Exploring the impact of texting on the formal writing of English second language high school learners

Abstract

This study explored the impact of textspeak on the formal writing of a selected group of English second language high school learners. The general aims of the study were to establish how widespread the use of textspeak (the kind of language and spelling often containing short forms of words that people use when they are writing text messages) is among high school learners in the chosen community, sourcing the relevant English language educators’ perspectives on the phenomenon of textspeak, assessing whether there is any evidence of the use of texspeak features in the written work of learners as well as identifying the types of textspeak features if any, used by grade 8 and 11 learners in their written work. Seventy learners from a Setswana dominated school in a lower income community in Potchefstroom, North West province participated in the study. The study included 32 grade 8 learners and 38 grade 11s. Questionnaires were completed by the learner participants to determine the frequency and volume of their textspeak use and features of textspeak they reportedly use while texting. Learners also wrote an essay attached to the questionnaire for the purpose of discovering whether textspeak features were present in the written work. Textspeak resembles standard English in many ways however, it has defining linguistic properties that distinguish it. These features included lack of punctuation, punctuation used inappropriately, use of abbreviations and acronyms, use of letters and numbers, use of more punctuation than is necessary, use of shortenings/contractions, use of slang, use of smileys, grammar as well as spelling errors which are not textspeak related. The results of this study indicate that high school students are ardent textspeak users and that socio-economic variables do not factor significantly into cell phone accessibility. Many reported using textspeak in their written work. However, the written work shows that textspeak represents a tiny fraction of language. Despite containing a few textspeak features, the essays contained a lot of non-standard features which were not textspeak related. These errors pertained to concord, word classes and punctuation, and were a result of not applying formally taught rules. Consequently, with the small number of textspeak features made by a relatively small number of students (mostly in grade 11), there could be other factors that influence students’ writing. Put differently, from the results of this study, there is little need for concern about the impact of textspeak on the future of standard written English. This is not to suggest however, that possible dangers of textspeak are ruled out; 80% of the teachers’ responses hint to the negative impacts of textspeak. Five English language teachers from the same school also completed a questionnaire regarding the visible textspeak features in the learners’ written work. They commented on the use of textspeak in relation to academic writing. Four of the five teachers indicated that textspeak hampers written literacy. One educator noted that textspeak has a positive impact on written literacy.