This assignment started out with reading 2 articles and an abstract. The first article discussed how it has been 25 years since the first text, and it has changed the way people communicate but has not led to any grammatical decline. The second article discusses a similar theme, that texting does not hurt the spelling or grammar of kids. The abstract also notes that internet language has not led to a decline in grammatical skills.
Next, each chat group member had to read a different research article, based on where their last name falls academically. The article I read was called “The Effect of Text Messaging on 9-and 10-year old Children’s Reading, Spelling, and Phonological Processing Skills”.
Additionally, we had to conduct a one hour chat with our chat group. To start the chat, we had to tell the other members of the group about our research article we read. This included the study’s methodology, the major results, and what those results mean. We had to finish by concluding what all of the studies mean, and what we would tell a parent that is concerned about their child using textisms.
Finally, on the discussion board, we had to post a summary of our chat, a transcript PDF, and information about the group members, time and date of the chat.
In our chat, Weiyan’s discussed that her article results were that there is no evidence that knowledge of textisms by pre-teen children has any negative association with their written language competence. My article results were that there were no significant differences in cell phone versus no cell phone groups on measures of spelling, reading, and phonological processing. However, within the cell phone group, use of text abbreviations was associated with increased literacy skills.
From the two studies we talked about, there were no real negative consequences related to textisms that were mentioned. They were either neutral or actually positive in many cases. We thought parents and educators should read these studies and be less worried about their child about using textisms since it will not hurt children’s language development, it could maybe even improve it!
Reflecting on this assignment, it was good to read a few initial articles that all represent similar findings. Consistently reading that texting does not negatively impact language development allowed me to really believe that, because multiple findings backed up the claim.
Additionally, reading a different article than other chat group members was good because it allowed us to compare and contrast the different studies. Even though they were about the same general topic, the methods weren’t identical and they weren’t testing the exact same variables. So, comparing articles allowed me to think critically and try to draw conclusions that could represent both studies!
I also thought it was good to include the part about parents who are worried about the negative effects of texting. Older generations, as well as the media, constantly talk about texting in a negative way, how it is taking up all of our time and making people less smart. However, the articles we read showcase that there are not cognitive disadvantages from texting. If I am ever confronted about texting by an older relative, I can now tell them about the results of these studies!
Additionally, talking about the results of studies with other people is good, because it provides new perspectives and facilitates learning. Chatting with Weiyan once again allowed me to learn about her as well as about the class material, and I look forward to our next chat!
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