Introduction

Text messaging is perhaps one of the things that people do most daily. Look
around on any public vehicles, in restaurants, or even just in the streets you can notice
that most people are holding their phones and text messaging.
These days, most teenagers in our country are nearly inseparable from their cell
phones, not because they are constantly talking, but because they are connecting with
their friends through text messaging. Although cell phones are banned in most schools
here, most of the students still bring their cellular phones with them. Few adults,
including teachers and administrators, understand why adolescents are text messaging
and how they harness text messaging capabilities in the classroom. Recent research
has demonstrated that use of texting slang when text messaging does not appear to
impact negatively on children and young peoples literacy and may even benefit
childrens spelling attainment. However, less attention has been paid to the impact of
text messaging on childrens and young peoples understanding of grammatical forms.
This literature review examines the limited amount of research on the practice of text
messaging for adolescents and young adults (ages 11-21), focusing on the motivation,
means, and methods of text messaging.
The rapidly growing rate of phone technology at this modernized generation is
kind of disturbing. It seems that anywhere you can see people glued to their phones
screen, fingers typing away. On sidewalks, school premises, even at the crowded
places. Majority of these people are teenagers.
What are some of the effects that texting is having on the teen literacy? That is
the question that the researcher explores in this paper. The researcher tackles about
the impacts that texting is making on teenagers, the impacts that making the teenagers
language and writing skills nowadays. Text messaging, or texting, is the act of typing
and sending a brief, electronic message between two or more mobile phones or fixed or
portable devices over a phone network according to. The term originally referred to
messages sent using the Short Message Service or SMS; it has grown to include
messages containing image, video, and sound content, known as MMS messages. The
sender of a text message is known as a texter, while the service itself has different

1
colloquialisms depending on the region. It is simply referred to as a text here in
Philippines.

Background of the Study

With the revolutionary new forms of communication that technology has

introduced comes a debate on what effect these new digital mediums have on literacy.
In the age of text messaging, where words are reduced to nonstandard abbreviations
and symbols, many people question the future of literacy especially to teenagers. There
is no arguing that teenagers nowadays text more than ever. The majority of population
claims that the short hand and abbreviated characteristics of text messaging are making
teenagers lazy, not forcing them to use the proper grammar and spelling that teenagers
learn in school. Considering the popularity of text messaging to teenagers, it is believed
that this type of communication is destroying the way people read, think and write. Text
messaging was even preferred by some as The Dumbest Generation.
One study states that cell phones are becoming a necessity this modern day, to
the point where every teenager and adult must have at least one. Individuals are rapidly
depending to these devices for communication purposes.1
Most new technologies such as text messaging emerge on the social and academic
scene. Many people are cautious and untrusting of new technologies that they worry
about the riff it could cause in the talk of literacy. It is important for academics to
embrace the importance of bringing daily literacies used by younger generations to
engage them more critically in the talk of language and technology.2

Based on John Myhras article, Negative Effects of Texting in the Classroom,

the over-use of texting has been damaging to the way students write formally in the
school premises and even in the society. The character limitations of text messages
have caused students to form their own style of writing and terminologies. This style has
caused them to carry it over to formal academic writing projects. Students writings are

1
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6
2
Thurlow, C. (2003). Generation Txt? The sociolinguistics of young peoples text-messaging. Discourse
Analysis Online, 1(1). Retrieved from http://extra.shu.ac.uk/daol/articles/v1/n1/a3/thurlow2002003-
paper.html

2
little to no depth, terrible grammar, and are abbreviating almost every word they write.
Texting has negatively affected the way students write. 3 With the revolutionary new
forms of communication that technology has introduced comes a debate on what effect
these new digital mediums have on literacy. In the age of text messaging, where words
are reduced to nonstandard abbreviations and symbols, many people question the
future of literacy especially to teenagers. There is no arguing that teenagers nowadays
text more than ever. The majority of population claims that the short hand and
abbreviated characteristics of text messaging are making teenagers lazy, not forcing
them to use the proper grammar and spelling that teenagers learn in school.
Considering the popularity of text messaging to teenagers, it is believed that this type of
communication is destroying the way people read, think and write. Text messaging was
even preferred by some as The Dumbest Generation.

Objective of the Study

The objective of this study is to aware and educate the readers on the possible
effects of text messaging to individuals literacy, especially to teenagers. This study also
aims to educate readers on how to control and minimize teenagers text messaging
addiction. Through reading this study, readers will have knowledge on how text
messaging affects the literacy of a teenager and to let them know and realized that too
much shortcutting can decrease their literacy rate. Teenagers have adopted text
messaging as their primary form of text-based communication, preferring it even over e-
mail because there are several reasons for the popularity of text messaging. Many
perfectionist, teachers, journalists and parents believe that the use of text messaging
will be the decline of the English language. Most teenagers in this society dont talk
anymore, not really talk. There is no verbal communication. It is hard to make sense of it
because there is no tone, no expression, no feeling, no body language and it is easy to
read into a conversation that which is not really there and make wrong conclusions,
without fully understanding what is being communicated. I know people who not only

3
Wilson, J. (2006). 3G to Web 2.0? Can mobile telephony become an architecture of participation?
Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 12(2), 229-242.

3
freak out about having to give a public speech, but who worry about having a face to
face conversation.

Significance of the Study

This study is significant to every individual, most probably to teenagers because

almost all of the population nowadays deals with text messaging. This study would be a
great help to aware and remind ones self on not to indulge to text messaging that much
and knowledgeable enough on how text messaging might affect ones literacy specially
the teenagers. By that means, texters will be responsible enough to control themselves
from texting frequently and this would be an aid to minimize text messaging addiction.
Text messaging has become the preferred method of communication for many teens.
This study is also significant because of the reason that almost every Filipino has their
Cellular Phone because with this gadget, we are able to communicate with our love
ones easily compared before with the snail mail type of communication wherein it will
took 1 week before you can receive the mail, Cellular Phone is more cheaper when
used in communications compared to telegraph before, because with the
Telecommunication sites, there are promos that could be availed in a cheap price where
in with this promos you can use it to text or call your love ones or friends. This study is
significant to every individual, most probably to teenagers because almost all of the
population nowadays deals with text messaging.

This study would be a great help to aware and remind ones self on not to indulge
to text messaging that much and knowledgeable enough on how text messaging might
affect ones literacy. By that means, texters will be responsible enough to control
themselves from texting frequently and this would be an aid to minimize text messaging
addiction. As communication is a vital key or essential skill in life, industry and
commerce have supported these reports and their findings. Issues encountered in
summery are very poor spelling skills in the language of the Filipino teenagers use of
abbreviated phrases when talking such as saying OMG and LOL rather than their
completed formation. Employers and education evaluators are very concerned that use
of such written skills are now finding their way in to documents and work practices and

4
often these have to be checked and reworked to meet even the most minimal standard
of language use.

Definition of terms

The following terms are defined operationally for better understanding of the study and
clarify any question that readers may have.

Adolescent: The transitional period between puberty and adulthood in human

development, extending mainly over the teen years and terminating legally when
the age of majority is reached.
Cellular Phone: A mobile telephone system using low-powered radio
transmitters, with each transmitter covering a distinct geographical area and
computer equipment to switch a call from one area to another, thus enabling
large-scale car or portable phone service.
E-mail: A system for sending messages from one individual to another via
telecommunications links between computers or terminals using dedicated
software.
Literacy: The quality or state of being literate, especially the ability to read and
write.
MMS Multimedia messaging service: a method of transmitting graphics, video or
sound files and short text messages over wireless networks, especially on mobile
phones.
Slang: Very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more
metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language.
Smart phone: A device that combines a cell phone with a hand-held computer,
typically offering Internet access, data storage, and email capabilities.
SMS Short message service: a system for sending short text messages, as from
one cell phone to another or from a computer to a cell phone.
Social Networking: The development of social and professional contacts; the
sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.

5
 Text message: An electronic message sent over a cellular network from one cell
phone to another by typing words, often in shortened form, as l8t for late, on
the phone's numeric or QWERTY keypad.

II. Teen and Young Adult Text Messaging Content

Often a text will be sent to see if the receiver is available for phoning on a land-
line, an instant message chat, or a face to face meeting all this is coordination because,
although the basic event has been set, as the event draws closer, texts are sent with
last-minute changes, apologies for being late, or checking on details. This indicates a
growing desire for teens to be constantly available and flexible. Teenagers like me
doesnt want to have a conversation that is not clear and not continuous that is why
before we start a conversation, we first ask the person that I am conversing with
because I dont want to have a partner whom our conversation is always pending.
People have sarcastically observed that a teacher from 100 years ago could walk
into a modern classroom and begin teaching without missing a beat. According to
Fulton, "Classrooms of today resemble their ancestors of 50 and 100 years ago much
more closely than do today's hospital operating rooms 4 Within the context of this
article, the medical world has much to teach educational institutions about taking
advantage of the features of SMS, as the medical field has quickly adopted text
messaging programs to communicate with typically hard to reach populations; provide
important, but sensitive health related information; increase attendance for
appointments through text reminders; and extend support for smoking secession,
weight loss, and various disease management programs.
As text messaging has become more pervasive, some changes in the way young
adults are using it has occurred. For the first time, Pew Research Centers Internet and
American Life Project reports that Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting
has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their
friends5. A unique ritual has emerged through the use of text messaging that of the

4
Fulton, K. (1989). Technology training for teachers: A federal perspective. Educational Technology, 29(3), 12-19.

5
Lenhart, A. (2010). Teens, cell phones and texting: Summary of findings. Pew Research Center
Publications. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP-Teens-and-Mobile-

6
good morning and goodnight text. Generally exchanged between romantic partners, or
through intimate friends, the good-night text has taken the form of the ending of the
show Ballet Shoes a TV movie in which each member of the family checks in with the
rest before bed.

Close friends end the day with quick updates and general good will messages.
The amount and frequency of these simple check-in messages indicates the intimacy
level of the senders and receivers, with face to face consequence if the ritual is not
completed6 because if they didnt follow the ritual of saying goodnight and good morning
with the persons that they should say with, the person will be pissed off because he or
she must still greet the person because texting is easy. Few people send a text
message without expecting a response, yet unlike face-to-face communication, the
response may not be immediate. Some studies have investigated the length, timing,
and amount of simultaneous conversations that happen between contacts7.
There are studies that shows of less than half of the messages recorded were
part of conversations and few were overlapping or multi-tasking conversations.
However, in the discussion groups, the teenagers expressed that they often used
multiple media simultaneously (instant messaging, email, landline and mobile),
frequently using one to coordinate the use of another. The majority of the messages
were single messages, often imitating a practice called sticky noting, i.e. sending a
reminder to others or self to do something8.
In this research they defined a conversation as a string of up to twelve
messages between sender and receiver, and in which the texters were taking turns
suggestive of instant messaging. Because as I based it on my experience it is not easy
to say goodbye especially thru text because I believe that saying goodbye is not easy
and in any way. But there have been other profound consequences for everyday life
through the millions of SMSs sent each day which have led to the Philippines being

2010-with-topline.pdf
6
Taylor, A., & Harper, R. (2003). The gift of the gab: A design oriented sociology of young peoples use of
mobilZe. CSCW: An International Journal, 267-296
7
Grinter, R. E., & Eldridge, M. A. (2003). Wan2tlk?: Everyday text messaging. In Proceedings of the
SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 441-448). New York: ACM Press.
Retrieved from http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/650000/642688/p441-grinter.pdf
8
Ibid 6

7
termed the texting capital of the world. The trend towards large-scale and state
sponsored labor migration began in the 1970 following the oil boom in the Middle East
leading to a high demand for foreign workers. Migration has intensified since, with
nearly a third of shipping manned by Filipino male workers9 Text messaging is
dangerous, not only does it ruin social interaction between humans, writing skills and
expression. Everything becomes so impersonal and simple.
Before texting, you'd have to call a friend on the phone. If she wasn't there, you'd
leave a message and wait for a call back. Texting makes teens available 24/7, which
means near-constant contact with her friends. This means she can connect with friends
any time of the day or night, whether she has a question about math homework or
wants to dish about her crush. When your teen sends a text message, she may even
think a friend is mad at her if she doesn't receive one back immediately.
For teens, making social connections in real life can be intimidating. While your
teen might not walk up to introduce yourself to another person, you might be more likely
to shoot a text message to start a conversation instead. For teens, texting could actually
extract a positive psychological response, making it feel good. After all, when a teen
sends a text message, they gets one back or so called reply that creates positive
reinforcement. Teenagers then continue the conversation, getting the same positive
boost every time a peer recognizes her text as important enough to respond, according
to "Family Circle" magazine. That's why your teen might end up texting far into the night
and then start texting again first thing in the morning, as it can make her feel important
and positive. Teens love that texting provides a measure of privacy because it's not like
you can listen in on a text. Teenagers might use texting as a way to talk about secrets,
like the boy she likes, but she might also use the medium to send pictures and
messages that you deem inappropriate.
Text messaging or what we call texting is the act of typing and sending a brief
message. This is the fastest way of communicating with other people unlike sending
letter mails to the people you want to communicate with.

II. Why do teens text so much.

9
Lamvik, G. (2002). The Filipino Seafarer: A Life between Sacrifice and Shopping.
Trondheim, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Unpublished Dr. Art.

8
 When I look around me in the Malls, I can see that everybody and almost all of
the people that I can see who uses cell phones are among the young adults which is
1829 years old. In fact, 96% of young adults own a cell phone. Young adults are the
most avid texters of all age groups, exchanging over 100 texts a day, and 3,200 texts a
month three-fourths of teens 1217 years old own cell phones and their texting
surpasses that of young adults. There is an interesting gender gap: Girls send around
3,952 text messages a month, and boys tap out a comparatively paltry 2,815 text
messages a month.10 Teens are more convenient with texting because it fits into those
small spaces in daily life. You're not talking with the person that much face to face but
you're telling people you're connected and want to talk with them because you can still
talk to them thru text.

You can text during school and not get caught, but also because some kids are
not allowed to talk on the phone that much so they use texting and its less likely for you
to get in trouble also because some people feel awkward on the phone they talk less
and get nervous some times. Teenagers constantly need attention from others, and feel
the need to always be in contact with someone else. It is all about popularity; so the
more people you know and text, the COOLER you are. Texting can be used for a
myriad of reasons and this study focuses on a handful of dimensions that roughly
organize the ways in which teens can communicate with friends and family. Teens were
asked about texts that support and maintain relationships and about texts used to
coordinate meetings and to report locations. We also asked about texts sent as a way
to exchange information privately in situations where voice calling would be
inappropriate or unwise. Finally, teens were asked about how text messaging is used as
a part of school work done outside of school.

Its accessible and popular, available in my pocket or my backpack wherein any

10Mary Madden, Teens, Social Network Sites & Mobile Phones: What the research is telling us, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Dec. 5,
2011, http://pewinternet.org/Presentations/2011/Dec/COSN.aspx.

9
time I can call or text my friends who are far with me. Texting has two purposes: to help
friends connect and to introduce acquaintances. The negative side of shortcutting is the
short length of a text message is often at odds with a teenagers complicated existence.
Two of my friends, recently comparing their parents punishments for staying out too
late, grasped the gist through texting of what had happened, but couldnt really convey
their misery until the next day when they met in person. While texting removes
boundaries between friends, my friends and I feel it only enforces boundaries with our
parents, who are beginning to become as dependent on texting as we are. It is not so
much the act of texting itself, but how often they text that can be overwhelming. It feels
like our parents are attempting to rein us in at all times and have another way to keep
tabs on us. It erodes our relationship because it feels like they dont trust our judgment.
The use of smart phones has become an addiction not too much different from
excessive drug and alcohol usage. Indeed, there are several published studies and
articles that confirm this, some even suggesting that the same portions of the human
brain are affected with this addiction which manifests it as obsessive neurotic behavior.

As a result, our nations youth are constantly and obsessively texting, emailing,
sending, receiving and replying to messages on social media sites. Now that the texting
phenomenon has been absorbed by our parents, it may soon have to be replaced by a
new mania we teens can call our own. Texting friends, members of the opposite sex
and even teachers and coaches provides a quick way for your teen to communicate
with others, but that's not the only reason she's addicted to her phone. Understand why
teens love to text, and you might understand why yours seems obsessed.In the
meantime, our message to parents: Connecting with your teen is a long-term process
that a daily barrage of texts will not replace. We prefer face time and real conversations.
I think that the one way text messaging affects language skills is that it leads to the
downfall of communication. It aids the lack of intellect and flow of logic that humans
possess when communicating with another human being.

10
 I have seen many instances where teenagers have used texting in conversing in
real-life situations. When mobile texting started, users were limited to 160 characters
per text. Each text was charged individually. This meant the user had to abbreviate
words so they could fit what they wanted to say into one message or pay for multiple
messages. Subsequent technology developments meant that the networks could extent
that limit to 760 characters.

That gave the user much more space in a single message. Persistent use of text
'shortcuts' affects literacy because people get used to using the text version of words in
their everyday life. English teachers totted at SMS text speak it used to be all about
abbreviating in a not so much literate way even inserting numbers instead of words.
Predictive texting means we can use proper language that although short, is still
effective. John Donne said that No man is an island.

With social networking, no one has to feel alone and we can network poetically.
And its not just the emotional enjoyment. Its driven by our chemical desire for reward
and our need to keep constantly in touch with our peers. Dopamine, a simple organic
chemical, could also be the cause of the constant desire to send and a receive texts. It
plays a major role in the brain system responsible for reward-driven learning.

Every type of reward that has been studied increases the level of dopamine
transmission in the brain. Smart phones become miniature slot machines, which reward
us with the beep of an incoming message. It is a great way to communicate above the
conversation. I was at a faculty meeting the other day and got a text message from one
of the other teachers. I thought it was about the funniest thing ever. No one knew the
difference. Text messages often include shortcuts because they are restricted to
160characters (hence the name short messaging system or SMS), are often
composed on phones through multiple complex keystrokes, and because they have
become part of common communication slang.

11
Shortcutting Text Message Ruining English

In this chapter, we will know if shortcutting text message really lower or

decreases the literacy of a student. With every generation come cries that teenagers
are destroying the language with their new slang. The current objection on the way of
casual language used in texts and instant messages restrain teens from understanding
how to write and speak properly. While amateur language lovers might think that this
problem of the teenager makes sense, professionals say this is not at all the case. In
fact, linguists say teenagers, far from destroying English, are innovating and enriching
the language because the teenagers are developing new words.

First of all, abbreviations like haha, lol, omg, brb, and btw are more infrequent
than you might imagine, there is a research that found the use of short forms,
abbreviations, and emotional language is infinitesimally small.11 These sorts of
stereotypical markers of teen language could be one of her most interesting findings is
that older teens start to outgrow the abbreviation lol, opting for the more mature haha.
Teens are using it in non-funny situations, and its meaning has expanded beyond just
laugh out loud. Now it can be used as a marker of understanding and tone, something
often lacking in written communication. This is a development not a distortion of
language. .

We always hear that texting is epidemic. The idea is that texting spells the
decline and fall of any kind of serious literacy, or at least writing ability, among
teenagers in the Philippines and now the whole world today. The fact is that matter and
it's easy to think that it is true, but in order to see it in another way, in order to see that
actually texting is a incredible thing, not just energetic, but a incredible thing, a kind of
evolving difficulty that we're seeing happening right now, we have to pull the camera
back for a bit and look at what language really is, in which case, one thing that we see is
that texting is not writing at all. What do I mean by that? Basically, if we think about

112008. Sali A. Tagliamonte and Derek Denis. Linguistic ruin? LOL! Instant messaging and teen language. American Speech,
83(1), 3-34.

12
language, language has existed for perhaps 150,000 years, at least 80,000 years, and
what it arose as is speech. People talked. That's what we're probably genetically
specified for. That's how we use language most.

Writing has certain advantages. When you write, because it's a conscious
process, because you can look backwards, you can do things with language that are
much less likely if you're just talking. For example, imagine a passage from Edward
Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: The whole engagement lasted
above twelve hours, till the graduate retreat of the Persians was changed into a
disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the principal leaders and
the Surenas himself." Casual speech is something quite different. Linguists have
actually shown that when we're speaking casually in an unmonitored way, we tend to
speak in word packets of maybe seven to 10 words. You'll notice this if you ever have
occasion to record yourself or a group of people talking. That's what speech is like.
Speech is much looser. It's much more telegraphic. It's much less reflective and very
different from writing. So we naturally tend to think, because we see language written so
often and that that's what language is, but actually what language is, is speech. They
are two things and different from each another.

It was common when one gave a speech to basically talk like writing. So I mean
the kind of speech that you see someone giving in an old movie where they clear their
throat, and they go, "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen," and then they speak in a certain
way which has nothing to do with casual speech. It's formal. It uses long sentences like
this Gibbon one. It's basically talking like you write, and so, for example, we're thinking
so much these days about Lincoln because of the movie. The Gettysburg Address was
not the main meal of that event. For two hours before that, Edward Everett spoke on a
topic that, frankly, cannot engage us today and barely did then.

The point of it was to listen to him speaking like writing. Ordinary people stood
and listened to that for two hours. It was perfectly natural. That's what people did then,
speaking like writing. if we can speak like writing, then logically it follows that you might
want to also sometimes write like we speak. The problem was just that in the material,

13
mechanical sense that was harder back in the day for the simple reason that materials
don't lend themselves to it. It's almost impossible to do that with your hand except in
shorthand, and then communication is limited. On a manual typewriter it was very
difficult, and even when we had typewriters, or then computer keyboards, the fact is
that even if you can type easily enough to keep up with the pace of speech, more or
less, you have to have somebody who can receive your message quickly.

If we always put our cell phones in our pockets we can receive that message,
then you have the conditions that allow that we can write like we speak. And that's
where texting comes in. And so, texting is very loose in its structure. No one thinks
about capital letters or punctuation when one texts, but then again, do you think about
those things when you talk because as long as we can read the content and understand
the message. Thru texting we can write the way we talk. And it's a very interesting thing,
but nevertheless easy to think that still it represents some sort of decline.

We see this general bagginess of the structure, the lack of concern with rules
and the way that we're used to learning on the blackboard, and so we think that
something has gone wrong. It's a very natural sense. But the fact of the matter is that
what is going on is a kind of emergent difficulty. That's what we're seeing in this fingered
speech. And in order to understand it, what we want to see is the way, in this new kind
of language, there is new structure coming up. For example, there is in texting a
convention, which is LOL.

Now LOL, we generally think of as meaning "laughing out loud." And of course,
theoretically, it does, and if you look at older texts, then people used it to actually
indicate laughing out loud. But if you text now, or if you are someone who is aware of
the substrate of texting the way it's become, you'll notice that LOL does not mean
laughing out loud anymore. It's evolved into something that is much subtler. LOL is
being used in a very particular way. It's a marker of empathy. It's a marker of
accommodation. We linguists call things like that realistic particles. Any spoken
language that's used by real people has them.

14
 The way I'm thinking of texting these days is that what we're seeing is a whole
new way of writing that young people are developing, which they're using alongside
their ordinary writing skills, and that means that they're able to do two things. Increasing
evidence is that being bilingual is cognitively beneficial. That's also true of being
bilingual. That's certainly true of being bilingual in terms of your writing. And so texting
actually is evidence of a balancing act that young people are using today, not
consciously, of course, but it's an expansion of their linguistic range.

As a result of the distraction caused by this obsessive behavior, our nations

youth are growing up largely unable to concentrate on the tasks before them. In short,
they have developed the attention span of a short period, which has negatively affected
their performance at school, work and otherwise. It is not only performance that is
affected, but their relationships with teachers, work supervisors and the like who see our
nations youth up close and personal. The use of the written text message, email or
Facebook message on smart phones has significantly reduced the need to
communicate orally.

Ironically, smart phones which are in essence intended to be just that phone are
rarely used by our nations youth for verbal communication. As a result, oral language
skills, the ability to express oneself in actual speech, have suffered greatly. This helps
explain the younger generations use of the word like nearly before every noun,
adjective or adverb. We are now having a hard time in expressing ourselves orally
because we are used to express ourselves thru written message like texting.

Smart phones and their easy access to social media are destroying personal
relationships on an epidemic basis. I have been told by many friends that their spouses,
girlfriends and boyfriends have become so hooked to the devices that they are kept on
night stands. Morning or night, their paramours become wedded to the devices
texting, emailing and sending Facebook messages just before bed, during the night and
during the early morning right in front of their partners, or by not too quietly taking the
smart phones to the bathroom or behind closed doors to use them in secret.

15
 This behavior, and the secret use of smart phones during the day, can create the
impression with the significant other, sometimes for good reason, that their companion
is either having an affair with someone else or is in the process of using social media to
try to start one. In effect, the inability and lack of desire to spend uninterrupted time with
the one youre with, your partner, can cause breakups furthering personal insecurities,
instability in relationships and other societal problems. In effect, its like having a third
person always in the room with you and one that may not have your best interests at
heart. The use of these abbreviations allows the user to avoid having to spell correctly
and masks their ignorance of the language and its usage. I am ashamed of our low
standards in our native tongue when compared against the people of United Kingdom
because of the ability to use their own language correctly. One conflict that has been
produced by the surge in mobile phone use is a rift between people who like to talk and
people who prefer to text.

Sending text messages has become a medium of choice for mobile phone users.
Almost every basic principle that people hold about texting turns out to be
misconceived. Misspelling isn't universal: analysis shows that only 10% of words used
in texts are misspelled. Nor are most texts sent by kids: 80% are sent by businesses
and adults. Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly:
rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely to be the most
literate and the best spellers, because you have to know how to manipulate language. If
you can't spell a word, then you don't really know whether it's cool to misspell it. Kids
have a very precise idea of context none of those I have spoken to would dream of
using text abbreviations in their exams they know they would be marked down for it.

Young people are increasingly prone to texting and shy away from making calls,
which are more direct but also less permanent forms of communication. Ironically, the
speed at which instant messaging or texting takes place means that mistakes and
shortcuts are common: but we often let each other get away with them because we
know what they mean. Many teachers in primary and secondary schools have
expressed concern at the number of children whose literacy levels are dropping; and

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who are not even able to write by hand, so accustomed are they to computers, tablets
and mobiles.

Texting is ten times worse. Youre encouraged to misspell, youre discouraged

from saying anything deep or meaningful. Essentially, texting is emailing for the lazy,
illiterate and mobile. You send a text when you dont want to talk to someone, but you
want to let them know youre thinking of them. And what can be more flattering than
conveying, electronically, the idea that you DONT want to talk to the woman youre
courting And as long as you let them do it, they will continue to do it. Because texting is
only enabled by the person who reply back to the text. If you dont respond to texts,
guess what? Youre letting him know that its a poor way to reach you. Understand this
about men: they will usually do the least that they can to maintain their relationship. So
if he can text you at 11pm on Friday night after a week of silence and charm you with
something like: UR 2 hott! Cum over now?, well, you get what you deserve. But heres
the real problem: there are women everywhere who are complete suckers for this crap.
Maybe its a low self esteem thing, but as long as some desperate girl lets him get away
with it, hell always have a low-maintenance sexual outlet.

Text messaging is destroying the written word. Students arent writing letters;
theyre typing into their cell phones one line at a time. Feelings arent communicated
with words when youre texting; emotions are sideways smiley faces. Teenagers are
typing shorthand slang terms wherein this slang words does not contain any complete
thought.

The clear media message that text messaging is damaging writing abilities
suggests that when youth write using language shortcuts they are developing bad
writing habits and will be unable to successfully write Standard English prose.12This
suggest that those people who use more shortcuts in their everyday writing would be
predicted to transfer those skills to Standard English writing which would, in turn, lead to
diminished writing abilities.

12
Thurlow (2006). From statistical panic to moral panic: The metadiscursive construction and popular exaggeration
of new media language in the print media. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(3), 667-701.
Textisms and Writing 36 USA Today Magazine (2008, September). Texting, testing destroys kids writing style. p. 8

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CONCLUSION
Understanding how young adults use text messaging in their everyday lives has
implications for range of issues from the micro level of daily relationships with the adults
in their lives to the macro level of policy decisions at school and district levels. At the
micro level, parents and teachers need to appreciate the paradox of the ubiquitous yet
surreptitious use of cell phones by young adults. Through dialog, adults need to help
teenagers make positive choices on when, where, and how text messaging is done.

At home, this may require teenagers to turn in their cell phones before bedtime
to ensure a good night's sleep in preparation for the next day. In school, teachers need
to recognize that texting is happening in the classroom, no matter what their school
policy states. This subversive use can be turned into condoned and supervised use
through implementing phone-based technologies such as response systems in the
classroom, or integrating place-based activities which take advantage of the
affordances of mobile technology, including texting. As unlimited text and data plans
become more common in the United States, this will be more feasible. It is clear from
the various medical studies cited here that directed use of text messages can influence
a young person's health-related problem solving and decision making abilities, which
could also be leveraged in educational settings. In addition, text messaging is often a
collaborative activity that impacts the way teenagers learn to interact with the world.

The English language has survived and adapted through many attempts to
supplant it over the centuries. Indeed the very thing that makes English such a powerful
and flexible language is that over the centuries it has adopted and borrowed from other
languages. English as we know it know is quite different from 200 years ago, which in
turn was quite different from 500 years ago. Shakespeare himself was responsible for
introducing many new words. So unlike other languages English has survived and
become so dominant through evolution.

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 Therefore text messaging may or may not influence it in the long term, but history
has shown us that any elements adopted will only serve to expand the flexibility and
ease use of the language. Some people seem really worried about this. Considering the
popularity of the mobile phone, its inevitable there'll be overlaps of txt use. I think that
schoolgirl was having a laugh and texting certainly wont kill the English language. Many
forms of communication take liberties with Standard English - e-mail, chat-rooms, lyrics,
poems, newspaper headlines etc. The negative associations between texting and
literacy also appear to moderate to some degree by gender and by level of education in
young adults. A thorough understanding of the impact of texting upon literacy probably
will require consideration of the component skills involved in SMS use and language
skills, as well as the functions for which both are used.

Text messaging is a perfect example of how people adapt and mould language
to suit different contexts. Maybe schools should be studying why it happens. It is the
nature of language to evolve over time.

Given the fact that many more studies report positive relationships between
texting and literacy than negative relationships, this would suggest that the popular
claim that texting have a detrimental effect on literacy skills is actually ungrounded, at
least as far as texting in English is concerned whether a similar tentative conclusion can
be drawn for other languages has not been broadly researched. It is clear that prior
research on the impact of textisms on writing was, for the most part, not supported
except for the case of a short informal writing sample on happiness.

I think text messaging could really affect somebody's English proficiency if what
he uses in sending text messages. For example, he is using shortcuts or he is used to
type a message in a what-so-called "Jejemon" way of texting then his knowledge of the
correct spelling of the words the he is using. Second factor is the length of time or how
often does he use his phone to send messages using the improper way of text
messaging. If it is often then he would really get used to texting in that way and he may
forget the proper way because he is already used in that way of text messaging. There
is the tendency that he might be able to use it in writing some essays or other form of

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some requirements in English. In that way, your English proficiency may be ruined.
When communication became more efficient, the English language evolved right along
with it. Proper grammar, like capitalization, is usually ignored and words are
abbreviated. For example, in a text the word you is often shortened to just u, and
phrases like talk to you later becomes ttyl. When we're using this entire social media
we're not thinking about spelling words if it is right, so naturally that's going to be seen
inside of the school or in different instances, we can also hardly express ourselves
personally because we are used to express ourselves nonverbally therefore when it
comes to face to face conversation, we are getting shy.

As for people who don't use phones that much, I think their English proficiency
wouldn't be that affected unless we are affected by the third factor that could affect and
ruin English proficiency that we have. This is when the person you are communicating
through text messaging is using the improper way of texting where in you are reading
text messages that are typed using shortcuts. In that way you'll also get used in that
way of texting.

By shortening a phrase, it becomes easier to get your point across I believe that
we do not have the right to change or add to a word because we are lazy. Etymology is
important and proves that behind every word, there is a long history. In the matter of a
decade, acronyms have been replacing meaningful phrases and sentences and
overpowering grammar that we have been taught since kindergarten. Just because we
have the ability to shorten a sentence or to quicken a message does not mean that we
should let it take over our physical and verbal ability to communicate.

As I conclude this paper, I think that we doesnt need to blame texting in having a
difficulty in spelling because having difficulties in spelling still depends on us because if
we already know that shortcutting can harm our literacy rate, why would we still go on
with shortcutting text messages, therefore everything that would happen to us still
depends on our decisions.

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