Research Plan: Does Autocorrect Technology Help Us Learn?

Today, many of us are aware of the current personal struggle when it comes to the autocorrect feature on our cellular devices. As a student representative of the technology committee here at UC Merced, I would like to address some of the negative effects of implementing auto correction, as a standard tool on our classroom computers. As particularly noted in the article “Auto Crrect This!,” James Gleick talks about the many different scenarios on how much this is negatively impacting the world we live in today. The article speaks on how the world is essentially becoming dumber and reliable on features such as autocorrect. With the current use of an unstable algorithm, world of ever changing language, and the constant imperfection of artificial intelligence; autocorrect should be a feature that should only be used when it comes to text messaging our best friends.

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

In Michaela Cullington’s essay titled, “Does Texting Affect Writing?” the author tests the ongoing question of how today’s youth handles the effects of texting in the education system. Using successful evidence from both sides of the argument as well as participating in her own experiment, Cullington is able to fully demonstrate how texting does not interfere with today’s students and their abilities to write formally in the classroom.

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.

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

Society today is quick to judge and state what is wrong and what is acceptable by the public. While some differences between Spelling Matters and Use Your Own Words are obvious, the similarities are relevant. Anne Trubek says that perhaps it is time to change or alter grammar rules to match the current generation and culture. We should advance our guidelines about what is proper and improper along with what is happening right now with the language. While Mikita Brottman says, “bad spelling can be a godsend—a way of weeding out those who are thoughtless and inattentive to detail” (p. 219).

“Does Texting Affect Writing” is about Michaela Cullington, the author, comparing two opposing perspectives. The perspective is whether texting hinders the formal writing skills of students or not. Millennials are a population that cannot go a day without looking at their phones so, due to the “increasing use of mobile phones, concerns have been raised about its influence on their literacy skills. No matter if it is sending or receiving a text or checking social media sites, technology has taken over the lives of the young generations. The essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in They Say, I say exposes how the significant action of texting and using textspeak, i.e. abbreviations and symbols, may be hindering the writing skills of teenaged students. People communicate using textese to “more quickly type what they are trying to say” (Cullington, 2017, p. 361). Textese is a “register that allows omission of words and the use or textisms: instances of non-standard written language such as 4ever” (Van Dijk, 2016). When these people use textese often, it can become habitual and transition into their school assignments. Michaela Cullington constantly repeats words and uses comparisons and abnormalities for the concerns about textspeak, the responses to the concerns, methods and the discussion of findings on the topic to be analyzed.

Students aren’t making nearly as many spelling mistakes due to spellcheck but are now using the wrong word or preposition in their writing. Stanford researcher Andrea Lunsford creates an interesting point when she asks if students are losing the taste for more complex English. This is something we don’t want to lose the ability to do.

Abbreviations such as lol (laugh out loud), brb (be right back), and ttyl (talk to you later) are commonly used when texting, yet are not really shown in formal writing. Students reported that text speaking formal writing. “Other students use these abbreviations and other speak text in their writing, but catches their mistakes quickly”. (Cullington 364). Supporting her research Cullington asked participants to complete questionnaires’’… the research hypothesized that texting and the use of abbreviations would have a negative impact on students. However, the results did not support their hypothesis. (Cullington 369).

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.

Technology is continuing to become better and better. The world of the internet net has brought information to a large chunk of the world and smartphones bring that information to our fingertips. Information can be easily accessed in seconds by most people in the United States if so desired. With this access or information, however, it brings up the question if technology is making students smarter or dumber. Or does having technology like spell check/autocorrect makes a person bad at spelling? Smartphones have changed the world we live for the better or for the worse.

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

After many research I decided to do my topic essay on the negative impact that texting has on college students. This topic is something I can relate to because texting messaging remains the most popular way of communicating for me, a college student. I looked up many articles and academic journals that would help me further explain the point that I wanted to make. In 2010, it was recorded that 98.8% of college students owned cell phones. (Ziegler, 2010) Texting is a prevalent way of communication it has taken a toll of college students. When texting becomes a frequent thing it starts to affect the students face to face communication skills, sleep cycle and the way students write their academic papers.

With mobile phones where the small screen technology is so constraining, texting and tweeting plays a significant role in how we conduct our daily communication. David Crystal wrote an article titled “Texting”, and believes the younger generation is introducing a new phase of texting where words are usually represented with acronyms (241). Crystal called this abbreviated text exchange a “textspeak” (243). Kris Axtman is also a prominent author who wrote an article, “R U Online? The Evolving Lexicon of Wired Teens” (247). His article focuses on teenagers and their dependency on the online technology. Axtman observes that teenagers develop a whole range of abbreviations while exchanging