CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

OMG! Rili? Dnt now bowt dat.lmfao. Btw, wr u nw? Fam. dner 2nyt s

hauz, r u cuming? Repz, azap..!!”,. Have you received that style of text

message? Do you or have you ever send this kind of text message? 

In the Philippines where almost everyone has cellular phones, this

style of text messaging is no riddle basically for teenagers and young

adults. Texting has become an integral part of our lives; it has developed

very rapidly throughout the world.

Initial growth of text messaging starts with customers in 1995

sending an average 0.4 messages per GSM (Global System for mobile

communications) per customer per month. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Today, text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service,

with 35% of all mobile phones users worldwide or 4.2 million to 7.3

million phone subscribers at the end of 2003 being active users of SMS.

The largest average usage of the service by mobile phone

subscribers is the Philippines with an average of 15 texts per day by

subscribers. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Text messaging is most often used between private mobile users

as a substitute for voice calls situations. Popularity has grown to a

sufficient extent that the term texting has enticed the people. It is a very
powerful tool in the Philippines where the average user sends 10-12 text

messages a day. The Philippines ends on the average 400 million test

messages per day or approximately 142 billion text messages sent a year.

At the end of 2007, four of the top mobile service providers in the

country stated that there are 42.78 million mobile subscribers in the

Philippines; thus Philippines have become the “texting capital of the

world”.

The expanding availability of text messaging has raised questions

about the effect of texting on standard literacy. Many have reported

unintentional intrusions of abbreviations used in texting called

“textisms”- is inappropriate contexts. (Wood. Et al., 2009)

This study or research contains information regarding the effect of

texting to the spelling proficiency of the Senior High School students, in

achieving good language proficiency, high literacy rate and English

language learning.

It also aims to determine whether the texting habits of the

students should be a concern as it significantly demeaning their spelling

proficiency, literacy and English language learning.

REVIEW OF THE RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURES

This chapter contains the gathered researches from different

sources. These studies will be used as a guide and support to our

research. Our related literature starts with the importance of writing and

language, and goes on with the possible effects that might happen to

these when technology is being used extensively. On the later part of the

chapter are the gathered articles and case studies done by various

researchers.

Text Messaging Effects on Writing

Texting feature in mobile phones has become a “God’s gift” for

most of the people. This feature made this communication very

convenient to everyone. It has become an important part of the daily lives

of people, especially to the Filipinos. According to AHN Media Corp

(2010), the Philippines has been tagged as the “texting capital of the

world”. Many Filipinos exchange text messages with the use of their

mobile phones. People have become frequent texters, and they have

started sending messages in shortened ways. This problem cropped up

with the innovation of this new technology, and its possible effects on the

students’ language proficiency.

 The language proficiency of the students are important for effective

communication. Language, according to McKee (1939), will successfully

help people in different activities, which involve communication, various

types of interaction, or even writing. Even if we are a student or not,

there is still a need for us to use language appropriately. McKee goes on

to say that the ability to write effectively is still important regardless of

the influential and incredible effects of technology on man’s activities

(p.3).

One of the most common issues of text messaging is its effects on

education. Some educators say it is negatively affecting the spelling

proficiency of the students. According to Dolch (1942), “Children must

spell if they are to write”. When we write, we are really writing down our

thoughts. These thoughts are expressed using words, and these words

need to be spelled correctly. Therefore, writing would require appropriate

spelling (p. 1).

Writing, in addition, is very important, because it is one form of

communication. According to Shidle (1965), “writing skills are needed

everywhere”. In his book The Art of Successful Communication, he states

that it is hard to find works which no longer needs communicating skills.

Anywhere, man can connect ideas through written communication,

which exists in any level. Every person has the need to communicate

effectively, and writing them down is one of the most efficient ways (p.

11). Also, according to Quattrini (1985), the best way to show these ideas
is through writing because it is like “shaping” what you are thinking.

This “shaping” also includes choosing the right words for your thought

(p. 2-3). These words would bring the message of your thoughts (Cruse,

2000).

Choosing the right words requires wide vocabulary. At the present,

we are using English as our medium of communication; therefore, there

is a need for us to be familiar with the English vocabulary. According to

Gabiana’s research (as cited in Saga-Olis, 1998), students were very

positive toward the English language as part of their system of

education. This attitude of the respondents led to the conclusion that the

students felt that language play an important role on their success in the

future. The achievement of many professionals also lies on their ability to

use the language appropriately. According to Mackay (as cited in Saga-

Olis, 1998), professionals who master the English language tend to be

successful and globally competitive (p. 42). This goes to show the

importance of English as a medium of communicating internationally.

The study of Enriquez and Nolasco (2007) also showed that a person who

has a wide range of vocabulary might not have difficulties in thinking

and communication. The two also added that vocabulary, spelling and

grammar skills are the basic components of language which are very

useful to a man’s life.

However, nowadays, there are educators who have been

complaining on papers handed by their students. One of these educators

is Kate Ross (2010), who stated that the use of cellular phones are

affecting student’s spelling and grammar proficiency negatively, as

evidenced from their use of abbreviated words. This resulted in extensive

use of electronic chatting. The students are producing worse

assignments, creating incorrect subject-verb agreements, and

misspelling. Ross is an instructional coach for language arts teachers in

her own district, and she often see shortened words or sentences in text

messaging dialogues on students’ compositions. She said that this might

have changed the attitude of the students towards writing, and it seemed

that they want everything done as fast as possible. But before mobile

phones became a problem to some, it used to be a connector between

people.

Montiel and Estuar (2006) made a study about the usage of mobile

phone nowadays. And they concluded that text messaging is the most

effective way of communicating with other people. Aside from that, it is

the fastest and the cheapest among the communication technologies of

the new generation because of its sending shortened messages (SMS) or

texting feature. This feature, allows people to communicate with each

other regardless of how far they are from each other. Thus, this texting

feature made mobile phones or cellular phones very popular in our

country, that even the youth are getting hooked up to this new form of

technology.
 Estuar’s research (2003) showed that there is a high rate of

ownership and high rate of usage of cellular phones regardless of what

school or gender the students belong. “Private school students were more

frequent users of cost-incurring features, whereas public school students

were more frequent users of no-cost features of mobile phones”. The

former also have a higher rate of texting compared to their public school

counter parts. In addition, the number of days one can survive without a

cellular phone or without having to exchange messages is higher among

males and public school students (p.103). This goes to show that cellular

phones are very popular, regardless of the age.

An example that would show the rapidly growing popularity of

cellular phones is the report from Sify News (as cited in Proysen, 2009)

about a 13-year old girl from California who had sent 14, 528  messages

in a month (13, January 2009).

These communication gadgets are used by adolescents not only for

communication purposes but also for maintaining their relationships

with other people. Cell phones provide them the ability to show who they

are and to express what they feel through texting feature. According to

Pertierra et al. (as cited in Estuar, 2003), the cellular phone is like an

extension or an expression of one’s self. Compared to other forms of

communication that the new world offers like the telephones and

electronic mail, mobile phone technology greatly augments the non-

confrontational nature of Filipinos. As what is said earlier, in texting,

people can send messages to a person even without knowing where the

person is, what the person is doing, and who the person is with. “The

mobile phone’s predecessor regular telephones require a fixed location

for their use. But with the cellular phone, being primarily mobile, people

can now establish contact with another person, regardless of where the

caller and the called are” (p. 104.

According to Estuar et al. (2006), aside from the internet, mobile

phones were used in “pro-democracy movements”. Mobile phones were

relatively cheaper and more affordable and accessible, especially to a

larger group of people belonging to the poorer groups in the society. The

mobile phone made communication so easy and possible regardless of

time and space barriers by increasing its utility in “political mobilizations

and mass persuasions”. As evidenced from the Philippines, for example,

optimal use of mobile phone’s texting capability helped in bringing down

a corrupt president through the People Power II that occurred last 2001.

According to Villamor (as cited in Estuar, 2003), by using the cellular

phones, rally organizers have united and mobilized the crowds in front of

the historic Edsa Shrine just an hour after the Senate have vetoed the

opening of the bank evidence against the supposed-to-be reigning

president Estrada (p. 105).

Estuar et al. also said that during those historical moments, the

use of cellular phones had filtered through Filipinos’ everyday life,

especially to the youth and Metro Manilans. Texting through mobile

phones as a new technology hence played a vital role in the swift

alignment of political consciousness, especially among the multitude of

young Filipino people.

Pertierra, Ugarte, Pingal, Hernandez and Dacanay (as cited in

Estuar, 2003), wrote an all-inclusive account of the social consequences

of commonness in mobile phone use in the Philippines, with the

conclusion that “cellphones have become a major icon in Philippine life,

in that it has extended the scope of social relationships” (p. 149). And

from 1994 to 2002, “cellphones in the Philippines were mainly used for

texting” (p. 150).

Because cellular phones became a popular icon in the world,

several consequences were prophesized. Some of these are the increased

number of people who are fascinated with the features of cellular phones,

particularly its texting feature. Some were obsessed that they allot

greater time for text messaging, which leads to the use of shorthand

method of texting, and will eventually contribute in the deterioration of

the students’ spelling and grammar skills. But is there truth to these

claims?

Russell (2010) stated that there are different effects of frequent text

messaging. He cited an educator in Edutopia.org saying that “I teach

9th and 11th English, and regardless of the age, my students’ spelling is

atrocious. Texting does not and has not helped”. Some teachers believed

that shorthand texting is killing the English language because students

have been writing compositions in bad spelling and grammar (parag. 2-

3).

Russell also said that some teachers, on the other hand, took it as

a positive effect. According to the teachers, because of texting and other

ways of communicating, students have started to write and edit more

text (parag. 4). Lee (as cited in Proysen, 2009) also said that some

teachers encourage their students to use instant messaging if it really

helps them develop creativity when writing. Others also think that

texting has no effect on English grammar. Students may learn the

language of texting, but they too, should not forget that the language of

texting is different from the English language, and that shorthand texting

is different from the correct English grammar (parag. 5).

Recent news from United Kingdom reports about a Scottish pupil

who submitted an essay in shorthand form like texting. According to

Cramb (as cited in Pryosen, 2009), this is because of frequent use of

mobile phones and text messaging. The student said she found it “easier

than standard English”. The Scottish Qualifications Authority said

that “text messaging language was inappropriately used” (parag. 4).

Gillespie (as cited in Proysen, 2009), the Scottish Teacher Parent

Council, said that the deterioration in spelling and grammar proficiency

of the student is an effect of frequent text messaging. She went on to say

that:
“There must be rigorous efforts from all quarters of the education system

to stamp out the use of texting as a form of written language so far as

English study is concerned. There    has been a trend in recent years to

emphasis spoken English. Pupils think orally and write phonetically. You

would be shocked at the numbers of senior secondary pupils who cannot

distinguish between their and there. The problem is that there is a

feeling in some schools that pupils' freedom of expression should not be

inhibited (as cited in Proysen, 2009).”

Edwards (2009) said that texting contributes to peoples’ indolence

when it comes to writing. In his own experience, he himself developed

changes on his writing abilities ever since he engaged in text messaging.

According to him, it helps in speeding up communication. And because

of frequent usage of shortened messages in texting, it becomes a “habit”.

He sometimes caught himself using the shorthand method of writing

even in doing his projects in school, which goes to show that text

messaging has really affected his writing ability. When he researched in

the internet, he discovered that many people also believed that texting

affects the writing skills of students. Edwards always feel that using the

“original way” of writing when doing his school projects is more difficult

than using the “text messaging language”. Because of this, he became

lazier. He also said that most people are hooked up to texting that they

send text messages even when they’re doing several activities like driving,

when in a funeral, or in a graduation ceremony. But according to Guerra

(2007), although most of the people are frequent texters, not all of them

apply shorthand texting when writing. She said that students say it does

affect their writing proficiency, and some say it has no impact at all.

Nevertheless, texting is still a problem to most people.

Like Guerra, Laurilla (2009) obtained varied facts from her

research titled “A Preliminary Investigation on the Linguistic Aspects of

Text Messaging”. She implied that the use of mobile phones is common

to the younger sector of the society (p. 9). Report from “Media use

statistics” said that almost two-thirds of the teenagers today are cellular

phone owners (as cited in Laurilla, 2009). The youths are expected to be

frequent texters, since they grew along the modernization and

technological innovation of cellular phones. Because of this, “There is a

raging national debate about the state of writing and how high-tech

communication by teens might be affecting their ability to think and

write” (Guerra, 2008, parag. 1). This research by De La Salle University-

Manila’s Department of English and Applied Linguistics (DEAL) Assistant

Professor Nudred-Laurilla found that there is no significant effect and

difference between the spelling and grammar efficiency of students who

own cellular phones and those who don’t. And from that, it can be

implied that the respondent’s proficiency when it comes to spelling and

grammar, is independent to whether they have cellular phones or not.

Also, among owners of cellular phones, their frequent text messaging

does not affect their spelling and grammar proficiency (p.11).

 Aside from Laurilla, a research on the use of the shorthand

method of texting was conducted by Tiempo (2006). He said that another

form of communication in texting is code-switching. This is common to a

number of Cebuano people. Tiempo says that code switching is a natural

bilingual behavior that usually happens in any informal conversations,

whether it is direct or indirect. Through his qualitative method of

analysis, this study of Tiempo titled Cebuano Code Switching, Text

Jargon, and Fricative Production in Short Messaging Services (SMS) found

that there is no significant differences between the texting styles of both

males and females (p. 74-75).

Another research on the use of the shorthand method of texting by

Banton et al. (2010) said that same assumptions rose about the negative

claims on text messaging. Banton with his group researchers conducted

a study by giving out a pre-survey on those students who were cellular

phone owners and non-owners and their daily time allotment for cellular

phone use. After that was the spelling and grammar tests given the

3rd year high school students of St. Paul’s School of Ormoc Foundation

Inc. The research resulted with the following: Students who had greater

time allotment for text messaging had lower average scores compared to

those who were not frequent texters at all. Among cellular phone owners,

those who were frequent users of shorthand method of texting appeared

to have poorer scores in both spelling and grammar tests (p.29).

 Similarly, a research by Rosen et al. (2009) showed that youths

who used shorthand texting (LOL, gudnyt, etc.) in everyday writing

developed the worse formal writing than those youths who rarely used

shorthand texts. Those who used shorthand texts for communication

were better “informal” writers.

Unlike Rosen et al.’s research, the study conducted by Tomita

(2009) about text messaging gathered a different result. On Tomita’s

research titled Text Messaging and its Implications for its use in

Education, he said that the world is becoming more technologically

advanced, together with the rapid improvement of the world. And with

these, the students have to adjust and cope with the changes on their

own. His study found that “text messaging tools provide an effective

means of teaching students important 21 st century skills”. Furthermore,

Plester (as cited in Tomita, 2009) said that  tools like the Web enhances

students ability to write, encourages them to make interactions, and

motivating them to become good communicators because it helps develop

the students’ creativity. In addition, Tomita also stated that literacy is

not limited only to paper works, but also to digital literacy (p. 189).

Critics are very particular on the issue about the use of shortened

words especially when it comes to education. According to Shaughnessy

(as cited in Tomita, 2009), to overcome the character limit of 160

characters, people use jargons, codes, or shorten the words. This form of

communication is too easy that it no longer require analysis. In addition,

O’Connor (as cited in Tomita, 2009) said that if students continue to use

instant messaging, the more that they could no longer distinguish formal

and informal writing. Others also use acronyms and other abbreviations

(O’Connor, 2005). But still, Goldstein and Gardner (as cited in Tomita,

2009) believe that formal writing is far different from informal writing, no

matter what the medium is.

Others also disagree with the negative effect of text messaging.

Petrillo (2006) quoted Dr. Beverly Plester, “Newer research shows a

stronger casual relationship between text abbreviations and literacy

skills”. Plester here is saying that text messaging is giving an exposure to

the written words, which relates to a higher literacy attainment. In

addition, according to Helderman (2003), Gloria Jobobs, a doctoral

student studying the relationship of teenagers and instant messaging,

said that students are fluent with online writing, so probably it could

help them improve their writing ability.

In contrary to the conclusion derived from Petrillo and Helderman’s

studies, Baron (as cited in Proysen, 2009) concluded that the language of

“text messaging and electronic communication” has triggered the rise of

evils that would be unleashed by text messaging, such as the

deterioration of spelling and grammar skills, and its application on the

writings of the students. In Proysen’s study titled The Impact of Text

Messaging on Standard English revealed that some educators have been

indicating that text messaging has created a reflection on the students’

school papers. According to Crystal (as cited in Proysen, 2009), one

example was found, which was an essay composition entirely written in

shorthand form. This study of Proysen was conducted to find out

whether the claims on the negative effects of text messaging are true. His

study found out that these negative effects seem to have affected some of

the respondents. Some students are not aware that they are carrying the

text messaging language onto their writing. While some of them said it

was stupid enough not to know the difference between Standard English

and text abbreviations. According to Crystal (as cited in Proysen, 2009),

“Expertise in text messaging and email in particular would appear to

have affected spelling and punctuation” (p. 83). Text messaging with its

use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation seems to pose a

threat to traditional conventions in writing (p. 84). Proysen went on to

say that the text messaging phenomenon had a great impact on people’s

everyday use of language although it gained popularity for a very short

time. Proysen was sure of one thing. As his fieldwork shows, text

messaging created negative effects, whether it is slight or great (p.86).

This conclusion of Proysen was similar to one of Myhra’s articles

titled Negative Effects of Texting in the Classroom.

Myhra (2010) believed that people of the present generation have

grown advanced together with the innovation of technology, specifically

the cellular phone, which is said to have affected the students’ spelling

and grammar proficiency. People have started sending messages in

abbreviated or shortened form. Students who are frequent “texters” have

developed a new form of writing that is unacceptable to school-related

works (parag. 1). He added that students are no longer practicing the

proper use of punctuation, and upper and lowercase letters (parag. 3).

Myhra (2010) concluded that frequent sending of text messages

could affect the students’ way of writing. Students have developed the

habit of writing in shorthand form, which caused them to write

informally. Texting has affected the students writing and grammar

proficiency negatively (parag. 9).

SYNTHESIS

Texting has become an integral part of our lives; it has developed

very rapidly throughout the world. Text messaging is most often used

between private mobile users as a substitute for voice calls situations.

Popularity has grown to a sufficient extent that the term texting has

enticed the people. It is a very powerful tool in the Philippines where the

average user sends 10-12 text messages a day. The Philippines ends on

the average 400 million test messages per day or approximately 142

billion text messages sent a year.

This research gives more focus on the students’ use of the

shorthand method of texting, which they sometimes tend to apply on

their school works. This research will serve as a point of reflection for the

students, to discover whether text messaging and the use of

abbreviations or jargons could positively or negatively affect their spelling

and grammar proficiency. The various researches I have gathered from

different sources are composed of numerous ideas that led to the

formulation of different assumptions about the use of shorthand texting.

Its only difference from our research is that my study will also focus on

the frequency of cellular phone use, which was given less focus on other

researches.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study aims to determine the effect of texting to the spelling

proficiency of the Senior High School students.

The following questions are the problems that should be answered

regarding the text messaging factors that affect the said selected

students.

1. What is the demographic profile of the selected senior high

school students as to:

A. gender

B. age

C. length of ownership of the cell phone

D. frequency of texting

2. What is the students’ spelling proficiency level based on the

gathered data through the survey test form given to them?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the spelling

proficiency of texters when group according to the following variables:

 A. length of ownership of the cell phone

B. frequency of texting

HYPOTHESES

Null Hypothesis

There is no significant effect of texting to the spelling proficiency of the

Senior High School students.

Alternative Hypothesis

There is a negative effect of texting to the spelling proficiency of the

Senior High School students.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The researcher has listed down the significance in conducting the

study. And with the help of these significant factors, it will be a lot easier

for the researchers on how to prepare the questionnaire that has

reference to the topic of this research work.

This study will be significant:

1. To know how many years have the respondents been sending text

messages.

2. To know how many hours they spend every day for text messaging.

3. To know whether they use the shorthand method of texting frequently.

4. To determine if the number of years of cellular phone usage is a factor

that affects the spelling skills of the respondents.

5. To know if the number of hours of text messaging is a contributing

factor that results to poor spelling.

6. To identify whether the use of shorthand method of text messaging

affect their spelling skills.

STUDENTS. Through this research, the deficiency in students’

knowledge and other related studies that need improvement and

progress mostly in the universities and other school.

SCHOOL. The intention of this research is to give additional and

essential information about the effects of text messaging in the studying

and learning of students.

FUTURE RESEARCHERS. The information held inside this

research study can be a great help, not only to this institution but also to

the readers and other researchers that are seeking additional

information and facts about hindrances in the learning of the students.

SCOPE and LIMITATION

The study is confined to determine if there is a negative effect of

texting to the spelling proficiency of the Senior High School students. To

get a better idea of the effects of texting on teenagers and how much this

technology was actually being used, a survey will be conducted. Fifty (50)

senior high school students will be asking questions about their usage of

texting and instant messaging.

 To ensure the honesty of the answers, the surveys were

anonymous and the students were told that their answers would not be

used against them.

The researchers hope that this research contribute well and give

necessary information to the students about the effect of the common

factors of hindrances towards spelling proficiency, literacy and English

language learning. With these factors, we can now think of a solution in

order for us to cope up with the problems.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theories gathered will be used in the formulation of the study’s

framework. Three theories from the works of B.F. Skinner and Bagozz,

R.P., Davis, F.D., and Warshaw, P.R. and Albert Bandura led the

researchers to the in knowing the effect of frequent text messaging on

spelling of the first year CTE students of PLMar A.Y. 2012-2013.

According to Albert Bandura’s Observational Learning Theory or

Socio-Cognitive Theory (1962), a major part of human learning consist of

observational learning, which they define as learning through observing

the behavior of another person called a model. An individual observes a

model which is from the society he is involved.

According to Observational Learning Theory, particularly, is

important in acquiring skills in which operant conditioning technique of

shaping is inappropriate. Plotting an airplane and performing brain

surgery, for example. The behavior that could hardly be learned by using

trial and error methods without grave cost – liberally to those involved in

the learning.

Behaviorist theory of BF Skinner said that the core to all

behaviorism is the assumption that human and animal behaviors are

determined by learning and reinforcement. People act according to what

they learned. Species acquire new skills, depending on the effects these

skills have on the species’ environment. Skinner assumed that if an

individual’s action proves to have a positive effect, then he would more

likely continue his behavior. On the other hand, if an individual’s action

has a negative outcome, he would likely stop this specific behavior.

An article in EduQnA.com serves as a supporting idea on the

theory of Skinner. According to the article, people do not read enough.

They rely too much on computers and a lot of them tend to spell

according to how the word is pronounced, and the introduction of text

messaging encourages them to shorten words. Because of technology

available to the students now growing up, when they have to exact their

grammar skills away from a computer or thesaurus, they can’t perform

well. People have become so dependent on technology to help read and

write, to the point that these skills have diminished over time. In
addition, there is less of an emphasis on face-to-face communication,

with the introduction of all phones and emails.

The work of Bagozz, R.P., Davis, F.D., and Warshaw, P.R says that

people do not use technology because of its features but rather, the

adopt technology because of the benefits they get from it. The theory of

these three focuses on how technology helps individuals motivate in

learning. Their theory states that changing individual’s attitude may be

an effective strategy to improve someone’s motivation in learning. Caroll

and Rosson (as cited in Bagozz, R.P., Davis, F.D., and Warshaw, P.R,)

said that “learning by doing” is an effective way in learning, for example

is using computer. However, the two argued “that such active learning

leads to “production bias” in which the motivation to use the system to

get a task done is stronger than the motivation to use the system to get a

task done is stronger than the motivation to spend time learning to use

the system (p.24).” The two added that this might result in barely

adequate learning.

Everyone may feel assured that although different methods in the

experimental methods of teaching. There are principles on which the

theories agree and these provide useful guidelines for both students and

teachers.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

TEXT
MESSAGING EFFECTS
STUDENTS
And
TEXTISMS

The diagram shows the advent of technology and gadgets which

are specifically the advances in easier access of students to

telecommunication devices such as the cellphones. The process indicates

how people use it in their daily lives and the output indicates the effects

on students.
DEFINITION OF TERMS

Technology is continually advancing. As it becomes more personal

and commonplace, some terms have become quite familiar. However,

there are other terms that may not be as well known. This section

provides a list of terms relevant to this study.

Abbreviations. This refers to a shortened form of a word or phrase

Acronym. This refers to is an abbreviation formed from the initial

components in a phrase or a word (e.g LOL = Laugh Out Loud)

Cellphone. This refers to an electrical device made for distance-

communication. It is the shortened term for cellular phones (Cellular

because of its size). It is also called as Mobile Phone because of its

portability.

Code-switching. This refers to switching between two or

more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single

conversation.

Communication. This refers to the process of

conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or

information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior.

Instant messaging. This refers to the digital interactive technology that

allows users to receive and send messages in real time via the Internet

(Lewis & Fabos, 2005, p. 473).

Jargons. This refers to the technical terminology or characteristic idiom

of a special activity or group

Language Proficiency. This refers to the advancement of knowledge or

skill in language.

Language shortcuts. Abbreviations, shortened words or codes used to

communicate short messages with other cellular phone users (Schaller, 2007,

p. 7). Text messaging: A feature on cellular telephones that allows users to

receive and send short messages (maximum of 160 characters) using the

telephone’s alphanumeric keypad (Harley, Winn, Pemberton, & Wilcox, 2007, p.

1).

Spelling Proficiency. This refers to the level of intelligence in terms of

knowledge on word spellings.

Text Language. This refers to the set of new word that seems to be not

accepted by prescriptive grammarians but still used by people for

communication purposes when using

the cellular phones.

Text Shortcuts. This refers to the word shortcuts used for cellular

phone communication. It grew because of economic and practical

purposes. Same with Shorthand texting.

Texting/Text Messaging. This refers to the process of sending messages

through cellular phones

Textisms. This refers to the act of abbreviating words in a text message.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Cruse, Alan D. (2000). Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Sematics

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Dolch, E.W. (1942). Better Spelling. Champagne, Illinois: The Garrard

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Shidle, N. (1965). The Art of Successful Communication. USA: McGraw-

Hill, Inc.

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Banton, J. et al. (2010). The Effects of Shorthand Texting and Great Time

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the Third Year High School Students of St. Paul’s School of Ormoc

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Saga-Olis, B. (1998). English Proficiency of Technology Teachers and

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Doctoral Dissertation, Cebu Normal   University.

Tiempo, Arnold L. (2006). Cebuano Code Switching, Text Jargon, and

Fricative Production in Short Messaging Services. Unpublished Masters

Thesis, University of San Carlos.

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Estuar, Ma. Regina. (2003). Let’s Talk about Txt! Understanding the

Texting Culture of the Filipino Youth. Ateneo De Manila University.

Montiel, C. J. and Estuar, M. R. (2006). Revolutionary Text: Social

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University.

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AHN Media Corp. (2010). The Philippines as the ‘texting capital of the

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fromhttp://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/summary.html.

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Russell, Lisa M. (2010). The Effects of Text Messaging on English

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Laurilla, Nudred. (2009). A Preliminary Investigation on the Linguistic

Aspects of Text Messaging. Retrieved  February 2, 2010

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Proysen, Stine. (2009). The Impact of Text Messaging on Standard

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