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Text messaging affecting teen literacy
Text messaging affecting teen literacy
Text messaging affecting teen literacy
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Around the years 2001 to 2004, more text capable cellular telephones became available to the general public. When these types of cellular telephones became available, the text messaging phenomenon began. More and more people decided that text based communication was the most efficient way to communicate. Due to this phenomenon, educators are becoming more aware of the effects of text based communication on the developmental learning of literacy. Text messaging is dumbing down literacy for future generations. The newer generations have not had the privilege of experiencing a society that is not wrapped up in text based communication, such as instant messaging, chatting, and text messaging.
Determining the effects of text messaging when it comes to college students and their ability to spell, has resulted in a positive nature. Shaw, Carlson, and Waxman (2007), performed a study on eighty-six college students, whom were recruited from a large Midwestern university (p. 58). The authors conducted this research with the intent to prove that the abbreviations and misspellings in text messaging, has begun to lower many college students spelling abilities. Their study resulted in a completely different aspect than was expected, the information gathered did not support the authors hypothesis. Their hypothesis being that, "...spelling ability deteriorates with the frequent use of and exposure to the abbreviated and misspelled words and phrases of text messaging..." (Shaw, Carlson, and Waxman, 2007, p. 60). Although studies show differently, many instructors have complained that students are using misspellings and abbreviations that they normally would use in text messaging, in their academic writings too.
There was a study administered by Po...
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...Journal Of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(1), 58-66. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00403.x
Rankin, S. L. (2010). The impact of text messaging language shortcuts on developmental students' formal writing skills. (Order No. 3427225, Walden University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 90. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/807418333?accountid=458. (807418333).
Shaw, D. M., Carlson, C., & Waxman, M. (2007). An exploratory investigation into the relationship between text messaging and spelling. New England Reading Association Journal, 43(1), 57-62,90-91. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/206028569?accountid=458
Wendt, J. L. (2013). Combating the crisis in adolescent literacy: Exploring literacy in the secondary classroom. American Secondary Education, 41(2), 38-48. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1349322760?accountid=458
In the article, “Does Im Make U dum”, the author states how instant messaging has made us become “dum”. The issue of using popular texting abbreviations like, “lol”, “brb”, or “gtg” can either be an effective or unproductive way of expression. Using abbreviations through texting are so commonly used by children, teenagers, and adults. Statistics show that children are younger than ever for when they are first exposed to mobile phones and text messaging. A 2005 ChildWise study that one-in-four children under the age of eight had a mobile phone.
Michaela Cullington, a student, wrote a paper “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in 2010 for an English class. The paper is an examination of texting and the belief that it negative effective student’s writing. Cullington goes into detail about textspeak- “language created by these abbreviations”- and their use in formal writings. She organizes the paper in a way that is confusing to understand at first (pg. 1). At the end of the paper, she discusses her finding in her own research which comes to show that texting does not affect writing. But this is contradicting to the information she received from the teachers. The students and the teachers were seeing differences in the use of textspeak in formal writing. Cullington has good support for her
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.
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
United States. Reading to Achieve: A Governor's Guide to Adolescent Literacy. Washington: National Governors Association, 2005. Print.
The author notes that technology would affect the way people use their language in a matter of using abbreviations when texting. He also noted that messaging causes poor spelling and laziness when typing simple words on the phone. Teenagers have been creating abbreviated words since texting became popular; but abbreviated words have been around way before mobile phones were released. Crystal states, “people have been initializing common phrases for ages” (902), and
In his article, Crystal claimed that texting helps children to be better at their spelling and writing and they tend to score higher on test of reading and vocabulary because of the abbreviations used in their messages. Although Crystal provides ample evidence that texting is not linked to a drop in linguistic standard, Penn State News entitled ‘No LOL matter: Tween texting may lead to...
Having personal texting experience, I am able to confirm Crystal’s statement that texting can benefit the language and improve reading and writing skills. Crystal discusses diverse studies on the relations between texting and literacy in pre-teenage children. Crystal’s results revealed that “The more abbreviations in messages, the higher they scored on tests of reading and vocabulary. The children who were better at spelling and writing used the most textisms. And the younger they received their first phone, the higher their scores.” (345). His results support his outlook that texting does in fact improve literacy; he states “Children could not be good at texting if they had not already developed considerabl...
The use inventive spelling, abbreviations. As high school students start to use short texting, some of their grades dropped due to the spelling errors they make. So many teens get used to wing abbreviating that they just begin to write that that way. Some teenagers writing skills have turned into sentence fragments, because of the limited space they put into text sentence. In my research how does texting affect teen literacy the percentage was 64 percent of students who say they incorporated text language in their writing, 25 percent said they did so to convey have used text shortcuts a lot of students, vocabulary and grammar is also affecting their literacy. The outlook of the teachers is that. Text plus recently released results of its own survey of 1,214 teens that use their services. 43 percent of which have texted in class, they seem to pay more attention to their phone than what the teacher is teaching. They seem to have the phones that will spell the word for them so they have to worry about spelling. In the age of text message, where words are reduce to no stand abbreviating, symbols, But in my research I pointed out that technology has put new emphasis on reading and
Given the newness of these types of technologies, it is only in the last few years that educators have started to notice them and explore their effects on student behavior and performance. While there is supporting evidence to suggest that these technologies have a large influence on the social development of adolescents, an even more pertinent issue for classroom teachers is what effects these technologies have on the academic development of young people. In this article, I examine how students’ use of text messaging technology, specifically IM, affects their writing skills. How does IM use affect students’ interest in traditional writing (as learned in school)? In what ways does IM usage affect students’ writing ability? How does “IM-speak” change students’ views of what is considered “proper” language? How can classroom teachers build on student use of this increasingly popular technology? In this paper I provide a discussion of the current issues and current teacher pra...
However, there may not be need for worry, as a number of articles have noted surveys that find the benefits of texting. One article states that the use of abbreviations has the opposite effect of what parents think. It argues that in order for these abbreviations to occur, the texters must have a high level of phonological awareness, which is a necessary English skill that connects letters to sounds. It states that texting “provides children with an additional resource for learning about and experimenting with letter-sound correspondences and language” (Vosloo, 2009, Crystal, 2008). Abbreviations require texters to understand the workings of letters and sounds and to know how they are put together (Trubek, 2012).
Vosloo, Steve. "The Effects of Texting on Literacy: Modern scourge or opportunity?." Vosloo. Shuttleworth Foundation, Apr 2009. Web. 6 Aug 2010. http://vosloo.net/wp-content/uploads/pubs/texting_and_literacy_apr09_sv.pdf.
“Texting in Class a Growing Problem.” TheKanson.com. 7 December 2010. Singel, Ryan. The.
This topic is indeed worth studying because of the poor English skills that students are experiencing. I have also had personal experience where as a result of texting my writing skills have been negatively affected. English is the accepted language and as University Studies we are expected to have a good command of it. However there are different factors that can affect this. The research would like to find out how texting affects this, as when we text we spell and structure words differently. Some persons are not able to manage the change when they should write their papers in school because they are acquainted to write a particular way. So this is why the researcher thinks that it is worth studying as this will allow us to identify the effect of texting and to see if we can provide possible solutions so that these problems can be alleviated.