Texting is ubiquitous in modern Western society. It's a convenient way to communicate basic ideas quickly without having to commit to a phone conversation or the long wait for a letter. All of this is done through cellular phones on the go and many teenagers have subscribed to this method of communication as their primary one. When texting, it is customary to abbreviate certain words in order to save time. These abbreviations can be considered a language that evolves out of texting, and that language can be referred to as textspeak. The influence of textspeak on teenagers' writing is a polarising concept with both fans and critics of texting weighing their opinions. In her essay, "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington, a previous student of Marywood University in Pennsylvania, outlines her investigation into whether or not texting affects writing. Cullington analyzes the critiques of texting and why critics believe that texting has a detrimental affect on teenager writing. Along with the critics, …show more content…
It showed that students do not believe textspeak is appropriate in formal writing assignments. They recognize the difference between texting friends and writing formally and know what is appropriate in each situation. This was proven true in the student samples, in which no examples of textspeak were used" (Cullington 367). In order words, Cullington's research showed that there is little effect on writing ability from texting. She collected sample essays and found no evidence of textspeak. This, along with her own anecdotal experience, lead her to the conclusion that texting is not something to be afraid of by teachers because it does not harm students' writing abilities. The abbreviations have the purpose of speeding up the process of typing, and as long as expecatations about writing assignments are clear there would be no
Lunsford, she discusses the fact that over the years writing has changed dramatically. There is the idea of “new literacies” which are “more participatory, collaborative, and distributed” (Lunsford 49). Literacy is no longer just about the author; rather there are many different aspects about society as a whole go into literacy today. Millennials are being seen as having a “cyberspatial-postindustrial- mindset” (Lunsford 49). This mindset is defined as having a “focus on collectives as the unit of production, competence, intelligence” (Lunsford 49).
Today, texting has become the most widely used communication technique for teenagers and young adults. It is written in completely informal language and it has no literature value in it. Although the critics believe texting is destroying literature value, McWhorter has another opinion in mind. McWhorter thinks that texting is another form of language that is developed by teenagers. It is the creation of a brand new language evolving from the old literature.
Goldwasser claims that “They’re connected, they’re collaborative, they’re used to writing about themselves, on their own time, rather that its being a forced labor when a paper is due”. Facebook status’, tweets, and Pinterest “how to’s” are instantly posted and shared every second presenting to the world the unique segments of writing from teenagers (and adults!) all over the world. Individuals are
In her essay "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington presents her argument that texting does not impact formal writing written by students. She discusses the concerns presented by many people about how texting language can transfer into writing, but through the use of personal experiences and credible sources she discusses how this is not true. Her use of multiple different studies and situations help boost her argument and allow the reader to truly see how students actually do formal writing. She presents a strong argument as to why those who believe students don't have the control and knowledge to write formally, instead of with text speak, are wrong.
Katie Hafner’s article “Texting May Be Taking a Toll” divulges that texting is becoming a major issue among teens, leaving parents and teachers struggling to find ways to keep up and get it under control. The article begins by proposing that teenagers are texting more and more often and it could be taking a toll on their health; sleep deprivation, stress injuries, failing grades, and many more. The author illustrated this by saying “...it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation,” (1). This quote specifies that kids are more focused on their phones and the text messages they are receiving, then they are on their classes, grades, getting adequate amounts of sleep and their
Michaela Cullington was a former student at University in Pennsylvania when she wrote the essay of “Does Texting Affect Writing?” Have you ever thought if texting truly effects our writing style when it comes to college levels? Cullington did research of her own from different people group asking this question. Her thesis sentence was “IT TAKES OVER OUR LIVES” (…). The way that she capitalized all the letters is something that can engage the reader and the curiosity of knowing what is taking our lives?
Everyone’s An Author with Readings by Andrea Lunsford, Michal Brody, Lisa Ede, Beverly J. Moss, Carole Clark Papper, and Keith Walters; is about how everyday writing is very closely related to academic writing. This book discusses The Need for Rhetoric and Writing, Genres of Writing, The Role of Argument, Research, Style, and includes Readings. The text also bridges the gap between Facebook and academic writing, showing how some tactics students use in social media may also be used in their academic
In her essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” Michaela Cullington addresses the issue of text messaging possibly causing poor communication skills and the use of textspeak, abbreviations used during text messaging such as “LOL” and “g2g,” in students’ formal writing. Cullington argues that “texting actually has a minimal effect on student writing” (pg. 367). She addresses the opposition directly, even citing credible sources. However, she also cites credible sources with better information to support her point, and even conducts an experiment of her own.
Writing About Writing, A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 481-495.
An essay titled "does Texting Affect Writing?" was published by Michaela Cullington while she studied to gain her masters degree in speech and language pathology at Marywood University. In her essay she claims that texting and texting language neither benefits or harms a students academic writing. Michaela Cullington asserts that a conspiracy has been going around concerning how texting can limit a students writing ability in ways such as not being able to convey emotion in writing, forgetting how to write a formal English paper and use correct punctuation, and most of all a decline in spelling.
The article does a significant job of providing evidence. The narrator gives experiences with students and compares and contrast students from the fifties to students now. The narrator talks about how writing is different and how students imaginations are not as good as they once were. The purpose for the article is to show how technology is slowly starting to rupture to imaginations of children.
Not So Fast” Andrea Lunsford researched students’ writing for 30-plus years to see what effect new technology has on how students learn. Lunsford discovered that students are actually improving their own writing skills with the help of mass media. Not only does it allow students more access to educational resources and information, but it also encourages students to do more creative thinking and writing outside of class which Lunsford refers to in her article as “life writing.” In her research she recalls the account of a student who sent a friend a text message which was completely informal and would be considered unprofessional by most piers. However, the same student also sent a very formal and professional report to her faculty adviser later on.
Not So Fast”, conducts her own study with a few colleagues to take notes on how students writing skills are changing. She decides to conduct another one twenty five years later to see how much the writing skills have changed since technology has been updated and became more available to students. She found that “students today are writing more than ever before.” Although we still have the same amount of writing errors as before, the patterns of errors are different. Many people argue that technology is only making our writing skill worse, this study helps to prove a different theory.
What have you identified as the key ideas, arguments, perspectives of the author(s)? Adams (2016) provides her lived experiences of writing by her hands, then laptop to claim that our bodies must learn to make writing a habit – what we do without having to think about it (p. 485). Also, when we read, our perceptual body already apprehends a word’s meaning before we are able to mouth it (p. 493). Adams finds out that although technology such as autocorrect or spell-check functions may enhance our writing, we also need to learn to ignore its interruption and distraction to our flow of writing.
Although, as shown by its many benefits, the decrease in the amount of people being taught cursive writing and actually using cursive writing might not exactly be the best. Opponents claim that cursive writing should not be taught in schools because they argue that cursive writing is unnecessary, technology has more and better benefits, and that it is a waste of time. The majority of these people also agree that cursive writing is much less useful than writing in print or using technology instead. However, cursive writing should be taught in schools because it can benefit students’ memorization, it can help brain development, and it can help students with learning disabilities.