Some people believe that excessive use of modern technologies, such as computers and smartphones, is negatively affecting the reading and writing skills of our young people. Give your opinion? IELTS | IELTS WRITING TASK-2

 Some people believe that excessive use of modern technologies, such as computers and smartphones, is negatively affecting the reading and writing skills of our young people. Give your opinion?

It is undeniable fact that science and technology has grown by leaps and bounds over a past decade with computers and smartphones being most prominent. It is often argued that over usage of these gadgets have an adverse effect on language skills of adolescents. However, in my contention, it is a mixed bag of boon and bane.

Apparently, relying on equipments hold wide range of constructive benefits as regards to writing and reading skills. Firstly, unlike the bygone days, in the modern era, there are numerous applications to develop vocabularies such as dictionary app, dictionary builder and words builder. Secondly, e-book is a common facility in mobile phones which you can use to read books wherever you want. For instance, a survey done by London University found out that, people between ages 12 to 25 have developed their language skills by using modern technology.

Nevertheless, it entails myriad detrimental ramifications. Chiefly, not only do they get less practice in writing ,but also fewer opportunities to train in spelling words, since the ‘autocorrect’ and ‘autocomplete’ features use the first few letters to guess the entire word, therefore making it unnecessary for the child to remember and type it correctly. For instance, according to Forbes magazine it is revealed that the jargon that is often used in text messages, where words are shortened or distorted. Exposure to ‘texting’ tends to replace the correct words with abbreviations in young minds, causing their spelling accuracy to decline. Furthermore, easy and instant access to videos and movies pushes books further down the list of preferences of young audience, and it takes a significant commitment from parents and teachers to ensure that children continue to read books. 

To recapitulate, although the world is reaping benefits from advanced technology yet it’s darker side can not be ignored.