Internet Language: An Investigation into the Features of Textisms in an ESL/EFL Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v9i2.1848Keywords:
Texting, Textisms, Spoken Grammar, Internet Lingo, AbbreviationsAbstract
In recent years, the prevalence of mobile communication has given rise to a new writing style that is an amalgam of oral and written modes. The rapid growth of Textisms arouses curiosity, fear, and perplexity among people. In Lebanon, some educators complain about the propagation of texting and claim that it is becoming harmful for their students. Thus, this study examines the nature of this new trend by describing its linguistic features and comparing it with oral speech through the application of Carter and McCarthy’s Model of Spoken Grammar. A detailed analysis of 1,890 messages obtained from 240 university students shows that Textisms are mainly characterized by unconventional spelling through the use of contractions and expressive. Similar to the oral language, texted sentences are weakly structured due to their briefness, and common features entail frequent use of deictic references, ellipsis, discourse markers, and others. Unlike the spoken language, vagueness, swearing and taboo expressions, and sign-offs are rarely used by texters. Finally, punctuation rules are violated by texters and hold major signification in texting.
References
Androutsopoulos, J. K. (2000). Non-standard spellings in media texts: the case of German fanzines. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 4(4), 514–533. doi: 101111/1467-9481.00128. Retrieved from https://jannisandroutsopoulos.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jos_4-4_fanzines.pdf
Auerbach, C. E. & Silverstein, L. B. (2003). Qualitative data: An introduction to coding and analysis. New York: New York University Press.
Bieswanger, M. (2007). 2 abbrevi8 or not 2 abbrevi8: A contrastive analysis of different shortening strategies in English and German text messages. Texas Linguistics Forum, 50. Retrieved from http://didattica.uniroma2.it/assets/uploads/corsi/39543/smsgermanenglish.pdf
Carrington, V. (2005). Txting: the end of civilization (again)? Cambridge Journal of Education, 35(2), 161–175. doi: 10.1080/03057640500146799. Retrieved from
http://www.pauldowling.me/r%26d/papers/carrington(2005).pdf
Carter, R., & M. McCarthy. (2006). Cambridge grammar of English: A comprehensive guide. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Corbin, J., & Holt, N. D. (2004). Grounded theory. In C. Lewin (Ed.), Research methods in the social sciences (pp. 49-55). London:Sage Publication.
Crystal, D. (2008). Txtng: The gr8 db8. Oxford:Oxford University Press.
Crystal, D. (2011). Internet Linguistics: A Student Guide. London:Routledge.
Drouin, M. (2011). College students' text messaging, use of textese and literacy skills. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(1), 65-67. doi: 10.1111/j.13652729.2010.00399.x
Elvis, F. W. (2009). The sociolinguistics of mobile phone SMS usage in Cameroon and Nigeria. The International Journal of Language Society and Culture, 28(28), 25–41. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.540.8674&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Faulkner, X. & Culwin, F. (2005). When fingers do the talking: a study of text messaging. Interacting with Computers, 17(2), 167–185. doi:10.1016/j.intcom.2004.11.002. Retrieved from https://www.ffri.hr/~ibrdar/komunikacija/seminari/Faulkner,%202005%20-%20SMS%20messaging.pdf
Grinter, R., & Eldridge, M. (2003). Want2tlk?: Everyday text messaging. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 441–448. Retrieved from https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~beki/c24.pdf
Heidari, M. & Alibabaee, A. (2013). Linguistic and discoursal features of text message language created by Iranian male and female SMS users. Sheikhbahaee EFL Journal, 2(1), 55–72. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a44c/7728b16b9672ebbe73324282bfd47ed0fc2f.pdf
Hard af Segerstag, Y. (2002). Use and adaptation of the written language to the conditions of computer-mediated communication, PhD thesis (Published doctoral dissertation). University of Goteborg, Sweden. Retrieved from http://nl.ijs.si/janes/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/segerstad02.pdf
Humphry, J. (2007, September). I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language. Dailymail. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html
Leung, L. (2007). Unwillingness-to-communicate and college students’ motives in SMS mobile messaging. Telematics and Informatics, 24(2), 115–129. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2006.01.002
Ong’onda, N. A., Matu, P. M. & Oloo, P. A. (2011). Syntactic aspects in text messaging. World Journal of English Language, 1(1), 2–8. Retrieved from
http://197.136.134.32/bitstream/handle/123456780/4613/197-533-1-PB.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Paterson, A. (2010). NetSpeakWrite: A new breed of communication. Dalhousie Journal of Interdisciplinary Management, 5, 1–14. Retrieved from
https://ojs.library.dal.ca/djim/article/view/2010vol6Paterson/57
Plester, B., & Wood, C. (2009). Exploring relationships between traditional and new media literacies: British preteen texters at school. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 1108–1129. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01483.x Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/14/4/1108/4583569
Plester, B., Wood, C.,& Joshi, P. (2009). Exploring the relationship between children’s knowledge of text message abbreviations and school literacy outcomes. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 27, 145–161. doi:10.1348/026151008X320507.
Schiffrin, D. (1987). Discourse Markers. New York:Cambridge University Press
Shortis, T. (2007). Gr8 txtpectations The creativity of text spelling. English Drama Media Journal, 8, 21–26. Retrieved from http://nl.ijs.si/janes/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/shortis07.pdf
Sutherland, J. (2002, November). Cn u txt? The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/nov/11/mobilephones2
Tagg, C. (2012). Discourse of text messaging: Analysis of SMS communication. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Thurlow, C. & Brown, A. (2003). Generation Txt? The sociolinguistics of young people's text-messaging. Discourse Analysis Online, 1(1), 1–27. Retrieved from
Varnhagen, C. K., McFall G. P., Pugh, N., Routledge, L., Sumida-MacDonald, H. & Kwong, T. E. (2010). lol: new language and spelling in instant messaging. Read Writ, 23, 719–733. doi: 10.1007/s11145-009-9181-y. Retrieved from
Weber, R. (1986). Variation in spelling and the special case of colloquial contractions. Visible Language, 20(4), 413–426.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).