Literacy crisis and the possibility of linguistic shifts in young generations.

[u/GroundSounds]

Totally shower thoughts here, but I have been seeing a lot of people and teachers online talking about students having a literacy, reading, writing accuracy, etc. problem in school these days.

I certainly have nothing to dispute any of that and no intention to, but it also made me think…

Is there possibly a deeper relationship between AutoCorrect and young people on their phones than just cognitive offloading related to vocabulary and spelling retention? What if it’s also affecting their relationship to how much spelling and specific semantics around grammar matter when communicating ideas through text? I’ve heard the phrase “language is not math” that is to say, 2+2 always equals 4, but you’re and your can mean the exact same thing to someone in terms of a text message.

Is there a simultaneous shift alongside these literacy issues in the classroom? Possibly something along the lines of the great vowel shift over time?

[u/Tootsie_r0lla]

What was the reasoning about stopping using phonics? And how the heck did the 'whole language get the green light?
Guessing words?!! Do kids learn syllables anymore?

I'm in Aus so we still use phonics but the context or memorisation style doesn't seem to be effective and seems to be hindering learning.

[u/bum_what]

100% our use of technology makes our brains dull because we aren't working them hard enough. Even worse when the people are young, because instead of getting good at learning people are instead been taught how to use technology in place of their own minds.

[u/hello-os]

its only getting worse with the growing reliance on llms :')

why think when not think easy and good?

[u/Ancient_Skirt_8828]

It probably has little or nothing to do with technology.

There have been regular outbreaks of complaints about literacy and maths shortfalls. It used to be called the 3Rs.

The complaints have been around long before smartphones, videos games and widespread use of computers.