Text Messaging Helping or Hurting Childrens Writing Skills - Research Proposal Example

Text Messaging Helping or Hurting Children’s writing Skills? Roll No: Teacher: 4th February 2009 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Statement of Problem 4 Statement of Purpose 4 Hypothesis 4 Definition of terms 4 Historical overview 6 Contributions 7 Chapter III-Methodology 10 Research procedures 10 Assumptions 11 Limitations 12 Data collection 12 Treatment of data 12 Chapter IV-Results 13 Data analysis 13 Presentation of results 15 Chapter V-Summary, Conclusions & Recommendations 18 Summary 18 Conclusions 18 Recommendations 19 Appendices 22 Questionnaire 22 Chapter I-Introduction With the advent of technology, many forms of communication were invented due to which, the process of communication got easier and quicker. Text messaging is a form of communication that facilitates people to communicate in an immediate manner (Goodwyn, 2000). Mobiles and online services are used for the purpose of text messaging. With the help of text messaging services, the users can send messages urgently due to which, the process of communication is faster as compared to previous adopted methods (Onley, 2005). The service of text messaging is employed for sending short and quick messages. With every invented technology, there are advantageous as well as disadvantageous features that should be considered while adopting a technology. Text messaging is a service provided by mobile companies. On one hand, text messaging is largely advantageous on the basis of its fast communication while it is also considered to be disadvantageous in terms of linguistics and employability of language. Many teachers and parents are concerned about their children’s ability of language acquisition (Alvermaann, 2002). They consider that the children by making use of text messaging are forced to use language that is far different from academic language. In sending text messages, children send messages with abbreviating words and colloquial expressions due to which, their language is spoiled (Goggin, 2006). By making use of abbreviated words and grammatically erroneous language, the children learn to write a language that is wrong and filled with improper words. Statement of Problem Text messaging hurts children’s writing skills. Statement of Purpose This paper tries to find out whether text messaging is responsible for hurting children’s writing skill or not. Hypothesis Text messaging is responsible for hurting children’s writing skills. Definition of terms LOL: Laugh out Loud OMG: Oh My God Gr8: Great U: You C: See L8r: Later BRB: Be Right Back TC: Take Care Text messaging is considered as advantageous in terms of fast communication while it is considered disadvantageous on the basis of the wrong language employed by children in sending texts. Children make use of abbreviated and slang words for text messaging due to which, they make use of erroneous language and this aspect is affecting their language capability as a whole. Chapter II-Review of Literature Historical overview The debate over text messaging and its impact on people is not new as many writers have considered this topic previously but there are no fixed results on the topic. Some writers consider that text messaging is advantageous for helping the students in their learning the language while on the other hand, writers indicate that text messaging is a cause of erosion of the writing skills of children. Both the sides have their own reasons. Instant messaging is also a form of text messaging. Messages are sent through instant messaging services (IM services) by means of mobiles and computers. According to Amanda O’Connor, “Several articles indicate that students who use messaging on a frequent basis often use bad grammar, poor punctuation, and improper abbreviations in academic writing” (2005). This statement about various writers’ consideration of incorrect use of language by children in their academic writing because of text messaging indicates that text messaging has a bad affect on children. When they are used to writing erroneous language that is grammatically and linguistically improper, they also make use of such writing in their academic writings due to which, their teachers consider them incapable in terms of their language acquisition. In sending text messages with the help of mobile communication, the students are restricted to make use of a limited number of words as a message’s textual limit is usually one hundred and sixty words due to which, children are made to make use of abbreviated words to deliver their whole message. O’ Connor sees the use of language in textual messaging as a breakdown of English language (O’ Connor, 2005). Because of textual communication by means of text messaging, the child is introduced to the written word much easily which was not possible before (Alvermaann, 2002). Contributions With innovation and technology of mobile, message deliverance has come up as the most used service because it is cheaper, easier and faster (Haig, 2002). Haig also informs that mobile messages are not used only for urgent messaging but for many other purposes such as chatting with friends, marketing, information deliverance and much more (Haig, 2002). Children are attracted towards this service because of many reasons. The children have adopted the technology of text messaging because according to them, it is very easy and they are able to share any kind of gossip and other information with their classmates and friends (Goodwyn, 2000). The format of text messaging is somehow different as compared to normal language. It is different because the capacity that is given to a text message is usually restricted to a number of words and the whole message should have to be written in the given word limit (Goggin, 2006). Children use words for typing text messages such as “Gr8” for great, “U” for you, “C” for see, “l8r” for later, “BRB” for be right back, “TC” for take care and much more. With continuous usage of such words, they are used to employ such words and they, on the basis of their being accustomed, also make use of such words in their academic writing. The usage of abbreviated words and incorrect grammatical composition makes the children accustomed to such language and they use that language mistakenly in their academic writings as well. Panosian (2009) informs in his article, “Texting is Killing Writing Skills”, about the report published by Ireland Department of Education, that “text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing”. In this report by Ireland Department of Education, a total of 37,000 students of 15 to 16 years were observed in terms of their writing skills and after assessment, the results indicated that due to textual messaging, language is affected negatively (Panosian, 2009). Lily Huang (2008) raises the questions in her writing, “The Death of English (LOL)”, “Will text messaging produce generations of illiterates? Could this—OMG—be the death of the English language?” In these questions, the writer informs about the threats felt by the people in terms of existence and continuity of English language. Later in her article, Huang rejects the fear of people. According to her, this fear is the fear of some teachers only who have to check the writings of students (Huang, 2008). Huang also informs that linguists have no participation in considering text messaging as a threat to language but they consider it better for the youngsters in order to learn about language (2008). Many teachers consider text messaging useful for students and they also make use of textual messaging for the betterment of linguistic skills of the students (Onley, 2005). Many teachers conduct classes with the help of internet technology in which, they allow the students to communicate with one another by means of text messaging and the students share their ideas about their exercises and literature that they read (Alvermaann, 2002). Ananova describes that children make use of text messaging language in writing their academic assignments such as essays and papers due to which, the teachers feel threatened about continuity of English language (Ananova, 2005). The essay writing, if it is written in a format of textual messaging, is the outcome of making use of abbreviated English mostly for messaging that is a routine of students nowadays. The news story by Ananova is the one in which, a child made use of the language used in the text form for his essay writing. The teachers started a campaign about erosion of English language because of text messaging and instant messaging after the incident. The threat of language erosion is not only felt by teachers but also by other people concerned with betterment of children such as parents of children. Text messaging is considered on one hand as useful for children as teachers make use of it to enable the children with linguistics skills (Onley, 2005) and on the other hand, many teachers and other people are threatened about the continuity of English language. According to some writers, language has no threat because of text messaging and it is only felt by some teachers who get worried because of some students who make grammatical and linguistic errors while writing. Other writers regard text messaging as a threat to English language and consider that it will erode with continuous usage of text messaging with the abbreviated format. Chapter III-Methodology Research procedures For this research, the research methodology that is selected is quantitative research. With quantitative research, the data is found with the help of numbered results collected by the help of people’s input. For this research, a questionnaire is designed. It is suggested by the social theory that actions of individuals are in fact inspired by the response of actions expected to bring. Dillman (1978) applied this theory to questionnaire design and it was noted that respondents are inspired to complete and thereafter return questionnaire if benefits, cost and confidence are appropriate. It should be ensured that respondents are properly rewarded for completion and thereafter returning the questionnaire and as narrated by Dillman (1978), these rewards can depict positive regard such as offering thanks, seeking advice, providing tangible benefits, making the format of questionnaire interesting and offering social validation (Dillman, 1978). For the sake of minimizing costs, it was suggested by Dillman (1978) that a questionnaire should have below mentioned characteristics also along with others: Evade subordinating language Avoid embarrassing questions Avoid inconvenience Make Questionnaire easy, simple and short Minimize such kind of requests intended to acquire personal information. It was further suggested that the sponsor of research should try to earn the confidence of respondents, with confidence is defined as a pledge that has been promised by the sponsor, as an advantage of study will occur. Further suggestion made by Dillman (1978) was to provide a token of admiration in prior obtaining response and sponsorship by a genuine authority support enhance confidence. As such, questionnaire has been developed by applying these guidelines. Many research questions are the result of issues that are highlighted by the hypothesis. They also reveal experientially resulting constructs from initial experience as a person who has to type a text message within a given limit for the first time. These questions support in recognizing the data, which is required and is able to serve as a foundation for the thorough analysis required establishing a model. Altogether, the research questionnaire resolves different aspects of both propositions and are planned to assist the de-construction of system into its specific elements for establishing the normal nature of multi-cultural system. The order of different questions can support to define the approach of research and structure. The questionnaire designed for this research has ten questions in total that focus on the issue of Text Messaging and its impact on children and their writing skills. With the help of this research, I tried to find out whether Text messaging is advantageous or disadvantageous for children’s writing skills and for that purpose, a questionnaire was generated to collect people’s responses on the issue. Assumptions The assumptions that were taken for this research were that the students who were given the questionnaire forms were aware of the Text Messaging as they were not informed about Text Messaging. With this consideration, the forms that were given did not give any details on what is Text Messaging? Moreover, it was assumed that the students will be aware of Text Messaging services and will be using these services for sending text messages. Limitations For an educational research, there are many limitations such as the time constraints in which, the research should be submitted. Secondly, the research is not done on a large sample population but the sample population is somewhat small in size. In my research, the time given was a limitation while the sample population was also a small group of students. Only forty students were given the questionnaires to fill in order to collect relevant data. Data collection The data was collected for the research by means of providing questionnaires to a total of forty students who were asked to submit the questionnaires in a half hour time. The questionnaires were not lengthy due to which, they were filled within minimum time. Also most of the questions were to be answered in Yes or No and others were multiple choices, so, students faced no problem in filling the forms. Data was collected with no problem at all as teachers asked the students to fill in the forms. Treatment of data All the data that was collected by means of the questionnaires was assembled in a place and then percentages were calculated which showed how many percent students responded in “Yes” or “No” for a question and so on. The percentage was calculated by dividing the number of responses in Yes and No by 40 as 40 students were given the questionnaires. Chapter IV-Results Data analysis The quantitative data in form of questionnaire was very helpful in forming an opinion about whether text messaging is helpful or hurting for children’s writing skills. The questions that are created for the questionnaire are created by means of the topic under consideration and these questions are able to give an overview about children’s consideration of the problem of text messaging. All of the students responded in yes for the question, “Are you aware of text messaging?” All of the students were already aware of the text messaging, which indicates that it is quite well known and children are also fully aware of it. The second question was about forms of text messaging that are online chatting and mobile messaging. 92.5 percent students informed that they were aware of online messaging and 85 percent students responded that they were aware of mobile messaging. These high percentages indicate that children make use of online chatting as well as mobile messaging to a great extent. 57.5 percent students consider that text messaging is different than academic writing while 42.5 responded in “No” as they consider that text messaging and academic writing are alike. The students that consider text messaging and academic writing as different are aware that they should not make use of the writing style and language that they adopt in text message writing in their academic writing. Those students who responded no, they make use of the abbreviated language and erroneous grammar and punctuation in their academic writing as well. Most of the students abbreviated words and made use of popular formats for text messaging. A total of 87.5 percent students make use of abbreviated words and popular formats in their text messaging while 12.5 percent students replied in “No” for the question. Abbreviated words are used commonly in text messaging. Only 7.5 percent students feel that their grammar is not affected by the usage of text message while 92.5 students feel that their grammar is affected because of text messaging. The same ratios of students consider that their language as a whole is affected by making use of text messaging. Students feel that their grammar and language are affected to a large extent because of text messaging and they use that language, grammar and writing style in their academic writing due to which, their marks get affected. This percentage is a clear indication that students feel that their language and grammar is affected negatively because of text messaging. 52.5 percent students feel that text messaging is a threat to language while 47.5 percent students feel that text message cannot be considered a threat to language. When students themselves consider the text messaging as a threat to English language, this fact cannot be denied that text messaging is injurious for children’s writing skills. 15 percent students feel that text messaging is helpful for language acquisition while 85 percent students consider text messaging not supportive for language acquisition. The opinion of 85 percent students is in negative, which indicates that text messaging is considered as hurting writing skills of children. Many students make use of text messaging for many hours in the day. Many students make use of abbreviated pattern and grammatical structure of text messaging in their academic writing due to which, they lose marks in their assignments. A total of 47.5 students informed that they make use of text messaging format in their academic writing as well. 52.5 percent students responded in no as they consider that they do not make use of text messaging style in their academic writing. Presentation of results No Questions Responses Q # 01 Are you aware of Text messaging? 40 students answered in Yes/0 students answered in No. Q # 02 What are the forms of Text Messaging that you use in your routine? Most of the students were aware of online messaging as well as mobile messaging. 37 students were aware of online messaging and 34 were aware of the mobile messaging. 3 students did not use online messaging while 6 students did not use mobile messaging. Q # 03 Do you think that the language of Text Messaging is different as compared to Academic language? 23 students replied in YES/17 replied in No. Q # 04 Do you abbreviate words while sending text messages or do you use popular formats of Text Messaging? 35 students responded in Yes/5 students responded in No. Q # 05 Do you think that your grammar is affected because of Text Messaging? 37 of them responded in Yes/3 responded in No. Q # 06 Do you think that your language as a whole is affected by Text Messaging? 37 of them responded in Yes/3 responded in No. Q # 07 Do you think that Text Messaging is a threat to Language? 21 responded in Yes/19 responded in No. Q # 08 Is Text Messaging helpful in making your language better? 6 responded in Yes/34 responded in No. Q # 09 How much time of your day do you consume on Text Messaging? a. 1 hour: 0 students. b. 2 hours: 6 students. c. Four hours: 23 d. More than four hours: 11 Q # 10 Do you use the same pattern of words and grammar in your academic writings that you use for Text Messaging? 19 responded in Yes/21 responded in No. Chapter V-Summary, Conclusions & Recommendations Summary Text messaging is considered advantageous by one group of writers and disadvantageous by another group. Both the sides have their own reasons for their statements. The writers who consider text messaging as advantageous for the children indicate that teachers have considered some grammatical errors by students extensively. They also inform that linguists are not involved in considering text messaging as disadvantageous. These writers also indicate that some teachers have made use of text messaging for improving the skills of children in terms of writing. Writers who consider that text messaging is eroding the writing skills of students emphasize that students are accustomed to make use of wrong words and grammar due to which, they also follow the same writing pattern and grammar in their academic writing. These writers have conducted researches that indicate that children are making use of erroneous writing styles, using wrong punctuation and writing abbreviated words and incorrect sentence composition in their academics. Conclusions The results that are obtained after data collection of the filled in questionnaires indicate that children’s writing skills are affected negatively by text messaging. Students themselves feel that text messaging is hurting their writing skills. The students approve the fact that they make use of abbreviated words and popular formats for the text messaging and this usage in their routines, affects their language acquisition as a whole. They make use of erroneous words, expressions, punctuation, grammar and style in their academic writing due to which, their writing skills are affected negatively. Recommendations Text messaging can be made effective by making use of text messages without abbreviated words and wrong punctuation. The teachers and parents can make sure that whenever the students are involved in sending messages, they are linguistically well written and error free. There must be exercises to inform children about correct words and their usage and they must be allowed to share each other’s ideas by means of text messaging. Bibliography Alvermann, D. (2002). Adolescents and Literacies in a Digital World. New York: Peter Lang Inc. Ananova. (2005). Student writes essay in text message form. Retrieved on 31st January 2009 from http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_756462.html Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. New York: Wiley-Interscience Goodwyn, G. (2000). English in the Digital Age, Information and Communications Technology and the Teaching of English. London: Cassell. Goggin, G. (2006). Cell Phone Culture: Mobile technology in everyday life. New York: Routledge. Haig, M. (2002). Mobile Marketing: The Message Revolution. London: Kogan Page Limited. Huang, Lily. (2008). The Death of English (LOL). The Technologist, Newsweek, 2 August 2008. Retrieved on 31st January 2009 from http://www.newsweek.com/id/150449 O’Connor, Amanda. (2005). Instant Messaging: Friend or Foe of Student Writing? New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved on 31st January from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/literacy/oconnor.htm Onley, D. (2005). ‘Text messaging’. Education Today, Toronto, Spring 17 (1). Panosian, Jeff. (2009). Texting is Killing Writing Skills. Star-Gazette, 19 January 2009. Retrieved on 31st January 2009 from http://www.stargazette.com/article/20090119/OPINION04/901190308/-1/ARCHIVES Appendices Questionnaire Name: Class: Gender: No Questions Responses Q # 01 Are you aware of the form of Text messaging? Yes/No Q # 02 What are the forms of Text Messaging that you use in your daily routine? a. Online Messaging. b. Mobile Messaging. Q # 03 Do you think that the language of Text Messaging is different as compared to Academic language? Yes/No Q # 04 Do you abbreviate words while sending text messages or do you use popular formats of Text Messaging (such as BRB, OMG, and TC)? Yes/No Q # 05 Do you think that your grammar is affected because of Text Messaging? Yes/No Q # 06 Do you think that your language as a whole is affected by Text Messaging? Yes/No Q # 07 Do you think that Text Messaging is no threat to Language? Yes/No Q # 08 Is Text Messaging helpful in making your language better? Yes/No Q # 09 How much time of your day do you consume on Text Messaging? a. 1 hour b. 2 hours c. Four hours d. More than four hours Q # 10 Do you use the same pattern of words and grammar in your academic writings such as essays and paragraph writings that you use for Text Messaging? Yes/No Read More