Is texting stunting our reading skills?

The general assumption that text messaging encourages unconstrained language is a myth, says Canadian linguist Joan Lee, who contends that texting has a negative impact on people’s linguistic ability to interpret and accept words.

For her thesis, Lee asked a cohort of university students about their reading habits, including text messaging, and presented them with a range of words both real and fictitious. Grammatical acceptability judgments and media exposure measures (such as the number of text messages received per month and the number of books read in the past year) were collected. Acceptability judgments were obtained for both existing Standard English word forms and other novel or deviant forms.

The findings revealed that those who texted more were less accepting of new words. On the other hand, those who read more traditional print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers were more accepting of the those words.

“The people who accepted more words did so because they were better able to interpret the meaning of the word – or tolerate the word – even if they didn’t recognize the word,” explained Lee. “Students who reported texting more rejected more words instead of acknowledging them as possible words.”

Lee suggests that reading traditional print media exposes people to variety and creativity in language that is not found in colloquial peer-to-peer text messaging.

“It helps readers to develop skills that allow them to generate interpretable readings of new or unusual words,” she notes. “In contrast, texting is associated with rigid linguistic constraints which caused students to reject many of the words in the study. This was surprising because there are many unusual spellings – for example, textisms such as ‘LOL’ – in text messaging language.”

Lee adds that for texters, word frequency is an important factor in the acceptability of words. “Textisms represent real words which are commonly known among people who text. Many of the words presented in the study are not commonly known and were not acceptable to the participants in the study who texted more or read less traditional print media.”

Related:
Discuss this article in our forum
Text messaging modifying our emotional responses
Cell phones do affect brain, but consequences unknown
Cell Phones More Expensive Than Hubble Space Comms

Source: University of Calgary

, ,

Comments are closed.

Personalized Name Neon Sign Any Text HERE Custom Made Customize LED Light Lamp picture

Personalized Name Neon Sign Any Text HERE Custom Made Customize LED Light Lamp

$99.00



Custom Text Vinyl Lettering Sticker Decal Window Wall Business Car Name Boat RV picture

Custom Text Vinyl Lettering Sticker Decal Window Wall Business Car Name Boat RV

$11.99



Custom state License Plates with personalized text Car 12x6- Moto 7x4 - Bike 6x3 picture

Custom state License Plates with personalized text Car 12x6- Moto 7x4 - Bike 6x3

$17.99



Custom Text Vinyl Decal Sticker Car Window Bumper Letters Numbers Lettering Name picture

Custom Text Vinyl Decal Sticker Car Window Bumper Letters Numbers Lettering Name

$27.99



EURO STYLE  TAG BMW  European license plate, ANY TEXT, CUSTOM, GERMAN picture

EURO STYLE TAG BMW European license plate, ANY TEXT, CUSTOM, GERMAN

$19.99



Snap-On Tools CARBON FIBER PENS w/ STYLUS the texting rubber top BLACK INK picture

Snap-On Tools CARBON FIBER PENS w/ STYLUS the texting rubber top BLACK INK

$14.99



Vintage  Postcard: No text picture

Vintage Postcard: No text

$3.41



Any State License Plate Tag Personalized Custom Any Text Auto Car Bike Bicycle picture

Any State License Plate Tag Personalized Custom Any Text Auto Car Bike Bicycle

$14.99



California Vintage Look Custom Your Text Personalized License Plate Tag B picture

California Vintage Look Custom Your Text Personalized License Plate Tag B

$15.83



The Holy Scriptures Masoretic Text Union Memorial AFL CIO 1963 White Cover picture

The Holy Scriptures Masoretic Text Union Memorial AFL CIO 1963 White Cover

$19.95



Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes