Using emoji at school ‘could improve language skills’

Using smiley face, poo and broken heart emoji at school may sound like a strange idea but it could improve children’s language skills, according to an expert. Vyvyan Evans, a former professor of linguistics at Bangor University, thinks teachers should be using more of the animated icons in class. He admitted people may find the suggestion absurd but said it was because they didn’t understand how powerful emoji was. He told the Times Education Supplement: ‘People that pooh-pooh it and turn their nose up and think it’s puerile and childish don’t understand how communication works.’
He said in his new book, The Emoji Code, he didn’t believe the animated icons made youngsters more stupid. Professor Evans suggested if emoji were part of lessons they would stimulate something we don’t at the moment. He added:‘Emojis are actually making us more effective communicators in the digital communication space because they’re filling in something that’s actually missing… the non-verbal cues that tell us how the message should be interpreted.’
So if he gets his way kids could soon be putting a thumbs up at the end of their sentences and not getting in trouble for it.