Project Proposal (How is text messaging affecting teen literacy) - Research Paper Example

Effects of Text Messaging To The Teenagers Affiliation The effect of text messaging on teen literacy Research Questions Hypothesis What are the impacts of text messaging to the literacy level of teenagers? Background Text messaging refers to the use of words, abbreviations and other techniques to develop instant messages and sms. It does not allow the use of standard grammar. The use of mobile phones is now a daily activity for almost all the individuals across lifespan. Currently, the cheapest and more effective means of conveying is through text-messaging.

In the UK about a third of 7-12 years children have access to mobile phones and send an average of 50 text messages in a week (Ofcom, 2010). Parents, educators and the general public have expressed the concern of about the possible effects of the use of the technology. Current Literature Very small empirical studies have been conducted on the impacts of text-messaging to the teenagers to determine the validity of this concern. Generally text messaging has proved generate negative responses from the teachers, language experts, and also parents.

This has ended up being described as continued mugging of technology to written English (Lee, 2002). According to (Plester et al., 2009), there exist a positive effect of the use of text-messaging amongst the children. This has not affected their knowledge and performance on standard measures of academic literacy and achievements. Research done to teenagers and young adults has shown that some negative relationships have been proved to exist text behavior and the use of language skills. However, the use of textese-texting language is associated positively with traditional literacy skills (Kemp, 2010).

MethodologyThe study intends to use both primary and secondary sources of gathering data. The researcher will formulate focus groups of 5-10 teenagers in schools to help in gathering the data. Interviews will also be used to determine individual concerns about the use of this change in technology- the interviews will be conducted orally and using open ended questions that will offer information for analysis. There will be the use of statistical application of programs for the analysis of the data.

Anticipated Results The results may show negative effects of using text messages amongst teenagers. The result may also provide limited positive results on the use of text messages. TimescaleActivity/time1st month2nd month Wk one of 3rd month Wk two of 3rd monthCollection of dataDrafting of proposal Final proposal and proposal defense Writing of reportReport Defense and submissionResourcesBasic materials like: rulers, foolscaps, pens, will be used for the study Reference ListKemp, N. (2010). Texting vs.

txting: Reading and writing text messages, and links with other linguistic skills. Writing Systems Research, 2, 53-71. doi:10.1093/wsr/wsq002Ofcom (2010). UK Children’s Media Literacy. Retrieved 16 September 2010 from http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/media-literacy/ukchildrensml1.pdfPlester, B., Wood, C., & Joshi, P. (2009). Exploring the relationship between children’sknowledge of text message abbreviations and school literacy outcomes. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27(1), 145-161.