#Text speek drivers

#Text speek drivers

It appears that today’s larger phone screens and keyboards, and easier input methods, rather than any changes in views on the appropriateness of using textese, are the main drivers in reducing young adults’ tendency to use unconventional spellings in their text messages. Earlier attempts to reduce the number of characters (e.g., for ) are now equalled by emotionally expressive spellings that increase the number of characters (e.g., ), and women have continued to use more textese than men.

From 2009 to 2015, the decline of textese use has gradually tailed off, but remains to represent approximately 12% of written words. In this study, we report on the changing written language of text messaging, across seven cohorts of first-year Psychology undergraduates (n = 728) at an Australian university. This form of communication is often associated with an abbreviated, unconventional spelling style, sometimes called ‘textese’. In addressing the debate on the impact of texting on literacy, research analyses as well as media reports would benefit from a more balanced presentation of existing findings.Ĭommunicating by text message is an everyday occurrence for most young adults. More studies in this research area are required, especially of an experimental or longitudinal kind. There were no clear positive or negative links discovered between adolescent texting practices and literacy, with the research findings in this study area best summarized as mixed and inconclusive. Media reports, teacher surveys, and qualitative studies were also taken into consideration as part of this wide-ranging examination of previous research into this phenomenon. A comprehensive, semi-systematic review of the literature into texting and literacy was conducted, with a particular focus on quantitative empirical studies.

As part of this broad area of research, the associations between youth texting and literacy have been investigated in a variety of contexts. These conflicting findings are discussed within a framework of future directions for research.Īn extensive amount of research has been performed in recent years into the widespread practice of text messaging in youth. Nonetheless, more than half of the college students in this sample, texters and nontexters alike, indicated that they thought text speak was hindering their ability to remember standard English. Thus, our analyses showed that the use of text speak is not related to low literacy performance.

More important, there were no significant differences between the two groups in standardized literacy scores or misspellings of common text speak words. Results showed that while text speak users were more proficient with the vocabulary, both groups showed familiarity with text speak. Thirty-four text speak users and 46 nontext speak users were assessed on their proficiency and familiarity with text speak as well as their standardized literacy levels and misspellings of common text speak words. Recent negative media attention surrounding the use of text speak (shorthand abbreviations of words such as gr8 for “great”) and the potentially detrimental effects of text speak on literacy prompted this study of texting and literacy in 80 college students.