Text Messaging Enhances Language Essay

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

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

Texting has grown exponentially since then, but texting does not necessarily hinder literacy. Crystal argues, “Although many texters enjoy breaking linguistic rules, they also know they need to be understood,” (337). When the messages are longer, more abbreviations tend to be used. He references a study that has proven that the number of abbreviations in a text message has resulted in higher scores on reading and vocabulary tests. According to Crystal, you have to know how letters relate to sounds throughout language to write

After reading Texting and Writing, by Michaela Cullington, I do not agree with many of her viewpoints. Cullington argues that texting does not affect a students writing. Textspeak, the abbreviation and shortening of words like used when writing a text message, does affect the way a student writes because they use the abbreviations, and their writings tend to lack punctuation. When a writer uses excessive abbreviations on a regular basis they can get stuck in the writer’s head causing them to use them in all of their writings. Cullington did make good points of her own opinion on texting and writing in her piece, but I disagree with her and believe that texting and

“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.

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).

So the standardisation of everyone having a mobile phone or everybody having a computer or face book account creates the omissions because everybody knows some variant of LOL or gtg because these are so common. An example of this is Facebook; this website is the second most visited site in the world! Or from what I’ve been told; this is because it is a social messaging site. People these days check Facebook over 3 times a day due to instant internet access and so about 4/5 people I know have a Facebook account so to calculate the amount of people in London having a Facebook account; that’s 4/5s out of 9 million, that’s a lot of people. So you could say texting is slowly taking over daily life. This statement has evidence of people now saying LOL, people say this because of the standardisation of text and because everyone knows the term, I don’t need to backtrack to tell you about that however this also is because LOL; “laugh out loud” implies different meanings in different contexts for example people would say LOL to imply that something was funny, but not so funny that it was laughable, which is very useful in some social situations. However this completely defeats the purpose of the acronym because you are not laughing out loud. But to state that these omissions from text affecting spoken language is a bad influence on modern English

People lend themselves to thinking that texting is killing serious literacy. "The fact of the matter is that it just isn't true" (McWhorter 1) in his video, "Texting is Killing Language. JK!!!". The speaker explains thqt language had evolved from basic speech to writer text over thousands of years. He notes that while it is beautiful, nobody speaks how we write in formal literature it is boring and nobody has time for it in today's society. This however was the case in the time of Abraham Lincoln and even when it was common practice was hard to listen to. The progression of technology has given us the ability to write faster with the type writer, electric type writers, and cimputers provided you have someone able to process the information

Have always wondered if text messages have been dumbing us down or making us smarter in way? In today’s society who has an answer for this type of question. In the article, I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language, by John Humphrys, talks about how text messaging are a danger to people's English language ; especially in the younger generation. John Humphry’s takes a unique perspective when analyzing the practice of text messaging. He focuses on the todays teenagers as an example of the uses of text messaging. The other article by David Crystal’s, 2b or Not 2b discusses the many implications of new texting technologies throughout his article. Crystal Focuses on the three major topics in his article which are texting languages, the

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: 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.

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.

We use abbreviations and emoji’s to get our point across. As college students we send so many texting messages that we do not realize that we hold on to those habits of using incorrect spelling and full sentences. Using this way of communication so often has caused college students to carry it over to formal writing projects. Texting is another form of writing, some would believe that it will help with our writing skills but at the same time it making us lose our depth when it comes to writing. Students don’t use a much detail when it comes to writing papers. Grammar gets affected and we get in the habit of abbreviating our words which do not help enhance our writing at all. This articles just goes through saying that texting reflects on a lot more than just students language skills.

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