Is 'Textese' Ruining The English Language?

*This piece was written for an English assignment in my AS year - for which I gained an award - thought I would share it* 

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A long-standing debate has emanated from the advances in communication technology for centuries. The same furore was born from the creation of the printing press (‘devil’s word’), the telegram, the telephone and now mobile phones and texting.

There are many avenues of this argument that can be delved into however, the two main paths are those who believe that ‘textese’ (text speak) is ruining the English language and those who believe it is changing/enhancing it for the better.

Five main myths surround texting: texting is done by kids; they are full of abbreviations; ‘textisms’ were invented by kids; as a result, kids don’t know how to spell properly; the ‘slanguage’ is beginning to creep into essays and exams, breeding illiteracy. David Crystal, a Professor of Linguistics for over forty years, argued against these myths. As he points out, ½ of the world’s population have a phone, 2/3 of these text and 80% of those are adults. To those of you who say that texts do not have a point, Crystal says that every text has a point – although most may be phatic (chit chat), many use them to build rapport. Only 10% of texts are abbreviated and even then, abbreviations have been used for centuries – notable examples being Lewis Carrol and Queen Victoria, too. To abbreviate, you have to already know the original spelling in order to make letters redundant. Texting is still practice in literacy and many students say that they would not dare transfer the ‘textese‘ into their classwork, as they do not want bad grades.

There is nothing new about people struggling to spell and use grammar correctly; it’s a problem we have always had to deal with. But is texting ruining the English language? Perhaps it is just changing and influencing the language, as all cultural developments have done since fluent language was created. Our language is full of latinates and German/French origins so why is this so important?

The new orthography (ways of spelling) of texting allows a person to shorten a message or converse information faster (e.g. clipping). Signings such as ‘x’ or ‘xoxo’ can highlight complex interpersonal meanings and act as visual signals. Playfulness and creativity can also be beneficial to children in developing their writing skills.

Neologisms (new words) are a part of the English language – we can devote huge proportions of our language bank to Shakespeare, just to begin with. Infiltrating children’s school work and exams can and will be detrimental however, very few confuse the two registers. It is certainly not a generalisable statement.

As Graeme Paton (a British Journalist) points out, critics often refer to text messaging as blurring the boundaries between colloquialisms and standard English. However, new studies have noted ‘significant contribution of textism use to […] children’s spelling development’. Text abbreviations involve a high phonetic nature, and so alphabetic awareness is required.

Arguments have also been made in the way of the meanings of texts being misinterpreted or missed entirely – which can therefore cause more problems than conventional conversation. Many conservative, stringent people do not care for the modern ‘fad’ (which has now become the most popular form of communication bar social media) and view texting as the ‘penmanship for illiterates’ (John Sutherland - British academic, newspaper columnist and author). In contrast, as “older” people have begun to text, an even more standardised style has appeared. I for one text and DM in standard English, grammar and all.

‘Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster’. These words ring true – in my opinion, ‘textese’ is not ruining language but changing it, allowing diversification. It is not the first advancement to do so and will certainly not be the last. This long-standing debate will continue even after texting has died out. But what is your opinion? Do you believe ‘textese’ is ruining the English language?