages are “wrecking our language”. – NO. THIS IS ALSO JOHN HUMPHRYS

3. Crystal (2008) condemns texting as “a digital virus”. – AGAIN, THIS IS NOT CRYSTAL’S CLAIM. CRYSTAL ACTUALLY HOLDS THE OPPOSITE POINT OF VIEW

4. Crystal (2008) quotes John Humphrys and John Sutherland in his summary of the argument against the language of text messages. – THIS IS GOOD

5. Crystal (2008) quotes John Sutherland of University College London, who claimed that, linguistically, texting is “pig’s ear”. – THIS IS ALSO GOOD

6. Crystal (2008) believes that the arrival of printing was caused by the devil. – NO HE DOESN’T. HE MERELY REPORTS THAT SOME PEOPLE WERE FRIGHTENED BY THE POTENTAIL TO USE PRINTING FOR EVIL

7. Crystal (2008) believes that the commercial possibilities of text messaging were first developed twenty years ago, even though the use of point-to-point communications technology was discussed in the 1980s.

8. According to Crystal, the idea of a point-to-point short message service (or SMS) began to be discussed as part of the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications network in the mid-1980s, but it wasn't until the early 90s that phone companies started to develop its commercial possibilities. Text communicated by pagers were replaced by text messages, at first only 20 characters in length. It took five years or more before numbers of users started to build up. The average number of texts per GSM customer in 1995 was 0.4 per month; by the end of 2000 it was still only 35.

7. Crystal (2008) believes that the commercial possibilities of text messaging were first developed twenty years ago, even though the use of point-to-point communications technology was discussed in the 1980s. - THE PARAPHRASING HERE IS FINE, BUT IT SHOULD BE “CRYSTAL STATES” RATHER THAN “BELIEVES”

8. According to Crystal, the idea of a point-to-point short message service (or SMS) began to be discussed as part of the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications network in the mid-1980s, but it wasn't until the early 90s that phone companies started to develop its commercial possibilities. Text communicated by pagers were replaced by text messages, at first only 20 characters in length. It took five years or more before numbers of users started to build up. The average number of texts per GSM customer in 1995 was 0.4 per month; by the end of 2000 it was still only 35. – NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR MANY REASONS. PLEASE SPEAK TO ME URGENTLY IF YOU CAN’T SEE WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS!

READING NOTES : SELF-ASSESSMENT

Look at your notes from any article that you have read and answer the following questions: 1.Did you reference the text clearly in your notes? Can you easily find the name of the writer (or organisation / company / website), the title, the publisher (or website) and date of publication (or date that you accessed your text)?

2.Did you use headings in your notes? If so, what headings did you use?

3.Did you use abbreviations or symbols in your notes? Again, which abbreviations and symbols did you use? Compare notes with a partner. Can you understand each other’s abbreviations and symbols?

4.How many different names did you write down? What were they?

5.Can you easily identify which words in your notes are YOURS, and which words belong to your text’s author?

PRACTICE