Could texting slang be good for kids?

|
Cindy Yamanaka/Orange Country Register/MCT/NEWSCOM
TXT Queen: Reina Hardesty, 13, of Lake Forest, Calif., has tapped out 14,528 text messages in one month.

mayB dey rnt dat bad, a/all.

That’s one way to phrase the conclusion of a new study on how the economical but decidedly nontraditional slang words in text messages affect the language skills of young people.

Researchers at Coventry University in England ran 88 grade-school students through a battery of literacy tests. Then, the researchers asked each child to write responses to 10 real-world scenarios – asking a friend what to wear to a birthday party, for example – and measured how frequently the students used “textisms,” such as abbreviating “tonight” as “2nite.”

Parents and educators have long complained that such slang words erode a student’s English skills. But the results of the study, published in this month’s edition of the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, tell a different story. The analysis found no evidence of a relationship between frequently typing in textisms and diminished spelling ability. The more textisms students used, the higher they tended to score on measures of word-based learning and vocabulary.

The report suggests that when kids use text message lingo, they are actually being artful – not just lazy – and building a heightened awareness of letter patterns and sounds. In support of the theory, the study found reading ability correlated more positively with sound-based textisms, such as substituting “wiv” for “with,” than with acronyms, such as writing “lol” in place of “laughing out loud.”

A factor behind the results might simply be the increased exposure to the printed word that text-messaging inspires. The fun and ease of the medium encourages extra language practice, especially by children whose skills are poor and who are otherwise discouraged from reading. Kids who obtained a mobile phone at an early age performed the best on the literacy tests.

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Could texting slang be good for kids?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2009/0303/could-texting-slang-be-good-for-kids
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us