Impact of Texting Over Teen Literacy and Social Communication

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Impact of Texting Over Teen Literacy and Social Communication
Article · January 2013

DOI: 10.5958/j.2277-7946.3.2.011
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Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management
Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013 pp. 121-132
DOI:
Impact of Texting Over Teen Literacy and Social Communi-

cation
Surya Rashmi Rawat1*, Saakshi Sharma2, Abhilasha Kanda3, Shinjini Lama4,

Aman Sharma5
1
Assistant Professor, 2,3,4,5BBALLB Student, Faculty of Law, Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis
International University, Pune 411004, Maharashtra, India
Email id: *rawatsuryarashmi@gmail.com; 2saakshi.sharma@symlaw.ac.in;
3
abhilasha.kanda@symlaw.ac.in; 4shinjini.lama@symlaw.ac.in; 5aman.sharma@symlaw.ac.in
Downloaded From IP - 14.139.43.12 on dated 13-Feb-2014
ABSTRACT
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Communication is a process of exchange of ideas between two parties. It can happen through words-
oral or written, gestures, signs or symbols. This exchange of words may take place in any language,
provided both the parties understand it. English is one of the highest spoken languages in the world
today and hence is duly regarded as the international language. However lately, the dynamics of this
language is progressively changing. Increased use of text messages, Instant Messages and various
other forms of social communication seem to have made our generation oblivious of the notion of
punctuation and grammar.
“Cn u plz tke dis wid u n w8 4 sum tim der? Rply fst, as I hve wrk”
The above, more or less illustrates the current trend as to how we communicate today. Sentences are
losing their sanctity, words their characters. This research paper thus aims to dwell upon the effects of
short-hand texting on teen literacy and its impact on social communication. Our research methodology
is based on information collected from both primary and secondary data.
Keywords: Text, Language, Effects, Communication, Research
1. INTRODUCTION
It is a common belief in society, that there are three essentials for a peaceful existence of any
human being, i.e. food, clothing and shelter. However, in the modern times, this list has been
expanded to include cellphones as well, under this very category of essentials. Right from an
economically challenged vegetable vendor, to a Grade X student who is yet to learn some of his/
her life’s lessons, or a multi-millionaire businessman, if there is one thing common amongst them
all; it’s possession of a cellphone. Cellphones today have thus become the lifeline of almost all
*Corresponding author
Surya Rashmi Rawat, Saakshi Sharma, Abhilasha Kanda, Shinjini Lama, Aman Sharma
individuals and it’s as if life would come to a halt in case these indispensable tools of social
communication ceased to exist.
The most widely used feature of cellphones today is text messaging. Anywhere you go, you can
find people of all ages glued to their mobile phone screens, fingers typing away. We see them in
schools, on the sidewalks, in the cars, sitting in their cubicles, attending a classroom, sitting in a
meeting or even eating at some restaurant. People are busier texting that talking to people sitting
right next to them physically. The biggest outcome of this, is the development of the so called
“texting lingo” wherein dictionaries are proved wrong, words are reduced to half their actual size,
usage of vowels is almost on the verge of extinction and the English Language is on the brink of
a major breakdown.
Various researches and case studies have been conducted by scholars and professors alike on this
grappling issue, all over the world analysing both positive and negative effects of the same. They
conclude that modern day children have grown up surrounded by mobile phones and text messaging
all around them. Quite naturally they consider it to be an essential part of their everyday life. The
high usage of text messaging amongst kids these days has therefore caught the attention of a
wide number of research groups.

Modern day children have grown up surrounded by mobile phones and text messaging all around
them. Quite naturally they consider it to be an essential part of their everyday life. The high usage
of text messaging amongst kids these days has therefore, caught the attention of a wide number
of research groups and the effect of texting on the academic performance has become an issue of
great debate.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Barone and Elizabeth (2011) in their thesis have described the history of the written word and the
evolution of language. According to the paper more than 88% below the age of 25 prefer texting
to calling. It further reveals that students with exposure to the texting lingo are better at verbal
reasoning and language usage since they are “able to recognise speech and rhyme patterns”. The
study also goes on to say that texting poses detrimental to students in that it is a very big distraction.
Also, it’s not easy for every student to juggle between two forms of writing and a lot of them end
up using the wrong language at the wrong place.
According to Blake Hogan et al. (2012), majority of the professors and students believe that
texting does more harm than good. Most of the professors admitted to being able to decipher the
text language but only because of exposure to it for a long time. A majority of the professors
involved said that every time an assignment was given, more than 5% of the assignments were
written in the text lingo as opposed to formal English. The study also revealed that texting while
driving has become one of the major causes of road accidents.
122 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

Agathe Battestini et al. (2010) conducted a study using 70 university students in the United
States. Almost 60,000 text messages over a period of 4 months using a custom logging tool on
our participants’ phones. The results suggested that “students communicate with a large number
of contacts for extended periods of time, engage in simultaneous conversations with as many as
9 contacts and often use text messaging as a method to switch between varieties of communication
mediums.” The ways in which the text language has evolved over the years has also been analysed
in the paper.
Louise Brown, Tess Kalinowski (2007) quoted, “Couples end up in marriage counselling because
they can’t get an appointment in their partner’s BlackBerry. You see 80 per cent of executive’s text
messaging during meetings.” The author talks about how the old ways of communication are
being readily done away with in order to embrace the new fad of text messaging. Most of the
family members prefer texting to spending time with each other which is leading to disintegration
of family ties. He also talks about how the kids and students are suffering from attention deficit
disorder due to increased exposure to cellphones.

As is the case with everything, there are certain positives as well as certain negatives of text
messaging.
2.1. Good effects of text messaging
In a study done by Beverly Plester et al. (2008), students were asked to translate text messages
written in abbreviated language, to the normal English language. Results showed that children
who were quicker at decoding text messages scored better in the verbal reasoning test. Thus, it
was concluded that decoding the texting lingo actually results in exercise of the brain and hence
proves beneficial to the students.
An important aspect of text messaging is that it has been incorporated into the mainstream
education system of some institutions, as a means of depicting the evolution of English as a
language. The study conducted by Vosloo (2009), shows how a teacher in the United States uses
text messages from the past decades and contrasts them to modern day text messages to explain
to students the constant changes and developments in social communication.
2.2. Disadvantages of Texting
However, this texting has many ill effects too on the society and their intensity is such that they
cannot be simply ignored. In the following section, we will be elaborating upon texting as a
societal bane.
Text messaging also leads to acute addiction problems, making people apprehensive to check
their inbox constantly and keep in touch all the time. It may sound humorous and far-fetched,
but, in an editorial, The American Psychiatric Association (2004) included text messaging as part
of a disorder known as “Internet addiction.” This disorder is characterised by excessive text
Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 123

messaging with a loss of sense of time or neglect of basic duties, withdrawal symptoms, such as
tension and anger, when text messaging was not allowed and negative repercussions, such as
lying, arguments, social isolation and fatigue. Text-message users may develop the same kind of
attachment to their phones that drug addicts have for their narcotics.
According to Peter W. Johnson et al. (2013), prolonged use of text messaging is linked to physical
ailments in a user’s thumb. Repeated text messaging could cause temporary or permanent damage
to the user’s thumb. Many other studies by ergonomic researchers have also shown that the
position of the body when someone is text messaging puts pressure and strain on the neck and
shoulders and causes pain and discomfort.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective behind this research paper is to measure the quantum of effect over the usage
of English language in its actual, pure form, due to the new-age practice of short hand texting.
Special attention has been given to students; the major issue being whether the abbreviated form
of writing in text messages has hampered the ability of the students to write the unadulterated
version of the English Language. The study aims to seek the correlation between the texting
habits of the students and their ability to write the formal language.
3.1. Research Methodology
For the purpose of this research paper, both primary and secondary sources of information have
been used.
The primary sources consist of a sample size of 50 people, belonging to Generation Y, i.e. mostly
teenagers and people in their early 20s.This sample was chosen mainly because their lifestyle is
most synonymous with the era of texting and that they are the most affected because of this
growing trend. Each one was made to fill in a questionnaire, which focused mainly on present
day texting practices and their influence over writing in general and academic writing in particular.
The secondary data includes information collected from analogous research papers, case studies
and articles that were sourced from the internet, as well as newspapers and magazines.
3.2. Limitations
The main limitations we faced in the process of carrying out this study were–
a) A sample size of mere 50 is not accurately reflective of the entire society. Although an effort
was made to cover participants from all three generations, a small number of participants still
pose an obstruction in deriving the majority view of the society as a whole.
b) Secondly, even though the survey questionnaires were filled by the participants, most of
them refrained from giving away their personal details and answered keeping in mind social
conformity.

4. RESEARCH FINDINGS, DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

A survey questionnaire consisting of 9 questions was filled by 50 people, mainly belonging to the
age range of 18 years – 25 years.
Figure 1
The question-wise data collected has thus been depicted onto the following pie charts and
histograms – According to Figure 1, 77% of the respondents agree to conveying messages via
text messaging. While 4% do not and the remaining 19% occasionally send convey messages
through texts. This is indicative of the fact that texting is fast gaining popularity and is steadfastly
replacing all other forms of communication.
Figure 2

Figure 2 reveals that 12% of the respondents say they send 0-15 texts a day, 22% say they only
send 20-40 texts a day, 49% say they send 40-70 texts a day and 17% say they send more than
80 texts a day. Thus, it can be said that a minimum of 40 texts are sent daily and some people even
go ahead and send more than 80 texts per day which frankly is a lot of texts as compared to
people one generation older, who at times dint even send one text per day.
Figure 3
According to Figure 3, 26% of the participants agreed to using text language while typing a text,
26% also admit to sometimes using text language while 48% of the participants deny using text
language while sending a text. Again more than 50% people admitted to using abbreviated form of
the language which is leading to deterioration of language skills.
According to Figure 4, 30% agree to the fact that texting has negative effects in a student’s
writing skills, 10% do not agree that texting is negatively affecting a student’s writing, 35% say
that texting only sometimes affects a student’s writing skills, while 15% cannot give a specific
answer. These views can also be due to personal bias of each generation for or against texting.
However, by and large, the older generation feels that texting has adversely affected the writing
skills of the students, while the youngsters continue to deny any such allegations.
According to Figure 5, 10% say that their use of text language has affected their academic
writing, 63% deny texting affecting their academic writing, 22% say that it only affects them
sometimes and 5% cannot say that it has affected them. It is a scientifically proven fact that all
those people with a strong mind power and analytical skills will not face problems in differentiating
between text language and the normal language and the appropriate place of usage for both of
them. However people whose minds take longer to process things may find it difficult to
differentiate between the two and hence may start using the two interchangeably.

Figure 4
Figure 5
According to Figure 6, 10% say that they have texted while driving, 85% say that they have not
and 5% say that they do it sometimes. Thus even though right now only 10% people admit to
texting while driving, the trend is certainly catching up and is becoming one of the major reasons
for road accidents.

According to Figure 7, 90% say that it is very dangerous to text while driving, 3% believe it is not
really dangerous, 5% say that it might be dangerous while 2% say that they cannot say.
According to Figure 8, 40% say that they can comprehend text language at the first glance, 5%
say that they cannot comprehend text language at the first glance and 55% say that they can
sometimes comprehend text language at the first glance. This shows that the general reaction of
the people towards the texting lingo is one of acceptance as more and more people are trying to
get the hang of it rather than curbing it.

Texted while driving
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes No Sometimes
Figure 6
Texting while driving is Dangerous

40 37 Strongly
Agree
30 Agree
20
NAND
10
6 Disagree
4
2
1
0
Figure 7

Can comprehend text without reading carefully

20
Yes
10
No
Sometimes
0
Figure 8
5. CONCLUSION
The above research findings only further validate the well-known fact, that texting is on the rise
among Generation Y. The results gathered from the survey conducted clearly reveal that a majority
of people today use text messaging as a significant tool for social communication and send close
to 50 to 70 texts per day. It also shows that the percentage of people using abbreviated text
language fall very closely behind the ones who prefer proper punctuated sentences. Many are of
the opinion that acute texting affects academic writing. Almost everyone agrees on the fact that
texting while driving is dangerous and finally a lot of people do have to read texts carefully to
finally comprehend what the texts are conveying.
It can hence be concluded that this practice is on the rise and a balance needs to be achieved
between our social lives inside our “phones” and the social world outside.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
Following are some of the recommendations that we think might help curb the overuse of texting
and hence the abuse of an otherwise wonderful and extremely useful means of communication.
1. Set limits. Self-discipline and time management are the key to reduce acute texting. Also,
texting while driving must be strictly discouraged. One must limit oneself to send only a few,
necessary texts in a day.
2. Exploring the world outside. Whether its organised sports or regular family hikes, physical
activity has many benefits, including time away from online distractions. Regular exercise
and exposure to sunlight also improve sleep quality. This will not only improve social

communication with the physical world but will also the dependency to be glued to the cell
phones all the time.
3. Keep the bedroom tech-free. This one’s a no-brainer. The easiest way to prevent technology
from interfering with one’s concentration is to keep cell phones away while studying or
doing an academic task.
4. Motivation to use complete sentences. Certain self-evaluation techniques can be used in this
process and one can be encouraged from fellow friends to start conversing in complete
punctuated sentences.
5. Develop healthy reading habits. One must engage himself/herself into some purposeful reading
and learn the art of beautiful, precise and prolific writing.
6.1. Future Scope
According to the present day scenario, text messaging is one of the most widely used means of
communication, for both formal as well as informal. From business houses to students, everybody
is using text messages to communicate with one another. This recent spurt in texting thus comes
as no surprise and this fad is definitely here to stay.

With telecommunication companies doling out new SMS packs every day, thus increasing the
number of free texts that can be sent, the craze for texting is not going to come to an end anytime
in the foreseeable future. Rather, at present, it is probably one of the most promising developments
that have been made in the world of technological communication. We are therefore of the opinion
that even with the passage of time, the vogue of texting will only grow on people, rather than
mitigating.
REFERENCES
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Barone, Elizabeth E (2011). Texting, social media, and literacy: Writing in the collegiate classroom. Thesis
Paper for University of Wisconsin-Stout Graduate School. At http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/
lib/thesis/2011/2011baronee.pdf. Retrieved on 12th January, 2013.
Battestini, A., Setlur, V. and Sohn, T (2010). A large scale study of text messaging use. In: Marco, de,
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Blasio PD and Milani L (2008). Computer-mediated communication and persuasion: Peripheral vs. central
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citation.cfm?id=1347549. Retrieved on 12th January, 2013.
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About the Authors

Dr. Surya Rashmi Rawat, MBA (International Business), UGC (NET), LLB, the corresponding
author is a Professor at Symbiosis Law School, Pune. The professor teaches management subjects
to students of BBALLB and holds a teaching experience of more than 10 years. The professor has
a rich research experience with many research papers published in different indexed and peer
reviewed journals. She has also presented her papers in different national and international
conferences.
All the other authors i.e., Saakshi Sharma, Abhilasha Kanda, Shinjini Lama and Aman
Sharma are the students of BBALLB in Symbiosis Law School, Pune. All of them have excellent
research acumen and have published a case study in the journal bearing ISSN.
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Impact of Texting Over Teen Literacy and Social Communication

Article · January 2013

Surya Rashmi Rawat Abhilasha Kanda

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Learning leadership traits from India View project

Consumer Behaviour towards Green Products View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Impact of Texting Over Teen Literacy and Social Communi-

Surya Rashmi Rawat1*, Saakshi Sharma2, Abhilasha Kanda3, Shinjini Lama4,

wide number of research groups.

122 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

disorder due to increased exposure to cellphones.

Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 123

124 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

4. RESEARCH FINDINGS, DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 125

126 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 127

Texting while driving is Dangerous

128 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

Can comprehend text without reading carefully

Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 129

as no surprise and this fad is definitely here to stay.

130 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

Group Project Study. At http://chrislmorris.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/group-project-study1.pdf.

Retrieved on 12th January, 2013.

Journal of Knowledge & Communication Management 131

About the Authors

132 Volume 3 Number 2 October 2013

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