| dc.description.abstract | This study is based on the possible impact the use of SMS language and abbreviations by students may have on their academic writing. Students from secondary schools in Norway between the ages of 13 and 16 were examined. The research focuses on textese and investigates the possible effects textese may have on formal English writing. Specifically, the study sought to establish the effect of SMS language use on the spelling and punctuation habits of the students. It also tried to find out the most common variants of textese that may occur in their writing assignment, and to discover whether the students are able to differentiate between formal and informal contexts of writing.
The study used a mixed method approach consisting of quantitative and qualitative data from two primary sources: a questionnaire and a writing assignment. Data from the students was collected online by their teacher, who then forwarded them to the researcher.
In terms of materials, the questionnaire results were mainly used to find out the students’ age, and phone usage in regard to their chatting habits (how frequent they chat and whether they use textese while chatting). The essay results were to find out whether there would be features of textisms in them. These features provided the parameters which laid basis to find correlation between textese use and academic writing.
Analyses conducted showed that there was impact of textese use on the punctuation and spelling habits of the students. Those who responded to using textese more to moderately, had more errors in their essays. This could, however, be attributed to the perception of the writing assignment. Giving the students specific instructions during classroom assignments could help ameliorate the situation, as it is the prerogative of educators to ensure that students are made aware of contexts.
The study recommends further research on a larger sample size, as the size used for this study is not sufficient enough to draw conclusions. | |
