Txt msgs help language evolve, lol

Mariane Ghazaleh 
Staff Writer 

This is a high-tech era. Adults, teens and even young children are connected through several devices such as cell phones, iPads, iPods, Bluetooth and others. Texting, along with its unique language style, has evolved as a new way to communicate - faster than letters, a step up from email, and not dependent on wifi.

A survey of student texting habits shows that an overwhelming majority of students text all day, every day. Freshman Anna Popularum even asked, “What is life without texting?” Among students, the messages are generally short. Typically, girls will have longer conversations than guys; however, if the person on the other end of the conversation is a long distance friend or relative, the messages tend to be longer. There was a mix of opinions as to whether or not texting affected each student’s writing.  Freshman Neenakshi Sathish admitted that text slang “ruins grammar and vocabulary.” On the contrary, freshman Paige Statham points out that texting and typing are different, so her texting habits don’t affect her grammar.

Teachers were asked similar questions about their texting habits and effects on student communication. As expected, teachers don’t text as much as students; however their habits range from just-got-texting-last-month to texting on a daily basis with shorthand and emojis. A common consensus though showed that teachers see a drastic change in student communication habits and writing. No longer capitalizing letters or forgetting apostrophes in English papers, science labs, and especially emails have become a concern. Additionally, student vocabulary has dwindled. Sending messages doesn’t require an extensive vocabulary since emojis and text-slang are sufficient to express sentiment. The shift in style of communication and grammar hasn’t settled very well with many teachers. 

Student texting

However, not all change is bad. The English language is evolving. People invent new words and portray feelings with few letters and even simple pictures. For example, “LOL” doesn’t really stand for “laughing out loud” anymore. John McWhorter, a CNN opinion writer, explains how “LOL” is a more empathetic phrase rather than a literal remark. “It [“LOL”] does something – conveys an attitude… LOL is, of all things, grammar.” 

These are the times of a language evolution. Our means of corresponding with each other is ever-changing as new technology is invented. Whether society is ready or not, our communication is advancing. So on your mark, get set, type.