Is texting or other forms of online communication harming or improving people’s ability to communicate in writing or in speech?
Online communication has sparked a revolution in key strokes. The amount of text that circulates the globe is growing substantially but has lead to the demise of proper writing skills.
Today the use of online communication has reached the billions globally with the help of Facebook, online blogs and Twitter. A metaphorical online dictionary has been created to cut corners by abbreviating words for the tired finger and eliminating proper grammar and spelling for the lazy mind. In the days when a postage letter was sent a person could be judged on the spelling and punctuation but in todays society the value in the period as disappeared. Now if a period is used at the end of the sentence it does not resemble a stop in a thought but an expression of sternness or anger. I can’t help but think of the phrase, practice makes perfect, because the amount of time spent texting is a reflection of the improper usage of abbreviations in academic work. An shocking find to me was that “Students rating by lecturers with 57.5%, 23.1%, 9.1%, 8.3% and 0% responses for average, poor, good, very good and excellent respectively showed the low level of students’ performance and the effect of mimicking phone text abbreviation on students’ academic work.” (Dansieh, 2011). This goes to shows the harm in abbreviating and using improper grammar.
Dansieh, A., S. (2011). SMS texting and its potential impacts on students’ written communication skills. International Journal of English Linguistics, (1)2, 222-229. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v1n2p222
When’s the last time you used ‘LOL’ or ‘BRB’ in a formal work email? How about putting every single word in lower case for a PowerPoint presentation? Do you abbreviate as often as possible when communicating with your boss or teacher. Of course you don’t. But according to your research two recent studies, texting and online chatting are taking their toll on our grammar.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the effect of texting on our culture is overstated. The simple act of texting isn’t the problem. The real issue is knowing when it’s appropriate to use texting/online lingo. In grade school, I would hope that teachers nowadays are quick to correct any student who starts using texting phrases in book reports and class presentations. In the workplace, the onus is on young professionals. If they have abbreviations all over the page, it’s not because Twitter and text messages corroded their brains. It’s because they didn’t know that phrases like ‘TTYL’ have no place in an office setting.
Competent writers know how to flip a switch between nonchalant chat conversations full of ‘JKs’ and ‘OMGs’ and proper emails intended for clients and co-workers.
Using the texting craze as an excuse for poor grammar is a cop-out. If you’re e-mailing with the boss, keep it prim and proper. If it’s a casual chit-chat, drop some lingo. Texting has forever influenced the way we communicate, but we still control the words that go on the page.