Texting is Good for the English Language

“The best way to fight something is not to oppose it but rather to harness its own energy and convert that energy into learning”. (Maclean (2010)

After watching the video clip by Professor David Crystal from Bangor University, he debunked several myths about texting, such as texting is done by only kids, Kids fill their text messages entirely with abbreviations, these abbreviations that the kids use in their text messages are invented by themselves, since kids are using abbreviations, they do not know how to spell the words correctly and because the kids do not know how to spell correctly, it is affecting their essays and their examinations hence it produces illiterate kids. His arguments were supported with detail explanation and I partially agree with his statements.

Technology plays a significant role in communication these days and Short-Messaging- Service (SMS) is admired especially among the young generation because it offers economy of money and time. We hardly ever find a student who does not have at least one mobile phone. Most of their mobile phones have internet access that enables them to send and receive SMS anytime and anywhere as long as there is coverage.  Students have a tendency to utilize it as an officially accepted and standard language and thus make different errors from incorrect spelling to even ungrammatical sentence constructions. The English language educators are facing a great challenge due to this situation. The language of texting does not observe grammatical and syntactic rules. So it is neither formal nor standard. In short, they are rapid, they do not follow the rules of English grammar, they are relatively cheap, more convenient, they allow creativity and saves secrecy especially when communicating very personal affairs while sitting with others. Texting is developing its own kind of grammar and conventions.

In my opinion, texting can benefit weaker readers or slow learners who would generally avoid reading books. Before a student can write and play with abbreviated forms, he/she requires having a sense of how the sounds of a language are linked with the letters of that language.

Other than that, there is no verification that texting is ruining composition skills of the students. Worldwide people verbalize differently from the way they write the language. Generally, texting is swift, informal and only intended to be read once and it is actually a way of talking with our fingers. Moreover, students are exposed to writing in a more relaxing and less stressful atmosphere. Texting also can be harnessed by educators to assist students learn school-related content as when teachers encourage students to use messaging shorthand to spark their thinking processes. The use of SMS can be useful in building student- teacher relationships in enhancing students‟ comfort level in school setting and in improving academic performance. A third party says that (SMS) like slang language has its own language that has no effect on Standard English (Russel, 2012). It seems being proficient in standard forms, these learners are context conscious and can switch to the appropriate register or style when writing formally.

On the other hand, with the ever increasing use of text messaging among students, especially teenagers, there has been a growing concern among educators, parents, researchers and general public that this practice is damaging the use of language in speaking and writing and will affect the standard forms in the long run which is partially true. As an educator, I have noticed some of my students using abbreviation in their essays. For example, instead of writing “you”, they write “U” which is grammatically incorrect. Grammar rules are forgotten with compulsive texters. I believe excessive texting will lead to poor communications skills. Lots of research states that texting is negatively affecting grammar skills in many kids.

Somehow, I do agree with Professor David Crystal that issues with texting are more of a social issue rather than educational issues. For example texting may change students’ social behaviour and attitude. Some students are addicted to text messages and they could not live without it. Some students become lazy and refuse to write essays while some are not punctual. These particular students will lack in their social skills, they may not know how to communicate with people in real life situation.

Although, texting may have turned some people more lazy but the state of the obvious is that the generation is growing and will not go back. Just like fuel prices, land line to cell phones. We just have to accept the change and the transition will be smoother. Text messaging is a perfect example of how people adapt and mould language to suit different contexts.

In conclusion, texting can be a very good tool to enhance language skills and sub skills if controlled and written in proper English especially that it encompasses the main corpus of people's communication.  This is because (SMS) is widely used; some schools in western countries embrace them in their lesson plans. Even some teachers use the fast writing style to spark the students' learning. They allow children to use SMS language in their first draft to get thoughts and ideas into paper more quickly. Then students can go back to Standard English when editing and revising. Therefore, texting can boost literacy skills.