A study of 8 to 12 year olds suggests that children who regularly use texting shorthand actually improve their ability to spell. Researchers surmise texting requires the same “phonological awareness” needed to learn correct spellings. “So when pupils replace or remove sounds, letters or syllables – such as “l8r” for “later” or “hmwrk” for “homework” – it requires an understanding of what the original word should be,” the BBC reports.

“If we are seeing a decline in literacy standards among young children, it is in spite of text messaging, not because of it,” said Clare Wood, of the University of Coventry, where the research was conducted.

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9 Comments »

“So when pupils replace or remove sounds, letters or syllables – such as “l8r” for “later” or “hmwrk” for “homework” – it requires an understanding of what the original word should be…”

OR… does texting just require an understanding of what the original word should SOUND like rather than how it should be spelled?

I wonder if the texting students spelled better because to text you have to have either a cell phone or a computer and more underprivileged homes are less likely to have those things. I wonder if what the data really shows is that more privileged homes have kids who are better at spelling.

I’m with you, Mr. Pondiscio, I’d like to see more data.

Comment by AJGuzzaldo — January 22, 2010 @ 9:50 am
Also, what about grammar? Does texting affect the kids’ ability to compose a coherent sentence?

Comment by Deirdre Mundy — January 22, 2010 @ 11:26 am
What often seems to be missed is the the alternative to texting isn’t a carefully composed letter, it’s usually a phone call.

I would think that any medium that required kids to put their idea in writing — even strange, cryptic writing — probably promotes literacy, at least a little bit.

Comment by Rachel — January 22, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
As Willingham has convincingly argued, literacy is not promoted by any and all forms of reading and writing. If that were true, American students would read more fluently today than ever before.

Literacy comes from reading high quality materials and content knowledge. I cannot imagine that text messaging would promote literacy.

I also cannot imagine that students would become better at writing through texting, either, especially given that they would not be texting in an academic manner.

Again, I’d like to see more research on the subject.

Comment by AJGuzzaldo — January 22, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
To me, it’s really a question of formal and informal writing. I would definitely say that our students are writing more than ever before as a direct result of chat applications and now text. This is informal communication. I know for a fact that, as a student, I didn’t engage in reading and writing nearly as much as the students of today.

While I do understand a need for our children to learn to write in more formalized modes, we should be careful not to criticize that which do not fully understand. I would venture to say that putting thoughts into symbols is an activity of value, regardless of its formality. How much value remains to be seen.

Comment by Ian — January 22, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
I’m having a hard time buying into this study. Why do students have vocab lessons and tests that involve writing out words and spelling them over and over again? Because the repetition helped the brain to remember correct spelling. If a student is constantly using shorthand to text, won’t this create the same result?

Comment by online colleges — January 26, 2010 @ 12:55 pm
My experience teaching writing to 17 year olds does not support this…..they do not misspell 2-3 syllable words anymore, true, but that may be because they are not using them anymore. Their spelling is still abysmal. Reading improving spelling. Texting improved typing.

Comment by healigan — January 30, 2010 @ 12:42 am
This study makes me rethink everything! So, what they are saying is that shorthand improves spelling? I can’t wrap my head around that. I am finding that my students don’t have any phonemic awareness. Maybe I need to ask to see some of their text messages!

Comment by Ann — January 30, 2010 @ 3:29 pm
Ok so txting is prty ez.I mn srsly, I dnt c how txting cn affect splling.txting is txting, splling is splling. right, guys?

Comment by Adam — May 19, 2010 @ 2:46 pm