Letter to Laura Clark of "Twtr? It's majorly bad!"

Ms. Clark, Although I can sympathise with some of your negative opinions about text speak and the way English is taught in the UK in your article, I feel as though you have completely ignored the positive outcomes text speak has to offer! Is text messaging really that harsh on the English language? As long as children do not learn text speak as their first dialect, the majority should be able to distinguish between educational English and the English used while texting. The focus on the minor issues of abbreviations and grammatical errors seem to be ignoring the innovative development of the English language text speak has to offer. 

Have you ever considered it to be "the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt language to suit the demands of diverse settings"? (D. Crystal, 2003). This necessity to "protect standards of English from the influence of text message and social media slang" (Clark, 2014), seems to come from an elitist, Standard English point of view. This developmental medium of the English language allows for quicker communication between individuals or on a wider scale, due to the swiftness technology has enable us to write with. The linguist, David Crystal, ensures that "texters seem to be aware of the high information value of consonants as opposed to vowels (...) as well as the low information value of punctuation marks"(D. Crystal, 2003), illustrating people's ability to distinguish between standard and non-standard English. This ability to communicate using different mediums (or dialects, or languages) has actually proven to be beneficial for developing young minds. 

On the flip side, your article provides a productive argument towards the manner in which the English language is taught and enforced in the UK. It seems as though poor scores on English assessments leads those students to chose other subjects when given the ability to decide at GSCE or A levels. To be honest, this lack of enforcement of the English studies may have a bigger impact on students standard English as opposed to text speak. In an ideal world, individuals should be able to effectively communicate using different mediums and dialects of language, knowing when and how to adhere to the rules of standard English. However, I do not necessarily agree with the correlation between text speak and the way English is taught in the UK. 

Memoir: Beyonce's Communication of Feminist Views

I wanted Flawless to empower all of my girls that listen to my music. I wanted my fans to be inspired to speak out towards Feminism, and to pursue their dreams. My African American background influenced me to specifically reach out to the girls within our community. As a young girl I looked up to other African American artists like Diana Ross, Tina Turner or Whitney Houston, and still to this day admire the freedom in their lyrical choices. I feel as though I've achieved that in the lyrics I've written in Flawless, using a sense of attitude to convey my feminist ideals. "Don't think I'm just his little wife", a verse from the song, addresses an issue which is something most woman have struggled with for a while. Although I don't feel the need for competition between men and women, I want women to strive to be the best they can be. My choice of including  one of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech was particular as it specifically communicated these ideals in an intelligent, successful way. I completely agreed with the ideas expressed in her speech, as it addresses women as a whole, regardless of race, community or culture. This concept of including all women in Feminism, rather than specific races, really touches heart with me, and I have used my AAVE in my lyrics as a mean to communicate my ideals to the best of my abilities.