![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
The perpetual use of mobile devices by adolescents has fueled a culture of text messaging, with abbreviations and grammatical shortcuts, thus raising the following question in the minds of parents and teachers: Does increased use of text messaging engender greater reliance on such ‘textual adaptations’ to the point of altering one’s sense of written grammar? A survey (N = 228) was conducted to test the association between text message usage of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students and their scores on an offline, age-appropriate grammar assessment test. Results show broad support for a general negative relationship between the use of techspeak in text messages and scores on a grammar assessment, with implications for Social Cognitive Theory and Low-Road/High-Road Theory of Transfer of Learning. These results indicate that adolescents may learn through observation in communication technologies, and that these learned adaptations may be transferred to standard English through Low-Road transfer of learning. Further mediation analyses suggest that not all forms of textual adaptation are related to grammar assessment score in the same way. ‘Word adaptations’ were found to be negatively related to grammar scores, while ‘structural adaptations’ were found to be non-significant.
References
|
af Segerstad, YH (2005) Language use in Swedish mobile text messaging. In: Ling, R, Pedersen, PE (eds) Mobile Communications: Re-negotiation of the Social Sphere. Springer: London, 323–333. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bandura, AJ (1986) Social Foundation of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Baron, N (2005) Instant messaging and the future of language. Communications of the ACM 48(7). Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Baron, RM, Kenny, DA (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51(6): 1173-1182. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Braaksma, M, Rijlaarsdam, G, van den Bergh, H (2002) Observational learning and the effects of model-observer similarity. Journal of Educational Psychology 94(2): 405–415. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Braaksma, M, Rijlaarsdam, G, van den Bergh, H, van Hout-Wolters, BHAM (2004) Observational learning and its effects on the orchestration of writing processes. Cognition and Instruction 22(1): 1–36. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Braaksma, M, van den Bergh, H, Rijlaarsdam, G, Couzijn, M (2001) Effective learning activities in observation tasks when learning to write and read argumentative texts. European Journal of Psychology of Education 17(1): 33–48. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
CTIA (2010) CTIA–The Wireless Association Announces Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey Results. Available at: http://www.ctia.org/media/press/body.cfm/prid/1936 (accessed April 10, 2010). Google Scholar | |
|
Eger, A (2007) Learning language: Spelling still counts: Teachers stay tough in imparting grammar and spelling skills in an e-mail, instant-message world. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, February 8. Google Scholar | |
|
Graham, S, Harris, KR (1994) The role and development of self-regulation in the writing process. In Schunk, DH, Zimmerman, BJ (eds) Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance: Issues and Educational Applications. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 203–228. Google Scholar | |
|
Grinter, RE, Eldridge, MA (2001) y do tngrs luv 2 txt msg? In: Prinz, W, Jarke, M, Rogers, Y, et, al. (eds) Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 219–238. Google Scholar | |
|
Jones, GM, Schieffelin, BB (2009) Talking text and talking back: “My BFF Jill” from Boob Tube to YouTube. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14(4): 1050–1079. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Kasesniemi, E, Rautiainen, P (2002) Mobile culture of children and teenagers in Finland. In: Katz, JE, Aakhus, MA (eds) Perpetual Contact: Mobile Communication, Private Talk, Public Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 170–192. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kim, G, Park, S, Oh, J (2008) An examination of factors influencing consumer adoption of Short Message Service (SMS). Psychology & Marketing 25(8): 769–786. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Lenhart, A, Arafeh, S, Smith, A, Macgill, A (2008) Writing, Technology, and Teens. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/Writing-Technology-and-Teens.aspx (accessed February 19, 2010). Google Scholar | |
|
Leung, L (2007) Unwillingness-to-communicate and college students’ motives in SMS mobile messaging. Telematics & Informatics 24(1): 115–129. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Mindlin, A (2008) Letting our fingers do the talking. The New York Times, 28 September. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/technology/29drill.html?ref=textmessaging (accessed March 23, 2009). Google Scholar | |
|
The Nielsen Company (2010) U.S. Teen Mobile Report: Calling Yesterday, Texting Today, Using Apps Tomorrow. Available at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/u-s-teen-mobile-report-calling-yesterday-texting-today-using-apps-tomorrow/ Google Scholar | |
|
Palmgreen, P, Wenner, LA, Rosengren, KE (1985) Uses and gratifications research: The past ten years. In: Rosengren, KE, Wenner, LA, Palmgreen, P (eds) Media Gratifications Research: Current Perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 11–37. Google Scholar | |
|
Preacher, KJ, Hayes, AF (2004) SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers 36(4): 717–731. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
|
Salomon, G, Perkins, DN (1989) Rocky roads to transfer: Rethinking mechanisms of a neglected phenomenon. Educational Psychologist 24(2): 113–142. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Schunk, DH (1991) Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective. New York: Merrill. Google Scholar | |
|
Schunk, DH, Hanson, AR (1985) Peer models: Influence on children’s self-efficacy and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology 77(3): 313–322. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Sidener, J (2003) The GR8 IM DB8: Instant Messaging Applauded for Getting Students to Write, but Teachers Fret over Decline in Basic Skills. The San Diego Union Tribune, December 1. Google Scholar | |
|
Zimmerman, B, Kitsantas, A (2002) Acquiring writing revision and self-regulatory skill through observation and emulation. Journal of Educational Psychology 94(4): 660–668. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI |
