Texting - a blessing or a curse?

Texting as a cultural phenomenon

Blessing or curse?

Hypothesis

• Texting cannot be menacingly harmful to the Standard language. The threat of language destruction is hugely exaggerated.

Aim

• To explore the distinctive features of texting as a cultural phenomenon and try to estimate its potential effects on the Standard language.

It’s easier and it’s fun

Part of the same gang

• What tim does th trn gt in?- What time does the train get in?
• C u in 5 min – See you in 5 minutes.
• U 2. Glad journey OK.x. – You too. I am glad your journey was OK. Kiss you.

Logograms

Pictograms

• b – be
• 2 – to
• @ - at
• x – kiss

• ; -) wink
• :-@ screaming
• (*o*) surprised
• (^_^) cute

Initialisms

Omitted letters

• JK – just kidding
• DK – don’t know
• CMB – Call me back
• SWDYT – So what do you think?
• MMYT – Mail me your thoughts

• plsed – pleased
• comin – coming
• rite – write
• msg – message
• getng – getting

Nonstandard spelling

Shortenings

• cos, cuz – because
• fone – phone
• luv – love
• ova – over
• shud – should

• gran - grandmother
• uni – university
• bro – brother
• hol – holiday
• absol – absolutely

It’s not writing at all

It’s ‘fingered speech’

Speak or write?

Concern

People are very concerned about the declining of children’s literacy

( The Times, The Guardians)

Advantages

• establishing language abilities
• the ability to communicate effectively
• developing considerable literacy awareness

  My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & th 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it’s a gr8 pic

My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it’s a great place

Do you use text language often?

What techniques do you imply?

Do you use English textisms?

Do you have mistakes in school papers caused by text-speak?

Conclusions

• The text language is very popular and widely-used mostly by young people.
• Texting is an additional language and texters can be called bi-lingual as they can use two languages simultaneously for different purposes.
• The text language in Russia is not as sophisticated as in Britain or the USA.
• The changes in the Modern language are inevitable but the influence of Texting will hardly be crucial for the Standard language.