It was late in the evening on July 17, and I was mindlessly scrolling through my news feed on my tablet when a small blurb caught my eye. It was World Emoji Day. Since when did the world begin to celebrate emojis? I wondered. Although I frequently sprinkle the little pictures in my own texts, I had never stopped to ponder what statement they actually make about modern communication. Until then, that is.
Musing on the increasing frequency of emojis and other visual formats in our digital conversations, I realized they are an indicator of our increasing reliance upon visual media to tell stories. Beginning with the arrival of “movies” and television around a century ago, our society has flirted more and more with reliance upon visual stimuli to communicate ideas.Through it all, though, the printed word still stood in a position of prominence and uniqueness by creating visual pictures in the reader’s mind solely with words. Now that emojis have arrived on the scene, that line is becoming more and more blurred.
I continued to ponder. Vocabularies are shrinking more and more these days. There are many articles written about the phenomenon, and one doesn’t have to look too far to discover some of the reasons why. It is endemic of a society that is heavily dependent upon digital media. All of our shortened “text-speak” and emoji sharing has cost us as a society. Words are disappearing. Adjectives and adverbs are especially affected by it.
How thankful I am that IEW exists in a world where “text-speak” reigns! Because of the years I have invested in educating my children in the art of style insertion, they have a legacy of rich vocabulary in their possession. Even better, they use it! This legacy will continue to richly bless them as they move from high school to college and into their career paths. It will enrich their scholastic and pleasure reading. It will enliven their conversations. It will empower their writing.
I will continue to use emojis. After all, they are a lot of fun and can communicate tone effectively in a brief text, but I will also continue to share my love of language and vocabulary through IEW in my home and my classes. And in doing so, I will feel a bit like the child who stuck her finger in the dike to stem the flood. It is a tremendous comfort to me to know that I am not alone in my efforts and that I am joined by so many others who also utilize IEW in their homes and schools. Let’s stem that tide together!
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Jennifer Mauser has always loved reading and writing and received a B.A. in English from the University of Kansas in 1991. Once she and her husband had children, they decided to homeschool, and she put all her training to use in the home. In addition to homeschooling her children, Jennifer teaches IEW classes out of her home, coaches budding writers via email, and tutors students who struggle with dyslexia. |
