British linguist and author David Crystal once said, "Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster." It is believed that texting has a negative impact on the way people write today, but Crystal counters that statement. Is he right? Or does the continuous use of communication through texting affect people's formal writing?
In her essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” author Michaela Cullington argues about the influence texting has on student writing. Cullington claims, after her research, that texting has minimal impact on how a student formally writes, although educators counter this argument because they have witnessed these mistakes first hand.
Teachers have expressed their dismay when it comes to textspeak in student writing, Cullington notes, after researching the concerns of teachers who deal with this matter regularly. Cullington found that teachers believe texting has a negative impact on student's writing abilities for instance, "...texts lack feeling because of their tendency to be short, brief, and to the point.", many argue, however, there is no real source. Moreover, student writing seems
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She asked them their thoughts and her junior-English teacher's response was, "texting inhibits good writing — it reinforces simplistic writing that may be acceptable for conversation but is 'not so good for critical thinking or analysis.'" Although texting encourages good writing, it does not qualify as quality writing in terms of an academic paper, Cullington concedes. She admits that these interviews are "...limited, based on just a few personal experiences rather than on a significant amount of research" and believes that texting does not affect writing in any way at
This is where she uses ethos to provide the reader with an understanding that she is a credible writer. First she uses the National Center for Education Statistics information to provide a strong base of knowledge regarding the topic that is already available. The article from the National Center for Education Statistics includes a quote from a teacher stating “the use of acronyms and shorthand in text messages for students’ inability to spell and ultimately to write well” (pg. 2). She goes on to explain teacher’s viewpoints and their beliefs on the topic after seeing a decrease in writing abilities. There is a quote included by Naomi Baron, a professor at American University, in which states “so much of American society has become sloppy and laissez faire about the mechanics of writing” (pg.2). This quote provides evidence that everyone should be concerned about the effects because our society is facing the issues as well not only students. As she continues to provide a foundation for others ideas regarding the topic, she changes viewpoints to those who see the positives in texting. Cullington uses an author to elaborate on the positives that increased texting can have on individuals. David Crystal explains that students “sharpen their diplomatic skills . . . [because] it allows more time to formulate their thoughts and express them carefully” (pg.4). This is something that is important in today’s day and age where people want the short and sweet version, not something drawn out that can be hard to understand. In her background information regarding the positive aspects of texting, she uses emotions to connect with the reader when she discusses children who struggle with writing. Texting can help students “overcome their awkwardness and develop their social and communication skills” Crystal states (pg. 5). The use of emotion is key to capturing
In the article, “Does Texting Affect Writing?”, the author Michaela Cullington conveys her speculation that texting does not correlate to how students write formal essays. At the beginning of the article Cullington introduces the term texting and the convenience texting brings. Later expressing her concern that the texting language “Textspeak” is actually affecting students writing; then contradicts these views by using primary and secondary sources (news articles, books, her own surveys and research). In addition, she uses an anecdote to tell of her own experience with texting and writing. Together with other evidences and research put together, she uncovers the debate between textspeak and formal writing. On the basis of her research, she concludes that the state of texting does not interfere with writing or writing abilities.
A few years back, there was some concern over the fact that texting may be affecting the writing composition of teenagers. John McWhorter from Times Magazine wrote, “Is Texting Killing the English Language” on this very phenomenon, with the rhetorical aim to persuade people that this wasn’t the case. In the article, McWhorter refers to historical texts to persuade his audience, middle-aged
It's taking over our lives. We can do it almost anywhere. What is it? It's texting! Texting is a reliable, easy and convenient form of communication that is most commonly used by, but not limited to millenials and those in the workforce. Many people use it as a way to express themselves as well. In Michaela Cullington’s article, “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she targets two different attitudes in relation to texting. Cullington explains that there is often an assumption that students who use abbreviations when they text, will bring those same abbreviations over to their formal writing pieces. Cullington then adds that the other attitude in relation to writing skills and texting insists that texting is harming student’s writing capabilities. Because of her research as well as experiments done by other colleagues of hers, it shows that
To ensure that formal written language is preserved, a clear distinction must be made between formal writing and texting. Students -as well as adults- must also be given sufficient practice in both areas if they are to clearly communicate their thoughts to others through either means. As quoted from Nicole Wood and Becky Wang in their presentation “Is Texting Killing the English Language”, “the most common misuses by students are ... using only the letter ‘u’ … [and] using the letter ‘r’...” These errors in formal essays are often -and in most cases- caused by confusion of the distinction between texting and formal writing, leading to an overlap between the two. The value of formal written language is its ability to clearly and distinctly communicate one’s ideas to another -and because of its overall consistency regardless of time- even those in the future. Texting, in some cases however, loses this ability to clearly communicate thoughts and ideas, and exclusively texting at home could lead to a decline in one’s ability to clearly communicate with others through writing.
Text messaging has become a norm in our generation, as technology rapidly advances and gives way to more efficient forms of communication in a fast-paced world; and many are skeptical about the influence this new form of interaction is having on our society, especially with our younger generation. David Crystal, a professor at the University of Wales, writes “2b or Not 2b?” in support of text messaging. He insists, despite those who underestimate or negate the beneficial influence text messaging has on language proficiency, that “there is increasing evidence that [texting] helps rather than hinders literacy” and that the fairly recent form of communication has actually been around for a while and “is merely the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adopt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In contrast, Jeffery Kluger argues in “We Never Talk Anymore: The Problem with Text Messaging” that text messaging is rapidly becoming a substitute for more genuine forms of communication and is resulting in difficulty among young peoples of our generation to hold a face-to-face conversation, engage in significant nonverbal expression, and ultimately build effective relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Both writers’ present valid arguments, however, my personal experience with text messaging has led me to agree more with Crystal’s view on the matter. Text messaging is indeed having a positive effect on society by making frequent texters primarily aware of the need to be understood, as well as offering betterment of spelling and writing through practice, and reinventing and expanding on a bygone dimension of our language through the use of rebuses and abbreviations.
The article claims that students are “remarkably adept” at “addressing their audience and adapting their tone and technique to best get their point across.” In the social media atmosphere, children post a paragraph or two in which they get their point across. This teaches them to write in a way to display their tone in a deliberate and distinct manner. The usage of technology by students is appropriate. Thompson’s excerpt evidently proves this prominent truth as it shows a “literacy revolution” in which technology improves the capability of writing.
“Our generation doesn't ring the doorbell. They text or call to say they're outside,” this line is from one of the well-known social networks, Tweeter, which shows how the way of communication has change in this modern life. According to 2013 statistics by Business Insider, in United States alone, smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831 texts (Cocotas). Nowadays, technology such as text messaging has practically replaced traditional face to face communication among the society primarily in young generations because texting allows messages to be sent fast and effortless. In order to quickly type what they are trying to say in text messaging, people are frequently using textspeak; the language created by using abbreviation rather than complete words. Based on this phenomenon, David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales has published an article entitled ‘2b or not 2b?’ in the Guardian on July 5, 2008 comes out with the research and studies that state texting can actually improve the literacy of children and create creativity of writing. However, by observing more critically, texting do decrease a person’s ability to switch between textspeak and the normal rules of grammar and adversely affect formal writing and conversational skills.
Today, most people live surrounded by technology. Everyday people are creating more new and advance technology with different programs, websites, and ideas to share with everyone. Connecting with people around the world is becoming effortless, instantaneous, and accessible with the technology that has been developed. Clive Thompson, a writer for the New York Times Magazine and Wired, points this out well in a passage within his book, Smarter Than You Think, called “Public Thinking”. Since technology made it easier to connect with others, people have been writing their thoughts, ideas, and opinions online and on their phone. Thompson believes that people have been able to improve their writing because the technology they use daily. With all
Texting is a common method of communication nowadays. Human interaction has been inevitably changing over its existence - from speaking to handwritten messages to email, for example. Though many people consider texting a bad influence on a person’s vocabulary and grammar, it is not killing writing. It is obvious that English will change in the future, and texting is just a fluctuation in its evolution. The TED Talks video “Txting is killing language. JK!” by John McWhorter and the article “Is Text Messaging Ruining English?” by Jane Solomon both describe how texting is affecting writing.
These major changes show in the classroom. Texting affects students in the classroom, and the teachers.
You can say that overuse in texting is determination the way teens, students write formally in the classroom. Teens that spend most of their eyes on their phone has already created their own texting style. Now I am able to answer the question, how does texting affect teen literacy? Texting affects teen literacy because, text messaging does affect our grammar because, teens text like for example; “ttyl”, “gtg”, “wyd”. They find an easy way of texting rather than using the correct way. In order to get what they want done, we wanted to see and learn about the damage that texting can cause on teens and we did learn, we learned that it can affect our grammar, grades, and even your future in trying to get a job, your skills in so much more. I wanted to inform the teens about the damage that texting in short terms can do to you. Encourage them not to write in short term because, they are too
Texting is killing language,” Ted starts off the video by saying that “The idea is that texting spells the decline and fall of any kind of serious literacy, or at least writing ability, among young people in the United States and now the whole world today (Ted, 2013). Throughout the film discussion, what stuck out to me the most was how drastic language has changed via technology.
Drouin, M., & Davis, C. (2009). R U Txting? Is the Use of Text Speak Hurting Your Literacy?. Journal of Literacy Research, 44(1), 46-67. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=texting+spelling+grammar&id=EJ862013
Teenagers are using their phones or computers to constantly connect to the internet. They’re always on a social media site reading about the next cool trend amongst their age group. This has alarmed parents and had them convinced that their children have been wasting their time on the internet. Additionally, the wide spread use of the internet amongst teens has produced a belief that teenagers don’t read or write at all. There are many examples about the damages social media does to this generation, but most articles haven’t considered looking at the benefits of the internet’s massive use. In the article “What’s the Matter with Kids Today,” Amy Goldwasser talks about this generation’s reading and writing habits. She supports the use of the internet and the amount of texting teenagers do today. Focusing on the pros, she brings up some interesting points about how people interpret the habits that teenagers have. This generation does more reading and writing than ever before. As Goldwasser states in the article, there are 3 important points that are significance about teenager’s habits. There are alternative types of texts teenagers use to read and write, this also contributes to how teenagers involuntary read and write more, and become improved textual analyzers.