Teens’ text-messaging habits are legion. They send thousands upon thousands of texts per month, and every once in a while, some unfortunate parents make the headlines when they get a bill in the mail for thousands upon thousands of dollars in texting charges.
The increasing use of text-messaging by teens – and increasingly often, by younger children – has given some people cause for concern. They argue that the abbreviations used in texting are detrimental to literacy development. Spelling, grammar, phrasing – these are all somehow poised to suffer, critics of texting contend, because of the use of shortened words and sentences. Soon, they predict, students’ essays will be filled with LOLs and L8Rs.
But a new study from Coventry University finds no evidence that having access to mobile phones harms children’s literacy skills. In fact, the research suggests that texting abbreviations or “textisms” may actually aid reading, writing and spelling skills.