You’ve probably seen the numerous headlines about how the prevalence of texting is ruining our writing skills. Whether that’s true is up for debate. It might be kind of true, but it depends on how you look at it, and there are also a few definite bright spots in the texting-is-killing-writing debate.
First, the bad.
Texting Probably Impacts Spelling and Grammar
Because text messages serve as quick, real-time communication, most do not follow the grammatical conventions of the English language. Texts often omit capital letters, punctuation, and even entire words. Sometimes unconventional punctuation is used for effect, like mixing question marks and exclamation points.
The autocorrect tool on smartphones also means that you don’t really need to know how to spell because the phone will correct spelling mistakes for you. And, a slew of abbreviated word forms have popped up — “ur” instead of “your,” for example. Then, there’s all the emjois often used in place of words altogether.
What Teachers Think
With all the talk of texting’s impact on writing skills, teachers’ views on the subject are mixed. In one study, 68% of teachers said digital communication makes high school and middle school students take shortcuts and put little effort into their writing, and hinders their ability to navigate copyright issues, write longer compositions, and think critically about complicated subjects.
However, a majority of teachers also said texting and other digital communications encourage creativity and collaboration.
How Texting May Benefit Writing
Despite the debate that texting negatively impacts writing, a few good things have come of it.
First, all the new technology has added many new words to the English language. Some, like “LOL,” have already been added to the dictionary, and more are likely to be added. The flexibility of any language is a good thing.
Texting also encourages brevity in writing. To all the long-winded writers out there, this is a good thing. Writing short can be an exercise in critical thinking and self-control.
Along the brevity lines, there is one change that will likely give all the English teachers out there a shudder — using one space after a sentence instead of two. Journalists have been doing this for years. One space not only looks better, but it tightens up any piece of writing.
Whether texting is actually ruining the English language and making us all bad writers is up for debate. What’s certain is that all the digital communication is definitely changing the English language. And, change isn’t always bad.
