Does text messaging affect writing skills?

Practically everyone I know has a mobile phone. The mobile’s popularity has been a cultural phenomenon. Not only are we contactable wherever and whenever, but it has unleashed an increasingly popular form of communication – texting.

Text messaging is especially popular among teens and, as a result, they have created their own form of shorthand that enables them to abbreviate a whole host of words so that they can write and send their messages in the quickest way possible.

Of course, shorthand has been around for a long time and is still in use in many offices. Years ago, I learnt to use shorthand and although it was convenient in many situations, I never fully warmed to using squiggles and signs instead of words. Nowadays, texting has revolutionised the way we communicate – teens use rather inventive spelling (to anyone unfamiliar with texting it can appear like gobbledegook) and this has even infiltrated our daily speech and other means of communicating. It seems as if text message abbreviations and spellings are now used on a regular basis in emails and on social forums, like Facebook. But is texting harmful for our spelling, grammar – our basic knowledge of how to use the English language?

Many teachers would argue that texting is damaging to students’ use of English while others disagree, stating that in order to understand the abbreviations and text spellings, kids would need a good grasp of English in the first place and they also understand the differences between formal and casual styles of writing. One concern is that the speed of communication that is used when texting might affect students’ ability to effectively communicate their ideas when writing essays or exams. Speedy communication might lack depth as well as attention to detail.

However, as with most types of research, the debate still continues. I personally think that text message abbreviations and spellings are fine – as long as they are kept out of the classroom.