Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Suddenly I have a lot to say...

Haven't been posting much lately and now three posts in a day... yeesh :)

Found this on the New Zealand Herald Website and wanted to share:

Texting abbreviations 'allowed for NCEA exams'

8.45am Thursday November 9, 2006

Students will be able to use text abbreviations in this year's exams, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has said.

Bali Haque, NZQA deputy chief executive of qualifications, said credit would be given in this year's NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) exams if the answer showed the required understanding, the Dominion Post reported today.

Abbreviations are widely used in mobile phone text messaging and include abbreviations such as "2moro" for tomorrow, "cul8r" for see you later and "gr8" for great.

However, Mr Haque said text abbreviations would be penalised in some exams, including English, where candidates were required to show good language use.

He said the NZQA still strongly discouraged students from using anything other than full English. Credit would, however, be given if the answer "clearly shows the required understanding", even if text abbreviations were used.

Students should aim to make their answers as clear as possible, Mr Haque said.

- NZPA