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Running head: TEXTING EFFECT WRITING

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Does Texting Effect Writing?

Hunter Langeloh

ENG142-02

Instructor: Anastasia Krueck-Frahn

Tiffin University

March 19th, 2017








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Abstract

Our brains have been under threat the past few years with the expansion of new technology. With the expansion of technology in the past year’s people are in a bind on what to do. do they buy the newest technology, or do they keep what they have? With that texting, has come a long way since the first time it came out.  People can now send out a text in a matter of seconds. Students have been using “text slang” in formal writing classes and there are some people worried about it. Recent studies have shown that texting has taken an effect on young teens brains if writing a formal paper. It’s not just taking an effect on the writing skills, but also on sleep schedules. Students who may stay up late playing on their phones; they won’t get the sleep they need to properly function on a daily basis. Not only that but students that are on their phone the whole class period may not be paying attention in class, and fail that class. 




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Does Texting Effect Writing?

Our brains have been under threat the past few years with the expansion of new technology. With new types of technology being developed every day, people are put in a hard decision. Do they buy the new technology that keeps coming out or do they stay with whatever technology they have right now? It’s a hard decision that newer and more improved technology is coming out every day, every week, month, and year. There is no stopping the expansion of technology and it’s getting to a point where it Is starting to threat humans. This makes standard classroom writing skills go down in grade. Students that should be learning about writing and the right way to write are using texting slang and these words are appearing in the writing samples.

            First, texting has been taking over the lives of young teens and adults. People can now text anywhere during the day no matter where they are or what they are doing. People can text while they are at school during the day, walking to and from class, going to the bathroom or when you are at home. When you walk down the street in town you can’t count on 2 hands how many people you see walking around texting on their phones or using a different type of technology. Even while driving down the road you will see people looking down, and you know they are on their phone texting, which is extremely dangerous to do while driving. Texting has become a concern to parents, teachers, and psychologist. “The phenomenon is beginning to worry physicians and psychologists, who say it is leading to anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation (Hafner, 2009).” Sherry Turkle, who is a who is director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at the Massachusetts Institute of

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Technology says that texting could be causing a shift in the way kids develop.  Teens who should be pulling away from their parents to start being on their own have a hard time doing it when they can text them in 30 seconds and be back in touch with them. Texting allows us to communicate within seconds of each other instead of the old-fashioned way of typing letters and talking on the phone.

            The concerns about text speak have been greatly increasing.  According to a USA Today article, texting has been destroying kids writing style and making them use more slang then actual words. Students who must write papers in school are using the text slang in the papers they write. A Minnesota teacher said she must explicitly remind her 7th and 9th grade students to not use text slang in the writings assigned in class.   Text and instant messaging are negatively affecting students writing skills every day when they use text slang in the classroom (Ross, 2007). Because of their electronic chatting, kids are making countless spelling and verb agreement mistakes (Ross, 2007).  The texting style is to try to get the point across in the least amount of words. This is teaching kids to use- incorrect spelling, abbreviated text, short text slang, and misspelled words. And people want to get it done as fast as possible it teaches them to not go through the whole revision stage, editing, and drafting. This is making is hard in the classroom for some teachers to get their kids to write and go through all those stages. Texting presents some people the opposite direction of the real-world writing and formal writing.

Nevertheless, people insist that texting can be viewed as beneficial because, it provides students with motivation to write.  Texting and writing are both very similar. Texting is more of a non-

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formal way to write. Texting is a type of writing that uses slang. Some say that teens are texting and that is engaging in written communication rather than oral speech and learn how to convey their messages in as few words as possible. But this also teaches them to use slang and other language that is not appropriate for formal writing. It helps people to “sharpen their diplomatic skills because it allows more time to formulate their thoughts and express oneself concisely” (Does Texting Affect Writing ). USA Today said that texting is rendering kids time to read, but while they are texting they are still reading the text they receive and are reading the text as they type it. So, either way people are still going to read when they are texting.

            However, other professors and teachers have a way of thinking that texting can help in formal writing situations. The professors say that is helps their mind work all the time and makes them always think about what they are writing and what they want to write. “Forward-thinking teachers say the informal writing style that defines text messages can be incorporated into class lessons. And a new study from California State University researchers has found that texting can improve teens' writing in informal essays and many other writing assignments. (Minors, 2010)” These teachers say that the informal way of texting can be incorporated into class lessons. This statement should be discredited for college. I don’t see how informal writing and writing in slang can help students in formal writing. They are going to be use to the texting language and word







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usage more then they will be with the formal usage. Various teachers have asked students to translate passages from classic literature to text language and the results that they got were surprising. The research found shows that texting can have a big impact on formal writing. And then there are health concerns associated with texting. News reports have cited physicians' and psychiatrists' fears that the practice could take a toll on children's sleep patterns and their ability to think for themselves.’’ (Minors, 2010) Not only is the texting going to affect formal writing in class but news reports are now showing that is can take a toll on children’s sleep patterns and their ability to think for themselves.

            Finally, the effect of writing outweighs the effect of texting. Moreover, that texting does effect formal writing and it also takes a toll on children’s sleep patterns and ability to think for themselves. Having said that, if this is changing sleep patterns and the ability to think for themselves, it’s going to show in the classroom to. Students that are up late texting on their phone and doing other things are more likely to not do as good in school as those that go to bed earlier and don’t text as much. Our brains have been under threat the past few years with the expansion of new technology. Our brains are under threat from the expansion of the new technology coming out and texting is one of the threats that can change the way formal writing is seen by students that text more than the usual person.  









References



Cullington, M (2014)Does texting effect writing . Retrieved from They Say I Say.

Hafner, K. (2009). Texting may be taking a toll. Retrieved from NY Times.

Minors, Z. (2010). Could texting be good for students? Retrieved from US News .

Ross, K. (2007). Formal writing and texting. Retrieved from American Author .

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