Job Discussion Forums

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Attention all who are planning to get that MA in Applied Linguistics... thesis topic!!

VS

sheikher · Joined: 13 Jul 2009 Posts: 291

Let the festivities commence!

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

...Sometime in 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche bought a typewriter�a Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, to be precise. His vision was failing, and keeping his eyes focused on a page had become exhausting and painful, often bringing on crushing headaches. He had been forced to curtail his writing, and he feared that he would soon have to give it up. The typewriter rescued him, at least for a time. Once he had mastered touch-typing, he was able to write with his eyes closed, using only the tips of his fingers. Words could once again flow from his mind to the page.

But the machine had a subtler effect on his work. One of Nietzsche�s friends, a composer, noticed a change in the style of his writing. His already terse prose had become even tighter, more telegraphic. �Perhaps you will through this instrument even take to a new idiom,� the friend wrote in a letter, noting that, in his own work, his ��thoughts� in music and language often depend on the quality of pen and paper.�

�You are right,� Nietzsche replied, �our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.� Under the sway of the machine, writes the German media scholar Friedrich A. Kittler , Nietzsche�s prose �changed from arguments to aphorisms, from thoughts to puns, from rhetoric to telegram style.�

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Cell Phone Texting Can Endanger Spelling

...Children are more prone to commit errors because they have read less, and prefer to play games, or watch TV, etc. Much of their time is influenced by what is going on in their environment. So we have to be watchful that they not look stupid because they cannot spell simple common words. Texting has come along with a flourish, making a big impact among them. This habit forming menace can influence kids to spell incorrectly or get confused about the correct usage.

http://www.articlesbase.com/cell-phones-articles/cell-phone-texting-can-endanger-spelling-276413.html

Phone texting 'helps pupils to spell'

...Researchers say text language uses word play and requires an awareness of how sounds relate to written English.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8468351.stm

Cell Phone Text Message the Blame for Poor Spelling

Wow what a bold statement! [sic] Yet this was the News headlines I was hearing the other day to the point, one school district was talking about a major staff overhaul. [sic] I really had to laugh when I heard this headline and what it has to do with having to replace school staffing, I am not really sure, the headline alone was enough to NOT watch the actual story. [sic] Yet looking into it a tad further, does seem to show a trend of placing the blame of poor spelling on cell phone text messaging, due to all the abbreviated terms that is used like LOL, BRB, and such. [sic]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5683850/cell_phone_text_message_the_blame_for.html

LITER8 LRNRS: IS TEXTING VALUABLE OR VANDALISM?

Children who are heavy users of mobile phone text abbreviations such as LOL (laughing out loud), plz (please), l8ter (later) and xxx (kisses), are unlikely to be problem spellers and readers, a new study funded by the British Academy has found.

The research*, carried out on a sample of 8-12 year olds over an academic year, revealed that levels of �textism� use could even be used to predict reading ability and phonological awareness in each pupil by the end of the year.

Moreover, the proportion of textisms used was observed to increase with age, from just 21% of Year 4 pupils to 47% in Year 6, revealing that more sophisticated literacy skills are needed for textism use.

The study conclusions will come as a surprise to many who believe that textisms are vandalising the English language.

http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/news.cfm/newsid/14

middleastman · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 73

Hashim99uk thanks for the info. The rest of you- thanks for hijacking my thread requesting info. Its a sad situation that people have nothing better to do than post inane comments on forums. Please dont reply to posts if you dont have anything useful to contribute.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: posts

johnslat · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:47 pm Post subject:

Dear middleastman,

"I encourage you to come as long as you signed the contract. teaching is easy and students are respectful. most of colleagues are helpful and friendly. donot listen to the negative people on the website, you will find many positive things here."

Well, I suppose Hashim99uk might be telling it as it truly is there, but I do find it a little odd that he/she seems to be just about the only poster who has found the job situation to be so attractive.
Should you take the position and find it to be otherwise, I only hope you discover some way to learn just who Hashim99uk really is - so you can thank him/her personally.

Regards,
John

P.S. Here's a thought - why not ask Hashim99uk to PM you his/her real name? See what kind of response you get.

middleastman · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 73

Thanks, johnslat. I was a little suspicious of that. Would you care to PM me anything further? Im not surprised that people havent who has found the job situation to be so attractive- thats not really here or there to me as they dont know the offer. My problem is that no one has really said anything. thanks anyhow.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Can I suggest that beginning a thread with 4 totally unrelated questions is inviting posters to wander all over the place ? Especially when a simple search would have resolved at least oine of the queries.

middleastman · Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 73

Hi scott, thanks for the reply. The 4 questions related to the title of the post. Heres how I thought forums worked.

1. Ask questions
2. People who read the questions and have answers to questions reply.

not

1. Ask questions
2. People read the post, ignore the question and talk a load of boring cr&*.

I really do think its sad that people have such limited interactions with the real world, and are so bored that all they can think of doing is to post lame, boring, irrelevant comments in order to replicate some sort of social interaction.

cmp45 · Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 1475 Location: KSA

You have a very strict notion about how you think this forum should operate, rather than accepting how it actually is. You will have less frustration in your life, if you learn to accept the reality of a situation and just go with the flow a bit more rather than projecting your own rules onto reality.

Here is a link that shows rental housing in KSA. It should give you an idea of the cost.

http://rekingdom.com/living/default.aspx?__re_tmp_4213=1&__re_tmp_4261=188&__re_tmp_6698=1&__re_tmp_4667=

johnslat · Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 1:48 pm Post subject:

Dear middleastman,

And please bear in mind that living/working in the Middle East, in my experience, is going to require a lot more patience and forbearance than dealing with idiots like us on these forums does.

If you've already lived and worked in Saudi, this is something that I'm sure you must already appreciate.

Regards,
John

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 3:11 pm Post subject:

Ahhh...middleastman...

I remember the day when I, too, railed against those who would derail topics only to be overwhelmed and slip into the stream-of-consciousness type of posting that occurs on the saudi board.

It's a bit therapeutic, I think, in a way for those who remain trapped physically and, for us metaphysical types as well...

It's a shame that the Gods pick their favorites...and choose favorites to pick on...

But, then again, ♫ "Nobody promised you a Rose Garden..." ♫

My suggestion...go with the flow...life's to serious to get all balled up over how dunces post on a board...

NCTBA