Disadvantage of Texting

In the article “2b or not 2b”, David Crystal begins with discussing how others such as John Humphry argued that texters are “vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbors 800 years ago. They are destroying it” (335). This is also the common belief of most people. People often argue about the bad points of technology over our language. However, Crystal believes that texting can improve children’s ability to read and write rather than hinder their literacy as many people claim. He also argues that not all texting are done in abbreviated words. Complex messages and institutional messages are often texted in standard form of

Authors such as David Crystal along with language teachers like Shirley Holm supply Cullington with valuable experiences and opinions on why texting benefits young adults. Cullington picked up that texting allows students to have a “comfortable form of communication” (365) which aids them in their growth in the English subject. After the author gathered a great number of sources and opinions from either side, she then decided to conduct her own experiment to which she got her own results.

The result verified that there is evidence of a decline in grammar scores based on the number of abbreviations in their sent and received text messages (Swayne and Messer). In other words, the word abbreviations and punctuation short-cuts that famously used in text messaging can alter individuals’ ability to recognize and apply proper spelling, grammar and punctuation techniques in writing and daily life communication. If the uses of abbreviations are not controlled from the beginning, both sender and receiver of text messaging will be associated with how poorly they will perform on the test based on the level of standard literacy they have.

Texting is harming the ability for this current generation of children to write in a formal manner. “Digitalk” is what Kristen Hawley Turner of Fordham University calls, text-speak.For example, many teens will text “g2g” in replace of the actual words “got to go”.In my opinion, texting is ruining students’ abilities to write a formal essay,letter,etc.

We as a society are evolving with each generation to come. We are getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Just as cell phones are no longer square blocks with numbers on them and TV’s are not in black and white, writing itself has also evolved. Once upon a time many wrote and spoke in a Shakespearean form of language and over the years it has evolved into something we call modern English. In recent years, technology has advanced greatly and cell phones have become one of our primary use of communication. With cell phones came a new form of writing called text messaging. Text messaging is used to send short, concise messages to anyone around the world. Often times text messages involve the use of abbreviations which stand for different things and also involves frequent use of emoji’s as a form of expression. This form of writing is now considered informal writing and is not acceptable in academic settings. In Michaela Cullington’s essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she touches on both sides of whether texting is hindering students writing or if it’s actually having a positive effect. She then makes is clear that she believes most students are educated enough to know when text speak is appropriate and when it’s not so therefore it has no effect on students. Although, I agree with her thesis, she lacks credibility due to her insufficient evidence. In addition, I also believe

Texting has fast become the preferred form of communication for young adults; however, students need to be dissuaded from texting during class because of the result in loss of valuable class time, lack of effective communication skills, and consistent use of improper English leading to a negative impact on students’ learning.

The article states that texting is ruining the way students are about to write. USA Today went a little further in saying that students in this generation are even lacking basic spelling abilities. The article says that instead of learning the actual spelling of a word, students are learning acronyms and shorthand. The split viewpoints make it hard to tell whether texting is a factor or not in the student’s abilities to write formal essays. Cullington has a neutral viewpoint in her essay not leaning to one side or the other.

In the article, “Does Texting Affect Writing,” Michaela Cullington explores the effect that the use of acronyms and lack of punctuation in texting has on formal writing. Cullington’s belief is that the language student’s use in texting does not significantly affect their formal writing abilities. The author convincingly states her views and offers sufficient reasoning for them as well. Cullington displays opposing ideas as she presents information from different viewpoints, discusses her own research on the topic, and structures her article with clear organization. These features of Cullington’s article enable the reader to support her hypothesis that texting does not affect students writing.

   Text has become one of the most common ways teenagers communicate with others. This led to many people believing that students ability to write is declining because of texting. Cullington starts by noting argument of the negative impact of texting. Such as the one about students using abbreviations. In others words, some believe using abbreviations in

3. Studies show that texting while driving increases your chances of crashing by 20 times. Even using your phone in a hands-free mode is dangerous since it's a "cognitive distraction" which may decrease driving performance. In fact, texting and other distracted driving account for nearly 80% of all automobile accidents. The effects of car accidents can be devastating. Crashes may results in death and catastrophic injuries, including brain injuries, paralysis and severe burns.

The subject of how technology is changing written English is a touchy subject; many people believe that our current technology is allowing us to become lazy. Text messaging being the ultimate reason we are taking so many short cuts when it comes to writing proper English. There are so many abbreviated words and meanings in text messaging, I sometimes find myself confused when I receive messages from people that I have to google what they are trying to say. I don’t want to respond and assume I know what they are trying say.

Thesis statement: In this paper, I will discuss how the frequent use of text messaging by teens today negatively affects literacy and I will offer suggestions that parents and teachers can implement and teach in order to raise reading, writing, and vocabulary skills.

Also, students today can talk with their teachers from home, and learn all the information from the Internet and finish a research assignment that used to take days because of books, in a matter of hours. But, students of the newer generations seem to have many problems with writing complete sentences or spelling words because of the frequent usage of text messages and the many hundreds of acronyms used to shorten texts. But besides memory problems, technology usage can cause serious diseases as well.

Thesis: While it has been commonly assumed that texting has had a significant negative impact on student’s literacy rates, others argue and support the use of texting as it has imprinted a positive impact depending on the situation.

Many will argue that children and teens especially will not know when to use “textisms,” and that texting is only a distraction to learning. That they cannot differentiate between the important messages where formality is key, and the times where they are not being judged or critiqued on every spelling and grammar mistake. This is a common misconception, as a 2006 study by two professors at Coventry University in Britain found that teen students seem to switch easily between text messaging and Standard English. This is most likely because that generation was not introduced to texting speak while they were learning the English language taught in pre school and elementary school. Although