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Text messaging affects teen literacy and language abilities
Text messaging affects teen literacy and language abilities
Effect text messaging in the use of English
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Critics say text messaging is ruining the English language and creating illiterate people that do not have the ability to write reasonably. John Humphrys believes that people who text message “are destroying language: pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped” (Humphrys). Humphrys displays his ignorance of what text messaging does to language. But in reality, texting is not ruining our language as people like Humphrys argue it is. As David Crystal writes in his article “2b or Not 2b,” there is evidence that shows recurrent texters have a better grip on language than those that do not text as often.
Modification in language is not preventable for it is continually changing to remain modern. If language did not change, it would be become a useless communication source. There are constantly critics, such as Humphrys, who do not agree with this. People have
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“A recent study by experts at Coventry University in the UK has found strong positive links between the use of text language and the skills underlying success in Standard English in pre-teenage children” (Crystal). Teens score higher on their tests due to abbreviating in text messages. “Also, interestingly enough, the age at which they received their first phone correlates with their aptitude test grades: the younger the child received the phone, the higher the grade” (Crystal). “the children who were the best at using textisms were also found to be the better spellers and writers (childres, texts, and English,). Text messaging is potentially used to teach language, instead of ruin language. The reason the English language is so important and effective is the fact that is consistently changing easily adapted to. Humphrys demonstrates that “texting and netspeak are effectively different languages” (humprys). However, Humphrys is
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
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, it is reported, "25% of high school seniors are proficient writers" (Cullington, 362). Jacquie Ream, a former teacher and author for K.I.S.S. expands on this statistic by stating, "we have a whole generation being raised without communication" (Cullington, 362). By this, Ream means that we as people are not physically socializing with each other, but yet using devices to replace the way we talk and express our feelings to one another instead. Ream then goes on to blame the use of acronyms and shorthand in text messages as the downfall of writing skills. Here, Ream means that because of lack of proper language we have become careless when writing. Naomi Baron, a professor at American University, states that America as a whole has become sloppy with the mechanics of writing due to texting. Both teachers in Michaela's article agree that the essence of texting is responsible for the oversight of punctuation, lack of emotion, and lastly a rise in grammatical errors in formal
Three years ago, linguist John McWhorter spoke at a Ted Talk conference about whether texting is killing language and went so far as to question the definition of language itself. His video, “John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!” distinguished to the reader the difference between writing and speaking and how texting was one in the form of another. Texting, he said, is a way of writing as one speaks, or specifically fingered speech, rather than as many believe, a mutilated version of the English language. According to McWhorter, texting is becoming a second language for many people, and those who do text are actually, in a sense, being bilingual. Texting itself is not very different from a foreign language, other than for its strong
Although, some might say texting is changing the English language for the better in fact it is actually changing it for the worse because of how difficult it is to decipher the shortened meanings.
Text messaging is a technology that contributes to the great decline of the English language. The English language is often butchered through the use of text messaging. In Orwell’s essay, he states “An effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form” (446). Main stream society is too lazy to correct any grammar and punctuation in a text message, leading to the assumption that it is not important, after all it is only a text message. Thus, this shows the English language is in decline, when society is to lazy to take a few extra second to correct spelling and punctuation errors . One would not be able to write the same way in an academic essay as they would in a text message. If one would do so, that student would receive an F. No English teacher, or for that matter any teacher, would be thrilled nor impressed reading an essay filled with these common texting erors.
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.
“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.
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?
Through the decades, languages have been altered, becoming more understandable to new generations. But this new written language that has arisen, is only comprehensible to those who “have a good understanding of syntax and grammar already” (Spires, 124). As explained by Dallas Spires, text messaging “uses different grammatical standards and many abbreviations…spelling is ignored…and verbs are not conjugated” (124). This form of media is used within an exclusive audience-mostly teens and young adults to communicate their thoughts and ideas with ease. Many people fear that this new form of written English replaces current modern English. If the mistreat of written English continues, a new form of incoherent and unconstrained language will be created for upcoming generations. The new media is making society commit these grammatical errors in the English language to simplify ideas. Using improper grammar through new media is becoming a crummy habit that will pass on from generation to generation if is not regulated or put to an
McWhorter claims that texting is developing into a new dialect, which means if someone can use the texting “slang” as well as write using correct language grammar, they should be considered bilingual. He also states that texting is loose structured and is “finger speech,” which is becoming the new way of writing. McWhorter also emphasizes that language is continuously changing, which is why texting is not killing language but evolving it to fit modern technology and communication.
In the sources that I found about text message and teen literacy, it showed and also informed me on how teens take the next talk to the classrooms in schools and how it creates bad grammar among themselves. During my research I found out that many kids and kids use shorthanded text and it affects their literacy in so many ways. We as teens don’t think that our findings will benefit anyone unless they want to have a short knowledge in grammar. As teens we don’t really see how doing something wrong can harm us. Such as texting shorthanded, and with silly faces. It affects our literacy by not knowing how to correctly punctuate their words, grammar and speaking. In the research that I looked up, that teens send about one thousand eight hundred
Language is a form of verbal communication via words and its pronunciation that is used and comprehended by various people of the same nation, culture, or geographical background. It has been said to be dated back as far as one thousand years ago before writing. Like culture, language is passed on through the process of enculturation. Meaning that it is something that is learned (Kottak, 101). In the video, “TED TALK: 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. Although Ted disagrees with the above statement, in my opinion, I believe that a language can be altered if it is changed by enough speakers and writers. With the constant use of various forms of technology, communication via texting has become a very popular leisure activity for people all o...
We often hear news stories report on the possible negative effects texting has on students’ formal writing. These stories usually flash a picture of some student’s formal essay or class assignment containing a text-speak abbreviation in place of a formal word. For example, “u” in place of “you”. Stories like this cause educators and parents to worry that the use of texting is impairing students’ ability to write in a formal setting and is thus becoming detrimental to literacy altogether. However, do these news stories actually hold any merit or are they simply media hype? How often does textspeak actually appear in students’ writing? According to literary scholar David Crystal, “all the evidence suggests that belief in an impending linguistic disaster is a conseq...
...echnology should be heralded as the greatest benefactor to linguistics and language. Instead, it seems as if it just may be its downfall if left unmitigated. Technology such as the Internet, cell phones, text messaging and social such have impacted language and English in a variety of ways. E-mail and text messaging have made writing an everyday occurrence. Computers have made writing quicker and much easier. With such easy access to information as Peter Diamandis put it in his book Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think, “we are living in a world of information and communication abundance,” (10) and with the rise in popularity of technology, we see the English language deteriorating more and more until one day its form in the future will be completely unrecognizable to its predecessor much as Old English seems foreign when compared to the English of today.
Text messaging is damaging our literacy and communication skills as a society. Calling someone on the phone or writing them a letter is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. There is a new language that is being learned and not taught across the globe. It is the language of Textese, and it has quickly consumed the lives of millions across the world. There will always be the protector of language arts. These are the shrinking number of people everyone knows, that will continue to handwrite letters and sign them with proper English and etiquette. It may be as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend or relative. It may be even simpler than that, in that people put forth an effort to talk to the person sitting next to or across from you and engage them in a conversation. Texting and textisms have become so common and widespread that using proper English, correct spelling, and full sentences is also becoming a thing of the past. People that constantly use text and instant messaging may have difficulty with literacy and expressing themselves in writing form. The research shows that text messaging has deteriorated how we communicate and express ourselves because textisms have become an easier and quicker form of communication that has affected literacy in children and adults.