Texting Case

Texting

Is texting hurting our language or just the next step forward? Many people see texting as a deterioration of the English language, but texting is quite the opposite. Historically, we have changed our language to suit our needs as we please. Texting has allowed students to communicate in written form more than before, and thus helps their writing skills and vocabulary.

Texting lingo, “textese”, is really nothing new; it has been going on for centuries. When the telegraph was invented, people did not use proper language when sending messages through it, but instead modified the language to make it easier to use with the telegraph. David Crystal wrote this in his article “2b or not 2b”:

The use of initial letters for whole words (n for "no", gf for "girlfriend", cmb "call me back") is not at all new. People have been initializing common phrases for ages. IOU is known from 1618. There is no difference, apart from the medium of communication, between a modern kid's "lol" ("laughing out loud") and an earlier generation's "Swalk" ("sealed with a loving kiss"). (Crystal)

As shown from the quote, using abbreviations and simple phrases instead of full words has been around for centuries. A few examples of this are words such as fridge, vet, and exam.

Texting has caused students to communicate in written form much more than before. Instead of just writing in school and the occasional letter to a friend, they are writing on a regular basis every day. This has led to students desiring to write more. In addition the short size of the text message, only 160 characters, teaches students how to condense their thoughts into smaller statements.

Texting increases the amount of time students are writing, which is not a negative occurrence. In John Humphrys' article “I h8 txt msgs: How Texting Is Wrecking Our Language”, John says that people that text are “Pillaging our punctuation; savaging our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped.”(Humphrys) This seems to be the general consensuses among the anti-texting community. But the problem with this is that it is not founded on fact. Studies show that texting vocabulary is no different than the slang students are already using in their daily conversations with one another. And with that, it also showed that students can easily switch between text language and formal language (Rzemien).

It is possible that texting actually increases the size of the parts of the brain that deal with language skills. In a 2011 study scientists linked the use of social networking to the existence of more “grey matter” in certain parts of the brain. Grey matter is the brain tissue where mental processes occur (Hirschler). This can be said about texting