Effects of Text Messaging to Teen Literacy

INTRODUCTION

The rapidly growing rate of phone technology at this modernized generation is kind of disturbing. It seems that anywhere you can see people glued to their phones’ screen, fingers typing away. On sidewalks, school premises, even at the crowded places. Majority of these people are teenagers.

What are some of the effects that texting is having on the teen literacy? That is the question that the researcher explores in this paper. The researcher tackles about the impacts that texting is making on teenagers, the impacts that making the teenagers’ language and writing skills nowadays.

Text messaging, or texting, is the act of typing and sending a brief, electronic message between two or more mobile phones or fixed or portable devices over a phone network according to. The term originally referred to messages sent using the Short Message Service or SMS; it has grown to include messages containing image, video, and sound content, known as MMS messages. The sender of a text message is known as a texter, while the service itself has different colloquialisms depending on the region. It is simply referred to as a text here in Philippines. (Wikipedia Foundation Inc., 2013)

I.                                        Background of the Study

With the revolutionary new forms of communication that technology has introduced comes a debate on what effect these new digital mediums have on literacy. In the age of text messaging, where words are reduced to nonstandard abbreviations and symbols, many people question the future of literacy especially to teenagers. There is no arguing that teenagers nowadays text more than ever. The majority of population claims that the short hand and abbreviated characteristics of text messaging are making teenagers lazy, not forcing them to use the proper grammar and spelling that teenagers learn in school. Considering the popularity of text messaging to teenagers, it is believed that this type of communication is destroying the way people read, think and write. Text messaging was even preferred by some as “The Dumbest Generation”.

One study (Hogan et al., 2012) states that cell phones are becoming a necessity this modern day, to the point where every teenager and adult must have at least one. Individuals are rapidly depending to these devices for communication purposes.

Most new technologies such as text messaging emerge on the social and academic scene. Many people are cautious and untrusting of new technologies that they worry about the riff it could cause in the talk of literacy. It is important for academics to embrace the importance of bringing daily literacies used by younger generations to engage them more critically in the talk of language and technology. (Thurlow, 2006)

Based on John Myhra’s article, “Negative Effects of Texting in the Classroom”, the over-use of texting has been damaging to the way students write formally in the school premises and even in the society. The character limitations of text messages have caused students to form their own style of writing and terminologies. This style has caused them to carry it over to formal academic writing projects. Students’ writings are little to no depth, terrible grammar, and are abbreviating almost every word they write. Texting has negatively affected the way students write. (Myhra, 2010)

          

II.                                      Objective of the Study

The objective of this study is to aware and educate the readers on the possible effects of text messaging to individual’s literacy, especially to teenagers. This study also aims to educate readers on how to control and minimize teenagers’ text messaging addiction. Through reading this study, readers will have knowledge on how text messaging affects the literacy of a teenager.

III.                                    Significance of the Study

This study is significant to every individual, most probably to teenagers because almost all of the population nowadays deals with text messaging. This study would be a great help to aware and remind one’s self on not to indulge to text messaging that much and knowledgeable enough on how text messaging might affect one’s literacy. By that means, texters will be responsible enough to control themselves from texting frequently and this would be an aid to minimize text messaging addiction.