School Lets Students Use SMS Lingo On Exams

New Zealand high school students will be allowed to use SMS lingo - the second language teens have developed for cellphone messages and instant messaging - in exam answers.

The move has resulted in mixed reactions with some saying it could damage students' understanding of the English language.

The New Zealand Authority says it is still encouraging students to use proper English in exam papers but would give credit if an answer written in text-speak "clearly shows the required understanding".

Teachers' spokesperson Debbie Te Whaiti says that the move reflects the situation in the classroom, where teachers were grappling every day with the use of text-speak.

But another teacher, Stephen Rout, said: "Students need to be able to write and understand full English."

The Wellington newspaper gave the following examples for text speak (cited from real student papers): "We shal fite dem on d beaches" (Winston Churchill) and "2b or nt 2b" (Shakespeare's Hamlet).

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