College professors are anything but LOL at their students’ recent writing habits, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Not only are instructors not laughing out loud—shortened to LOL in text messages and online chats—at the technology-oriented shorthand that has seeped into academic papers, but many of them also sternly telling students to stop using the new language even in less formal writing. “Despite the fact that I happen to be perfectly capable of reading any incoherent drivel you may send to my inbox directly from your phone keypad, ‘wut up ya I cnt make it 2 clss lol’ is insanely unprofessional,” reads the syllabus of Alejo Enriquez, a Cal State East Bay instructor. “Therefore, I am imposing a higher standard of grammar, spelling, and use of the enter key upon you and kindly request that all eMails sent to me resemble any other letter to your teacher, supervisor, grandparents, or parole officer.” Faculty members increasingly have expressed irritation about reading acronyms and abbreviations they often do not understand, said Sally Murphy, a Cal State East Bay professor and director of the university’s general-education program. One eMail to a professor started with, “Yo, teach,” she said. “It has a real effect on the tone of professionalism,” said Murphy, who also has seen younger instructors use the shorthand. “We tell them very specifically how this is going to affect them in life. It’s kind of like wearing their jeans below their butt. They’re going to lose all credibility.”
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