friend or befriend

2015/12/17 08:41:17 網誌分類: 生活

17 Dec

         In my previous column, I wrote that I was tickled pink (amused, pleased) when Oxford Dictionaries chose an emoji instead of a word as the 2015 word of the year. The Japanese word “emoji” means a small digital image that people use to express a feeling in electronic communication. Oxford Dictionaries chose the popular emoji of a face with tears of joy as its word of the year. I wrote that social media such as Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook have changed the way people communicate in English. That column made me wonder if English teachers in Hong Kong know how to adapt(adjust) to the changes that social media has brought to the English language.

        　　For example, the word “friend” is a noun. The verb is “befriend”, which means to become someone’s friend. But if a student wrote that he friended (verb) 20 people on Facebook, would the teacher deduct marks for bad grammar even though the word “friended” is now commonly used? Would the teacher insist that he use “befriended” instead? If a student wrote that she “unfriended” 20 people, would she receive lower marks? Would Hong Kong’s English teachers tell students it is wrong to use the word “selfie”, which means a picture that you take of yourself with a smartphone? Oxford Dictionaries chose “selfie” as the word of the year in 2013.

        　　I read an article about a study done by the US-based Pew Internet. It found that 68 percent of American teachers believe social media has changed the way students write English. The same article quoted Wayne Leavey, the principal at the Toronto District School Board, as saying that teachers need to adapt to the changing ways students learn because young people nowadays grow up using the internet and social media. He said while proper grammar should be used in formal essays, teachers need to adapt to the new words young people use on social media. The Pew Internet study found that English teachers are more willing to adapt than maths and science teachers. Are Hong Kong’s English teachers willing to adapt?

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         我在上一篇專欄中寫到，當牛津字典選了個繪文字（emoji）而非單字，作為二○一五年度代表字時，我喜出望外（tickled pink）。日語繪文字「emoji」就是小小的數碼圖像，用於電子溝通平台上去表達感受。牛津字典選了廣受歡迎的「笑到喊」繪文字（emoji）作為年度之字。我又寫到，社交媒體例如推特、WhatsApp和面書等已然轉變人們用英語溝通的方式。那篇專欄令我思忖，香港的英語老師是否知道如何去適應（adapt）社交媒體為英語所帶來的改變？

         譬如，“friend”這個字是名詞，動詞是“befriend”，就是跟某人交朋友的意思。但若一個學生寫及他在面書上friended（動詞）二十個人，老師又會否因其差劣的文法而扣他分，即使friended這個字現在已很常用？老師會否堅持他必須取而代之用“befriended”？若一個學生寫到她“unfriended”了二十個人，她又會否取得較低分數？香港的英語老師會否跟學生說，用“selfie”（以智能手機自拍）這個字是錯的？牛津字典倒是選了“selfie”作為二○一三年度之字呢！

         我讀過一篇文章，是關於以美國為基地的皮尤網路的一項研究。它發現有百分之六十八的美國老師，都相信社交媒體已經轉變了學生書寫英語的方式。同一篇文章引述了多倫多公立教育局轄下一間學校的校長Wayne Leavey的說法，就是老師需要適應（adapt）學生學習的方式，因為今天的年輕人成長於網絡和社交媒體的世界。他說，正式論文應該運用正統的文法，但老師也得適應（adapt）年輕人於社交媒體上所用到的新詞彙。皮尤網路的研究發現，英語老師相對於數學和科學老師，更樂意適應（adapt）新轉變。香港的英語老師又是否願意適應（adapt）？mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

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