Text messaging harms written language

[CKent]

DUBLIN, Ireland (Reuters) -- The rising popularity of text messaging on mobile phones poses a threat to writing standards among Irish schoolchildren, an education commission says.

The frequency of errors in grammar and punctuation has become a serious concern, the State Examination Commission said in a report after reviewing last year's exam performance by 15-year-olds.

"The emergence of the mobile phone and the rise of text messaging as a popular means of communication would appear to have impacted on standards of writing as evidenced in the responses of candidates," the report said, according to Wednesday's Irish Times. "Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing."

The report laments that, in many cases, candidates seemed "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary".

In 2003, Irish 15-year-olds were among the top 10 performers in an international league table of literacy standards compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Source

Next they'll tackle allegations that the Pope is Catholic.

 

[moshquerade]

e-English

 

[Parasitic]

I get really ticked when people type stuff like "wut" and "yer" but also write that in the real life.

 

[loup garou]

wut? no wai!!!1

 

[clamum]

Eh... probably impacts it but I don't think it's a huge impact. I think if the student pays attention to English (or what-have-you-language) class, they can successfully write properly in essays and such and still be able to use the e-language in text messages. IMO it boils down to the student, not cell phones and IM.

 

[StevenYoo]

i txt msg all the time i hav no prblms in skool or w/e hah lol

 

[xanis]

Originally posted by: clamum
Eh... probably impacts it but I don't think it's a huge impact. I think if the student pays attention to English (or what-have-you-language) class, they can successfully write properly in essays and such and still be able to use the e-language in text messages. IMO it boils down to the student, not cell phones and IM.

QFT. However, I'm one of the few that actually use proper grammar in their text messaging.

 

[purbeast0]

wtf this is such a dumb study.

i mean just because i type like this on forums and stuff, or on AIM or whatever, doesn't mean when I type to my manager that I'm typing in l33t speak or some broken ass shorthand writing.

as other posters said, it's all in the person and student, nothing more.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

I guess we can file this little factoid right next the "typing has killed handwriting skills" file.

 

[Saulbadguy]

What you say !!

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy
wut u sai !!

FIXED!

 

[xtknight]

It only does that if you don't practice proper writing. It's not like their text messaging instead of doing something else more proper (e-mail and IM generally aren't) so I doubt it's hurting them.

s/their/they're* haha

 

[BatmanNate]

o rly?

 

[Zolty]

Me fail english, that's unpossible.

 

[OutHouse]

the written language changes all the time. get ober it LOL!!!

 

[Hyperlite]

yeah i text A LOT but i actually don't use any slang. of course, i use T9 (or iTap) so i'm sort of forced to make real words. i guess its my way of keeping my grammar in check.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
I guess we can file this little factoid right next the "typing has killed handwriting skills" file.

My writing is terrible since I hardly ever do it.