Summary and Response of "2b or Not 2b" Essay

Authors such as David Crystal along with language teachers like Shirley Holm supply Cullington with valuable experiences and opinions on why texting benefits young adults. Cullington picked up that texting allows students to have a “comfortable form of communication” (365) which aids them in their growth in the English subject. After the author gathered a great number of sources and opinions from either side, she then decided to conduct her own experiment to which she got her own results.

The result verified that there is evidence of a decline in grammar scores based on the number of abbreviations in their sent and received text messages (Swayne and Messer). In other words, the word abbreviations and punctuation short-cuts that famously used in text messaging can alter individuals’ ability to recognize and apply proper spelling, grammar and punctuation techniques in writing and daily life communication. If the uses of abbreviations are not controlled from the beginning, both sender and receiver of text messaging will be associated with how poorly they will perform on the test based on the level of standard literacy they have.

Texting is harming the ability for this current generation of children to write in a formal manner. “Digitalk” is what Kristen Hawley Turner of Fordham University calls, text-speak.For example, many teens will text “g2g” in replace of the actual words “got to go”.In my opinion, texting is ruining students’ abilities to write a formal essay,letter,etc.

We as a society are evolving with each generation to come. We are getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Just as cell phones are no longer square blocks with numbers on them and TV’s are not in black and white, writing itself has also evolved. Once upon a time many wrote and spoke in a Shakespearean form of language and over the years it has evolved into something we call modern English. In recent years, technology has advanced greatly and cell phones have become one of our primary use of communication. With cell phones came a new form of writing called text messaging. Text messaging is used to send short, concise messages to anyone around the world. Often times text messages involve the use of abbreviations which stand for different things and also involves frequent use of emoji’s as a form of expression. This form of writing is now considered informal writing and is not acceptable in academic settings. In Michaela Cullington’s essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she touches on both sides of whether texting is hindering students writing or if it’s actually having a positive effect. She then makes is clear that she believes most students are educated enough to know when text speak is appropriate and when it’s not so therefore it has no effect on students. Although, I agree with her thesis, she lacks credibility due to her insufficient evidence. In addition, I also believe

With new forms of communication such as texting, cell phones bring about a whole new language. Acronyms have become very popular because they shorten the amount you have to type. But is this interfering with proper grammar learning? Many people even misspell words on purpose so the text isn’t as long, and you can say more. But if this is something people do on a daily basis, what’s to say they aren’t going to start using those misspelled words on memos at work, or papers for school. Not to mention distract people during work or school. Which brings me to the next effect.

Recently I read ‘Feed’, by M.T Anderson, a dystopian novel about how advancement in technology is negatively affecting our society and the way we communicate with each other. The author led me to believe that these advancements, such as texting, are causing our language to deteriorate. Further research proves that texting may be improving and many are learning to accept. When the era of the written word dies, will we be left with an illiterate generation with poor grammar? Students are texting constantly. In and out of class, it is becoming a bigger and bigger part of their lives. Some might say that we are creating a less literate generation, but research shows that texting improves student literacy for three reasons. First, texting improves

Writing College, Writing Life’s article Learning the Language by Perri Klass talks about how some professions require abbreviations, which is one of the few times it is accecptable. Abbrevaitons can be helpful and an easy way to write a few words in just a few letters. Teachers do not like abbreviations because the writer tends to assume the reader knows what each acronym means, the paper should be and enjoyable read, not a confusing puzzle. While writing a paper for school teachers do not approve of abbreviation and acronyms, the writer should just take his or her time to write our each word correctly.

Abbreviations such as lol (laugh out loud), brb (be right back), and ttyl (talk to you later) are commonly used when texting, yet are not really shown in formal writing. Students reported that text speaking formal writing. “Other students use these abbreviations and other speak text in their writing, but catches their mistakes quickly”. (Cullington 364). Supporting her research Cullington asked participants to complete questionnaires’’… the research hypothesized that texting and the use of abbreviations would have a negative impact on students. However, the results did not support their hypothesis. (Cullington 369).

As texting becomes more popular, especially within the new generations, a new language has evolved of shorthand and abbreviations. However, just because this new language is being used, it does not mean that it is affecting academic writing. The way new generations write when texting does not worsen their academic writing. In a video published by TedTalks, “John McWhorter: Txtng is killing language. JK!!!” John McWhorter talks about how texting might not actually be affecting the English language and that texting is not the reason why people write incorrectly. People have been writing incorrectly for centuries and some studies even prove texting improves writing.

Lately, there has been discussion about how texting is affecting or ruining the english language. Texting has an affect on the the writing and speech of young adults for several reasons. The TED Talk "Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!" by John McWhorter explores how texting is not really affecting the writing of young adults for several reasons. In the talk he says “Texting is very loose in its structure. No one thinks about capital letters or punctuation when one texts, but then again do you think about those things when you talk, no”. McWhorter also goes on to say that people don’t use formal language or check themselves because this setting is more casual. People's writing becomes more formal when they are giving a speech or turning in an

The subject of how technology is changing written English is a touchy subject; many people believe that our current technology is allowing us to become lazy. Text messaging being the ultimate reason we are taking so many short cuts when it comes to writing proper English. There are so many abbreviated words and meanings in text messaging, I sometimes find myself confused when I receive messages from people that I have to google what they are trying to say. I don’t want to respond and assume I know what they are trying say.

Since the release of the first Smartphone in 1993 it has become a lot easier for people to avoid the spelling mistakes with auto correct and even access to the Internet to check spellings. One would assume that this would mean that fewer abbreviations were used and yet more and more are being created each day, and why is this? Simply because it is much more efficient and faster to send an abbreviated word in a text than a full length one. Abbreviations also allow the

Texting is a fairly new form of communication that has taken the world by storm. It became popular around 2001, and originally had its limitations, such as the 160-character limit. But now that technology has advanced, texting has followed along and is now a convenient, casual, and a more immediate way of communicating. So naturally, texting has evolved also in terms of the language used within it. We see this mostly in the form of abbreviations and short hand spelled words. Some people argue that texting has ruined the English language. Studies and observations have shown that the benefits of texting and cyber speak are much more broad then expected. Textisms have been shown to increase phonology skills, brain activity, creativity and provide a relatable outlet for students in education.

We use abbreviations and emoji’s to get our point across. As college students we send so many texting messages that we do not realize that we hold on to those habits of using incorrect spelling and full sentences. Using this way of communication so often has caused college students to carry it over to formal writing projects. Texting is another form of writing, some would believe that it will help with our writing skills but at the same time it making us lose our depth when it comes to writing. Students don’t use a much detail when it comes to writing papers. Grammar gets affected and we get in the habit of abbreviating our words which do not help enhance our writing at all. This articles just goes through saying that texting reflects on a lot more than just students language skills.

Tweeters and texters try to refine sentences into a few characters, and this results in excessive use of abbreviations which makes it inevitable to miss some important information. Using initials of a word or totally different characters to form a shorthand acronym is unreliable and confusing. David Crystal wrote in his article that “No texter is entirely consistent and no two texters use identical conventions” (245). Someone who text CYA (see you) in a text message will most likely pronounce it the same way as his text, making it an unclear and unpleasant phrase for the listener. Critics say abbreviations save us time, and there is no connection between how we tweet and how we speak. I have been in many situations where I have to search for the meaning of an abbreviation in a text message. An abbreviation doesn’t necessarily save you time. To the contrary, the ambiguous nature of an abbreviation