Research claims Txt Spk doesn’t harm literacy skills
It saddens me to report this, but new research suggests text speak isn’t harmful to kids’ literacy skills. In fact, sending messages via mobile phone regularly can actually have a positive effect. This saddens me because it means there’s no reason to try and stop the practice; a practice I find utterly annoying.
I’m sure I’m not alone in hating the new predilection for text speak, or ‘txt spk’ if we’re also hopping on to the trend. It seems every word or phrase has be be abbreviated or modified in some way or it just isn’t cool. And punctuation seems to have disappeared completely.
I can understand where this came from and why it’s growing in stature. Text messages can only be 140-characters long, and so early cellphone users would adapt and alter words to enable longer messages to be sent. But most of us now have free text messaging or bundles which mean that need has lessened. But people, mainly the younger generation, still do it as it’s quick and convenient.
It isn’t limited to phone messaging either, with Facebook and Twitter increasingly filled with pubescent preambles containing half-words and genetically-modified phrases impossible to understand unless you have a degree in how a 12-year-old speaks. Or you’re 12 years old yourself.
However, according to The Daily Mail, we shouldn’t be too worried about this trend, as it’s not doing any harm to the youngsters participating in it. New research from the University of Coventry looked at the effect that text messaging has on 8 to 12-year-olds. It appears that it can actually help youngsters learn to use language in new ways.
Dr Clare Wood, reader in Developmental Psychology at the university said:
We were surprised to learn that textism use was actually driving the development of phonological awareness and reading skill in children.
This may be so, but I think children need to be taught when it is suitable to use text speak and when more formal language is appropriate. Because from what I’m seeing on a daily basis, most youngsters deem it appropriate to use this new form of communication anywhere and everywhere.
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