Is texting ruining the

English language?

A UN poll in 2012 found that at the time of polling

just over a year ago, there were as many mobile
phones as people in the world: over six billion.
When you consider that around half of that global
population lives in a state of subsistence or poverty
which makes owning a mobile phone unlikely, those statistics are even more incredible.

Mobile phone usage and telecommunication has been one of the runaway successes of the twenty-first
century. But the question which puzzles us at EF English Live is – has it affected the way we use the
language of English? And if it has, is it for better or for worse?

It has been discovered that young people are increasingly prone to texting and shy away from making
calls, which are more direct – but also less permanent forms of communication. Ironically, the speed at
which instant messaging or texting takes place means that mistakes and shorthands are common: but we
often let each other get away with them because we know what they mean. Moreover, many teachers in
primary and secondary schools have expressed concern at the number of children whose literacy levels
are dropping; and who are not even able to write by hand, so accustomed are they to computers, tablets
and mobiles.

Some texting terms have even made it into common parlance: ‘lol’ (laugh out loud), ‘omg’ (oh my god), pls
(please). The craze for shortening words, absorbed from texting, is also changing how we speak –
‘amaze’ for ‘amazing’, ‘totes’ for totally, ‘blates’ for blatantly: these are all largely teenage usages that are
becoming mainstream.

Mobile phone usage: a few quick facts

 The country with the highest density of mobile phones is…Panama! This Latin American state
has an average of over 202 phones per 100 people; meaning each person has at least two
mobile telephones.
 The country with the lowest density of mobile phones is North Korea – this is perhaps a
combination of economic factors and the regime’s secretive policy towards foreigners and
communication.
 The country with the most mobile phones is China, registering just over 1.2 billion (with a
population of 1.3 billion) – with the exception of India (over 800 million mobiles) this is more than
double every other country’s number.
Texting: Altering English or a Language of its Own?
Since language is so intangible, it is not only inevitable, but also natural and expected to evolve
over time. Language is not the same today as it was when it originated; it is not the same today as it was
last week. Phrases become "so yesterday" and phrases from a century ago have vanished completely
from our lexicon. There are many causes for change, including society, technology, and historical events,
but technology is the most powerful force for change in today's period. Email, messaging, and Facebook
have also resulted in the emergence of new vocabulary, grammatical improvements, and other subtle
and visible changes. Technology can gradually assist the language in becoming more understandable,
becoming more similar to other languages, and moving away from the various irregularities that we all
struggle with. Language, though. Is often changing in parallel with culture, and as technology becomes a
larger and more dominant part of life, it also becomes a bigger and more influential part of the English
language.

In the article entitled "Texting" by David Crystal, he details the abbreviations that have been
introduced into our language. Crystal is the author of numerous books on linguistics and the
development of the English language, and he explores in detail how it is changing due to technology. He
refers to the language of texting as "textspeak", and explains why textspeak differs from traditional
English in the following examples:

B Be
B4 Before
@ At
R Are
& And
2 To, too, two
Sum1 Someone
Lol Laugh out Loud

Crystal states that "a new medium for language doesn't turn up very often, which is why the
linguistic effects of electronic communications technology have attracted so much attention". The
nature of new technology is so innovative and an entirely new experience that in the world of
computers, the Internet, and cell phones, there is a lot of focus and debate over how it has impacted the
English language. Because of the drastic nature of the change, there is a whole new set of rules and
concepts that are associated with "textspeak". The poem "txt commndmnts" by Norman Silver explores
these new rules in a satirical sense, reflecting on both the nature of texting and the impact it has had
thus far on society:

1 u shall luv ur mobil fone with all ur hart

2 u &. ur fone shall neva b apart

3 u shall nt lust aftr ur neibrs fone nor thiev

4 u shall b prepard@all times 2 txt & 2 recv

5 u shall use LOL & othr acronyms in conversatns

6 u shall be zappy with ur ast*r*sks & exclmatnsl!

7 u shall abbrevi8 &. rite words like theyr sed

8 u shall nt speak 2 suml face2face if u en msg em insted

9 u shall nt shout with capitis XEPT IN DIRE EMERGNCY +

10 u shall nt consult a ninglish dictnry