Proposed 800 word vocabulary will leave teens jobless
According to government child language adviser, Jean Gross, today's modern teenagers have a vocabulary of no more than 800 words. A vocabulary filled with the phenomenon that is 'teen-speak'. She calls for action to be taken urgently to ensure that today's youth do not struggle to find work because of their inabilities to communicate. This warning comes just a week after she claimed that television is damaging children's development.
"We need to help today's teenagers understand the difference between their text speech and the formal language they need to succeed in life - 800 words will not get you a job," Mrs Gross explained in an interview earlier this week.
The majority of teenagers should have, on average 40,000 words within their vocabulary by the age of 16. However, linguists believe that although teenagers do understand tens-of-thousands of words, they only use approximately 800 of them in daily speech. Jean Gross believes that this is due to social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. "Teenagers are spending more time communicating through electronic media and text messaging, which is short and brief," she added.
Mrs Gross is planning a campaign to take place next year amongst primary and secondary schools across Britain. The focus behind the campaign is to get students understanding the importance of good communication skills to ensure the best possible future for the younger generations.
The idea of teens only using 800 words out of their 40,000 strong vocabulary seems a bit far-fetched to me, but if this is true then there is every right for concern.
According to government child language adviser, Jean Gross, today's modern teenagers have a vocabulary of no more than 800 words. A vocabulary filled with the phenomenon that is 'teen-speak'. She calls for action to be taken urgently to ensure that today's youth do not struggle to find work because of their inabilities to communicate. This warning comes just a week after she claimed that television is damaging children's development.
"We need to help today's teenagers understand the difference between their text speech and the formal language they need to succeed in life - 800 words will not get you a job," Mrs Gross explained in an interview earlier this week.
The majority of teenagers should have, on average 40,000 words within their vocabulary by the age of 16. However, linguists believe that although teenagers do understand tens-of-thousands of words, they only use approximately 800 of them in daily speech. Jean Gross believes that this is due to social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. "Teenagers are spending more time communicating through electronic media and text messaging, which is short and brief," she added.
Mrs Gross is planning a campaign to take place next year amongst primary and secondary schools across Britain. The focus behind the campaign is to get students understanding the importance of good communication skills to ensure the best possible future for the younger generations.
The idea of teens only using 800 words out of their 40,000 strong vocabulary seems a bit far-fetched to me, but if this is true then there is every right for concern.
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