2. TEXTISM HAS HISTORICAL
ROOTS
Its true origin was gradually forgotten. OK used such familiar sounds that
speakers of other languages, hearing it, could rethink it as an expression or
abbreviation in their own language. Thus it was taken into the Choctaw Native
American language, whose expression "okeh" meant something like "it is so”. (1)
-Allan Metcalf, author of OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word
”Texting has features that correspond to spoken language, in its dialogic
character, with several conversational „turns‟ sometimes being recorded, but
these messages also make use of grammatical omissions that are rarely
observed in spoken language (A. F. Gupta, personal communication, November
2005) and so cannot be said to be truly a written form of spoken language.
Another characteristic that sets texting apart from spoken language is the
phenomenon of hyperpersonal communication (Walther, 1996), wherein texting
allows management of impression and message to a greater extent than realtime conversation or Instant Messaging (IM) (Reid and Reid, 2004, 2005), while
still allowing dialogic exchange in a relative short time span.” (2)
“The actual definition of textisms includes any use of a shortened word or
acronyms, and both the Summerians and telegraph operators used textisms long
before cell phones and texting were even an idea.”
3. TEXTING HELPS
STUDENTS READ
“In other words, contrary to what you might think when faced with “creative”
usages such as ur for your, 2 for to, and w8 for wait, kids who text may be
stronger readers and writers than those who don‟t” (3)
“The use of “ extism" abbreviations such as LOL (laughing out loud), plz (please)
and xxx (kisses) by children can indicate successful development of reading and
writing ability, a study has revealed” (4)
“Back in June, I read an article on the Oxford University Press English Language
Teaching blog entitled “Using Technology to Improve Writing Activities”
(Silva, 2012). Anna Silva, a language teacher in Brazil, found that teaching
students how to write with the tools they already love has been very helpful. I
would like to add my own thoughts to this idea, adding my own experience to
Silva‟s.” (5)
4. TEXTING PROVIDES MORE
READING/WRITING
PRACTICE
“Youth today of all walks of life write constantly outside of school—
email, social media, texting, etc. Don‟t expect them to stop as they age.
Even if it‟s not formal school writing, such constant practice with writing
has real benefits to their overall skills with literacy.” (6) -Andrea
Lunsford, Professor at Stanford
“It is also possible that textism use adds value because of the indirect
way in which mobile phone use may be increasing children‟s exposure to
print outside of school,” said the report, funded by Becta, the
Government‟s education technology agency. ” (7)
"'Texting also appears to be a valuable form of contact with written
English for many children, which enables them to practice reading and
spelling on a daily basis.” (8) -Psychologist Dr Clare Wood
5. INVENTING NEW TEXTISMS
IS CREATIVE
“One of them, Morgan, pecks out a quick message to Hannah just moments
before her mom‟s minivan pulls into view. “Waiting for trin she said shed brb.
mom is l8,” she types. “But i c her now so ill just ttyl.” Say what? Translation:
“Waiting for Trinity, who said she‟d be right back,” Morgan said. “My mom is
late, but I see her now, so I‟ll just talk to you later.”(9)
“The most widely used American word in the world, OK, was invented during
the age of the telegraph because it was concise. No one considers it, or
abbreviations like ASAP and IOU, a sign of corruption. More recent textisms
signal a similarly creative, bottom-up play with language: “won” becomes “1,”
“later” becomes “l8r.” After all, new technology creates new inertia for change:
The apostrophe requires an additional step on an iPhone, so we send text
messages using “your” (or “UR”) instead of “you‟re.” And it doesn‟t matter—the
messagee will still understand our message.” (10)
6. Dr. Thurlow’s Research
In 2003, he described texting to be “adaptive
and additive rather than necessarily
subtractive”
Texting involves a person having to have
good linguistic abilities and skills to
successfully text.
Researchers did a study on the use of
texting within pre-teens and found out that
the results did not support any negative
comments about texting but instead texting
assists the development of their literacy
skills.
7. Textism boots phonology
"The article claimed that texting on a cell phone
can actually improve spelling in kids.
A recent Nielson survey states that the average
American teen texts 3,339 messages per month.
According to the article, two recent studies have
proven this idea to be true. A British study that
was published in the Journal of Computer
Assisted Learning concluded that texting helped in
the development of phonological awareness and
reading skills.
second study was published in the Australian
Journal of Educational Development &
Psychology and concluded that texting improves
spelling because phonological skills are also
increased.”
www.polleverywhere.com: This website is a way to gather live responses
in any venue: including schools! You can easily creat polls that can be
text to students who then respond. Students can then view the results of
the poll.
www.clickerschool.com: This amazing website allows students to choose
multiple choice and short answer questions via cellphones.
8. WORK CITED
(1)
"Philippines." - Research Paper. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(2) "How 'OK' Took over the World." BBC News. BBC, 18 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(3) "TEACHERS." Scholastic Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
(4) "Text Messages 'help Improve Children's Reading Ability'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 19 Jan. 0019. Web. 09
Dec. 2013.
(5) "How Blogging, Texting, and Twitter Can Help Students Learn." TeachThought. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(6) "Clive Thompson on the New Literacy." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
(7) "Text Messaging 'improves Children's Spelling Skills'" The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 29 July 0020. Web. 10 Dec.
2013.
(8) "Children Who Regularly Text Message Have BETTER English than Those Who Don't (even If Thy Use Txt Spk)." Mail
Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
(9) "This Is Why Texting Teens Are Smarter Than You Think." Mobiledia. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
(10)"Andy Blanks.com." Andy Blankscom. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(11) "ClickerSchool." - Create, Click, Play. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(12)"Live Audience Participation." Poll Everywhere. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
(13)"Text Messaging: Basically Addictive or Essentially Additive?" Decoded Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
