Texting Language Leaks Into School Work

SPRINGDALE — Mariela Rodas, 17, said she stopped using abbreviated words and phrases in text messages after she noticed them leaking into her school work.

Leecie Henson, English teacher at Springdale High School, said she deducts points on assignments when students use texting language. Five to 10 essays of every 30 she grades have this language in them. The most common abbreviations she sees are “gonna,” which means “going to,” and “cuz,” which means “because,” she said.

“If you’re writing an essay for me, then they have to use more formal language,” Henson said.

Students tend to use the abbreviations when writing, because it’s something they do daily when communicating with friends and family, Henson said.

“Using that language is a habit,” she said. “I think they get in a hurry. I think that’s really when it slips in the most.”

The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project conducted an online survey of 2,067 middle and high school teachers from March 7, 2012, to April 23, 2012, according to the project website. Sixty-eight percent thought digital technology makes students more likely to take shortcuts and not put effort into their writing, 40 percent thought it makes them more likely to use poor spelling and grammar and 46 percent thought it makes them more likely to write too fast or be careless.

Marsha Hudson, English department chair at Rogers High School, said she doesn’t see much texting language in student writing. What she does see is a failure to capitalize “I” as a pronoun and a failure to use punctuation. She said those errors have increased during the past three or four years and thinks the reason is an increased usage of texting and social media.

Seventy-eight percent of teenagers, ages 12-17, have a cellphone, according to the Teens and Technology 2013 report by the Pew Research Center. Thirty-seven percent of teenagers have smartphones, a 14 percent increase from 2011.

Cesar Velasquez, 17, said he has had a cellphone since third grade. He sends and receives about 15,000 texts each month. He said teachers have reminded him since fifth grade about not using shortened words and phrases in school work.

It wasn’t until seventh grade Velasquez learned “cuz” isn’t a word, and the proper word choice is “because,” he said. He never understood why teachers marked the word in red until someone explained it to him. He often sees the texting abbreviations leak into his essays, and he sometimes receives lower grades because of it.

“I even put ‘lol’ on one once, and I didn’t realize,” Velasquez he said.

Rodas said she also stopped using texting language because the abbreviations can be confusing.

“You don’t know exactly what they mean,” Rodas said.

Henson said the shorthand typing can result in students writing faster and more concise. It also reduces the amount of details students use, Henson said.

“It’s more just cut and dry,” Henson said.

Karla Gutierrez, 16, said she spends a lot of time editing her school work, because she has a habit of using the shortened words and phrases.

Students take about the same amount of time to write an essay as they did before texting was popular, but the process is flipped, Henson said. Before texting, students would take more time writing and less time editing. Students now write faster but take more time editing, she said.

Henson and Hudson said they are teaching their students to write to an audience of teachers and not their friends. The teachers ask students to revise and rewrite essays if they use texting language.

“If you are texting friends, it is not formal,” Hudson said through email. “However, the student has to be able to recognize the difference and transition from informal to formal multiple times in a day.”