It is true that the popularity of computers and mobiles phones has greatly changed the way young people read and write. Although some people argue that this trend would have negative effects on younger generations, I think such a change may benefit them positively.
The advent of computers and cellphones may have several disadvantages to young people’s literacy skills. Firstly, the use of tablets and similar devices would adversely affect primary school students in the preparation of an essay because fewer of them can have the ability to actively try to correct words as a result of the self-correction function embedded in word-processing software. Secondly, as a new invention in this era, artificial intelligence can do many complex jobs, such as idea generation and structure planning, for young learners and they would become dependent to AI to do writing tasks. Lastly, instead of doing some reading in the school library, students at a young age tend to watch video clips or vlogs on their smart phones when a problem arises. Therefore, some key reading skills can be largely compromised.
On the other hand, I believe these technological gadgets can make positive contributions to young people with regards to the ability as how to read and write. When it comes to vocabulary learning, Word and other software can show a list of synonyms for a word and this would help young students enlarge their range of vocabulary and make it more flexible for them to select proper words when writing a paper or lab journal. Furthermore, in spite of the cons of AI, teenagers can quickly learn how to organize things they write more logically and coherently and become more confident in either academic or business writing with the help of it. Another point in favor of this view is young adults are able to have access to books and journals from some websites sponsored by local governments, libraries and institutions. In the end, the availability of online resources may greatly enhance their cognition as well.
To conclude, it is obvious that computers and mobiles would have a cognitive issue to young people, but this is also a positive development to facilitate their literacy skills.