Writing for the eye vs. writing for the ear

The use of IM language in education . . .

One of the online universities that I teach for has synchronous weekly seminars. The students all pile into a big chat room and I facilitate the discussion. They know the general topic before the seminar begins and receive participation points for making substantive comments. Because the seminar is one hour it is very fast-paced and there is an acceptance and understanding of misspelled words and shortcuts such as IM phrases.

But, more importantly, it's conversational. The intent is to develop social interaction in the virtual classroom and to facilitate learning through communication. That's the purpose.

I say that to say this: professional writers understand that there is a distinct difference (and talent) in writing for the eye and writing for the ear. If you've ever heard a television or radio commercial that sounded "fake" or stilted, you've witnessed an example of a writer who wrote for the wrote sensor. When we write for the eye, we write for print.

The printed word is most easily comprehended and digested when there is clear and correct grammatical structure. Paragraphs, commas, proper grammar all facilitate easy reading which improves comprehension.

The verbal or broadcast word is most easily comprehended when it's conversational, natural, and we hear phrases used in everyday speech. This type of scripting ignores the parts of grammar that deal with complete sentences and sentence construction. Concepts like verb agreement and avoiding jargon and slang are important because they improve understanding and comprehension - if, again, that is the goal.

There are very, very few writers who are talented and effective in writing for both styles - the eye and the ear. The reason is simple: they use very different (and often opposing) concepts and structures to be effective in facilitating communication.

I think we keep coming back to this point over and over again in articles, books, etc. There are simply different standards and styles that work best in facilitating communication for the eye (print) or for the ear (speech and broadcast).