According to USA Text Messaging Statistics over 57% of teens ages thirteen and older who own a cell phone send text messages daily. More text messages are sent per phone than phone calls. The average text messages used per month is 357 compared to 204 cell phone calls. As the world is constantly changing mediums of how it communicates, it is how that change affects language that is most important. Today, linguists are focusing on how technology is changing the English language. More strategically, educators are looking of how that change in English is affecting their students. There have been many arguments and studies done resulting in different views. Some say that technology, more specifically text or instant messages, have made literacy rates worse. On the other hand, others have seen technology as a catalyst to the English language.
With the help of global competition, technology has become one on the fastest growing markets the world has seen. But recently, questions have been surfacing of how this technology surge is affecting people, more specially student’s literacy. Through speculation and research, linguists are beginning to find how much technology, such as texting and instant messaging, affects students. “Texting sees children explicitly demonstrating an understanding of how words can be manipulated, segmented and blended to allow for succinct and successful communication” (Wood, Jackson, Plester, & Wilde) . Researchers have stated that because of texting, children are beginning to see and understand the foundations of syntax. Gaining phonological awareness is beneficial to students, helping them realize the core of the English language and its structure. “Arguably, the world play that children have in texting offers a rudimentary and informal leaning platform from which they can develop sensitivity, confidence and flexibility with phonology and orthography, which may in turn benefit developing literacy skills” (Wood, Jackson, Plester, & Wilde) . Most importantly from an educational standpoint, texting gets children exposed to literacy. This rapid technology increase, brings a huge question of is technology hindering or increasing literacy rates. But many teachers, and authors, are answering this question with the use of texts speak in the classroom.
“A further factor with bearing on literacy attainment s that text messaging in whatever from, provides children with additional exposure to the written word” (Wood). As a future English teacher, it is extremely vital to get students excited about the act of reading. With thinking about the mass technology increase, young adult authors have taken a step back and brought themselves down to the student’s level of their likes and common views of language in their daily lives. Novels have been produced with a style to not only attract to students’ attention, but speak in a language they will understand. A great example of this is young adult author, Lauren Myracle. She created a series called The Internet Girls. This book series is composed of four books titled: TTYL, TTFN, L8R G8R, and BFF. Clearly these titles would not attract anyone who is not fluent in the text messaging language. What is so unique about these books is that they are not written in a traditional style. Myracle wrote these books with her audience in mind. She created characters and had the entire book series encircle around their conversations over instant messages. The conversations include phonological reductions as the titles sho but also emoticons that show a better expression of emotion.
“zoegirl: wanna lend me one of yours?
SnowAngel: sure! J
zoegirl: i was KIDDING, angela.
SnowAngel: hey, if u’ve got it, flaunt it. that’s what my mom says.
zoegirl: that’s sick!
SnowAngel: that’s my mom! ttfn!” (Myracle, 2004).
As a teacher, it is important to be aware that books like The Internet Girls are very unconventional when it comes to grammar and sentence structure. “In terms of spelling, although textisms may be orthographically unconventional in one sense they do demonstrate an awareness of alternative legitimate orthographic spellings within the English language” (Wood). However, most of the time, students with exceptional literacy skills and understand phonological rules are can distinguish appropriate times to use Standard English and texting abbreviations.
After the revolution of texting and instant messaging embedded itself into English, researchers began to focus on how much of a toll it was affecting student’s literacy ability. Focusing on twenty-two females from Midwestern University, students were to ask to record all text messages and instant messages they sent over a twenty-four hour period. “Text messages averaged to be about 7.7 words, verses instant messages were 6 words. A text message conversation lasted longer than an instant message. Recall that for IM transmissions, sequencing of consecutive transmission is common” (Ling, & Baron, 2007). There were more emoticons in instant messages than in text messages, but in texting there were more phonological reductions such as “lol” (laugh out loud), “omg” (oh my god), or “ttyl” (talk to you later). Conclusions to this study were fully based on the fact that specifics of texting and instant messages were determined based on the ease of it depending on the medium. For example: “Contractions typically appear in informal speech and writing, and are shorter to type than full forms, especially when omitting the apostrophe. In computer-based IM, apostrophes require only a single keystroke, while needed four key taps on mobile phones” (Ling, & Baron, 2007).
Texting and instant messages are at the heart of the electronic revolution and making their mark in the evolution of the English language history. Linguist, David Crystal, could not be more excited about the transition. “A new medium of linguistic communication does not arrive very often, in the history of the race” (Crystal, 2001). He has coined a name for technology communication: Netspeak. “It is something completely new. It is neither ‘spoken writing’ nor ‘written speech’… Netspeak is a development of millennial significance” (Crystal, 2001). As the Internet is a medium where a person can have total power and creativity, Netspeak is at the beginning of its creation. “The phenomenon of Netspeak is going to ‘change that way we think’ about language in a fundamental way, because it is a linguistic singularity- a genuine new medium” (Crystal, 2001). Clearly, as Netspeak and technology grows into its full potential, it will forever change English and linguistics. It slowly is progressing into how children and students are looking at the written language. The education system is beginning to see the effects on students and keeping a strong positive outlook on how to keep students involved in reading by changing from traditional reading to what they like. David Crystal brings up an excellent point is projecting into the future that education of the English language and adapting to its changing one of the most important things linguists and educators can do (Crystal, 2004).
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