Posted on 01/11/2010 7:00:37 PM PST by smokingfrog
Teenagers have been warned they are becoming unemployable because they use a vocabulary of just 800 words.
The limited linguistic range also consists of many made up words and 'teenspeak' which has developed through modern communication methods such as text messaging and social networking sites.
Today Jean Gross, who advises the Government on children's speech, said urgent action was required to prevent children failing to find jobs because they are unable to communicate.
Mrs Goss, who last week issued a stark warning over the effect of television on children's development said yesterday: 'Teenagers are spending more time communicating through electronic media and text messaging, which is short and brief.
'We need to help today's teenagers understand the difference between their textspeak and the formal language they need to succeed in life — 800 words will not get you a job.'
The majority of teenagers should have developed a broad vocabulary of 40,000 words by the time they reach 16.
Linguists have found, however, that although they may understand thousands of words, many choose to limit themselves to a much smaller range in regular conversation and on a daily basis could use as few as 800 terms.
Mrs Gross said her concerns were increased by research by Tony McEnery, a professor of linguistics at Lancaster University who analysed 10 million words of transcribed speech and 100,000 words gathered from teenagers' blogs.
He found that the top 20 words used by teenagers, including 'yeah', 'no' and 'but', account for about a third of all words used.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
>’We need to help today’s teenagers understand the difference between their textspeak and the formal language they need to succeed in life — 800 words will not get you a job.’
As long as you have a teleprompter, you only need 3: Hope and Change’.
Sad, but not shocking.
We have been obsessed with those damn phones and computers (only in the last couple years “texting” - I cringe at that “word”).
Why we allow children to regularly have these devices I do not know. I do not think my son should even be allowed to carry them around every day, much less “own” 1.
Unemployable?
Ha, that is funny. The welfare state will take care of them.
“Am I bovvered?”
I’m all like totally whatever!
This isn’t new. Valley girl speak in the eighties cut girls’ vocabularies down to about 50 words. I think.
Prolly. OMG! SWL! SYS.
All these dumb kids will become adults, get on the welfare rolls and they’ll be a big future constituency for the Dems. And we’ll be supporting these losers. Not a problem for them. A big problem for the country.
Mo gubmint is de way fo sho.
Obama money
gimmie
racist
mine
more
govment check
teabagger
I stopped in a local Pub the other day and a 20-something was there whose vocabulary seemed limited to using the f-word at least twice in each 'sentence.'
Maybe YOU will. I'm going to pay off the house and earn just enough money working at McDonald's to buy the few things I can't grow in my backyard.
Doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the latest fad of people who want to seem smart beginning every paragraph with, “So,”.
I heard one drop it in the middle of a word.
I don't know where it went. It disa-f***ing-peared!"
OMG!
Teenagers talking and acting like dopes?? I don’t believe it!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.