Explore the Varieties of and Attitudes to Texting

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

Critics claim that “texting language” is destroying English. Commonly, when people text they do not take advantage of proper grammar, and they will use shortcuts to write common words and phrases such as, “ you” and “are” by writing “U” and “R”. Yet when people speak casually, they do not communicate in an eloquent, perfected form as if they would if they were reading a formal speech or document. Moreover, texting was not created to represent people’s mastery of language. It was meant to be split-second conversation and socialization over a distance.

As time goes on, everything that we do in life modernises alongside us. Many people hold the opinion that ‘old fashioned’ methods of language use were more caring and creative, and that modern technology allows us to simply be ‘lazy’. However by looking at examples of texting, and/or web-based interaction, I will be able to show that modern language use can too be very creative.

2009. University of Alabama August 8, 2012. Carol and Chase are two students that attend the same high school and are in the same Carol’s parents have a limited plan on their phone bill and currently cannot afford unlimited text messaging, she talks with them in person, not over text messaging. Chase’s family, on the other hand, has unlimited text messaging, and he uses it quite frequentlyhis phone bill states that he texts about 3500 messages a month. A class activity required the two to trade papers , Carol noticed Chase sentences were weirdly constructed. Only about two or three sentences in the entire paper had an instance of informal use of text language in it, such as “b/c” or “cuz” for

Yet, if i had been the author of the article I would have written it with a completely different tone. Since such a large portion of our generation relies on texting to communicate information and chat with one another, I believe that there must be some way to explain my mood to my friend. If I’m not in the mood to talk I add a period at the end of my text. If I’m super excited I add ten million exclamation points and a happy emoji. If I’m stuck on a question in my math homework and I really need help I insert three question marks, “???” after I stress my dilemma. Each one of us has our own code written in our messages and a good friend will become familiar with that code. It is the just the same as becoming familiar with a friend's tone of voice or body language that they use to express emotion in school or when hanging out. I use, and will continue to use, punctuation everyday in my texts to explain my mood to my friends and they do the same despite the aggravation that it causes Jessica

In the reading “Does Texting Affect Writing,?” the author, Michaela Cullington, defines text-messaging as a very popular way in which teenagers and business uses to communicate without the necessity of speaking in a more convenient and rapid way by writing short messages in their mobile devices. However, Cullington states that in order to communicate in a rapid way by text-messaging many people change words to abbreviations. “The language created by these abbreviations is called textspeak” (361). Owning to her well-developed research, Cullington discover that some people consider that the using of abbreviations in text-messaging is affecting the writing skills of students while other believes that is the contrary, that text-messaging helps

In her essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?”, presented on April 18th, 2010, Michaela Cullington describes the use of texting and how it effects peoples writing. With the suppressing matter in consideration of technology has had a mass effect on human society. Texting has the ability to send information within a short period of time. Using texting, communication has been a problem with talking face-to-face. There is a concern of absence with using full text of words and seems to be a continuous predicament and could potentially hurt the face of the English language altogether. The transition from face-to-face communication is a lost art with the advances with texting. Cullington provides factual evidence to support her claims to express the

Since the technological phenomenon towards the end of the 20th century, text messaging has been widely used by cellphone users, specifically teenagers, in order to get their conversations across easier and quicker in a very convenient way. In the modern technology world, people have become so accustomed to the idea of

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.

Elizabeth Gorney states, instant messaging and texting have created a need for our messages to be delivered now, and in order to make this occur a fraction of second faster, abbreviations came into existence (2). The language of texting is referred to as “textspeak”. In “textspeak” punctuation marks and letters are adapted to express attitudes or emotions. Gorney explains “Texting” by David Crystal and how “textspeak” is like decoding a message. According to Crystal, they require a different interpretation of the language because of the technology and the speed that messages can be delivered (qtd. in Gorney 4). There is a different adaption of symbols and punctuation that the English language does not use, and to non-text speakers it is a new way of

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

Some teenagers believe that text message communication enables them to express their feelings freely and sincerely to someone. This is why

“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

In “Why Does Using a Period in a Text Message Make You Sound Insincere or Angry?”, published on The Conversation in July 2016, Lauren Collister explains that texting is more flexible and possesses its own set of stylistic norms (sometimes informally called “textspeak” or “textese”). She also describes that text messaging is a conversation that involves a lot of back and forth, and people add fillers to mimic spoken language; it increases the use of ellipses which can invite the recipient to continue the conversation, she states. She argues that certain punctuation can invoke feelings of insincerity due to “situational code-switching”; a common example is the way we talk in a job interview versus at a bar with friends, and she asserts that repetition of letters had an intensity to message. Collister states that we have different styles of speaking in a text message in different situations and context-dependent styles of writing in a text message.

Texting is a fairly new form of communication that has taken the world by storm. It became popular around 2001, and originally had its limitations, such as the 160-character limit. But now that technology has advanced, texting has followed along and is now a convenient, casual, and a more immediate way of communicating. So naturally, texting has evolved also in terms of the language used within it. We see this mostly in the form of abbreviations and short hand spelled words. Some people argue that texting has ruined the English language. Studies and observations have shown that the benefits of texting and cyber speak are much more broad then expected. Textisms have been shown to increase phonology skills, brain activity, creativity and provide a relatable outlet for students in education.