Hi everyone!
It's really long since I last came to this forum! But I have a question and I think this is the best way to make it:
Do you use "gonna", "wanna" and the like in writing? It looks really odd when my students use it (since they are learning English), and I have a feeling that it's not so common nowadays, but some teachers of English teach it around here... So, what's your opinion here? Thanks!!
It's sloppy pronunciation and incorrect writing. Where is the "around here" that teachers do that?
One of the grammar books that I've taught from, "Fundamentals of English Grammar, Third Edition" did spend a very short amount of time covering "gonna" and "wanna". However, it was clearly stated that it was not acceptable in writing.
I agree, not acceptable.
I see these phrases in transcriptions of popular songs. And then people learnnig English copy them into written prose. Its a sure sign the writer's not a native speaker.
It's sloppy pronunciation
And then people learnnig English copy them into written prose. Its a sure sign the writer's not a native speaker.
Nonsense and nonsense. It's actually standard colloquial pronunciation in virtually all dialects of English. A true "sure sign of a non-native speaker" is someone who carefully enunciates every syllable of words that are normally elided or contracted in speech by all but the most toffee-nosed. It's extremely important for ESL/EFL students to be taught to recognize these forms as they'll hear them day and night if they ever set foot in an English-speaking country or have a job dealing with English speakers.
That said, I agree that the students should be strongly discouraged from using the forms in writing, since most writing tasks ESL/EFL students must master are in the formal register. But do native speakers ever write "gonna" or "wanna"? Of course they do. The 100,000,000+ Google hits for "gonna" are not "non-native" hits, and the contractions are perfectly ordinary in text-messaging, Twitter, Facebook posts, Thorn Tree posts, and other casual contexts.
It's actually standard colloquial pronunciation in virtually all dialects of English.
No matter how fervently some native English speakers may protest it, that is the case. The only exceptions I can think of is the English spoken by the Queen of England (possibly) and that used by the Italian Mob characters in The Simpsons, whose aversion to elision is part of their whole shtick.
For an English learner to use these spellings in a written English exam such as IELTS would be a solecism, I think we all agree on that.
Go
Tomorrow I am _ to the cinema.
Answer:
Tomorrow I am gonna go to the cinema, innit, lol :)
A student should not expect top marks for that.
On an internet forum? Acceptable. Write how you speak, if you fancy.
What about “proper” writing?
"Literature got me into this and literature is gonna have to get me out" - Philip Roth.
From using internet forums I have to say that “wanna” and “gonna” are overused by Chinese users of English, however. I have always assumed it comes from pop songs, as mentioned earlier.
I don’t wanna
Talk about it
How you broke my heart
Nobody pretends Rod Stewart is singing “I don’t want to”, which legitimises this alternative spelling. Also, some don’t realise “wanna” is short for “want a” or “want to” and so might write something like “I don’t wanna his advice”, which is pretty painful.
I hope the OP can explain properly to his/her students when and how to use these alternative spellings.
I would first define 'in writing'.
I occasionally use wanna or gonna on the internet or in a private mail. But even this very rarely, usually something like "I wanna go home!"
I would never use this in a (semi) formal letter.
And when writing papers, proposals, official documents, I don't even use don't and can't. It may be old-fashioned but I always use cannot or do not. I teach my students to do the same.
