Anthea Rowan wrote in The Telegraph this week about the relationship between adolescents ‘txting’, and literacy skills. You can read her article in full here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/8596454/How-texting-helps-pupils-with-their-textbooks.html
Rowan quotes Guy Merchant, Professor of Literacy in Education at Sheffield Hallam University and a member of the UK Literary Association (UKLA), who states that “Language and literacy change over time. Social, economic and technological conditions influence these changes in significant ways.” Merchant also states that writing is “enjoying a moment of creativity”, with young people at its heart, and that “there is no evidence that literacy is in decline, reading and writing, in whatever form, is advantageous”.
Concerns are nonetheless prevalent. Helen Cooper, professor of English at Cambridge University, worries that ‘txtspeak’ is not enough. She states that txtspeak does not typically use aspects of language found in well-developed literacy skills, including a large vocabulary, recognising the shape that well-made sentences can take, learning how to develop ideas through language, and using punctuation. Some teachers also argue that the scanning or browsing skills needed for using the Internet or when txting are not the same as those required for reading longer passages of text, such as in magazines or books.
However, Dr Wood from Coventry University states that “There is no evidence the use of textspeak is harming literacy development in children: in fact the associations are positive, rather than negative. There is a reason: many popular abbreviations used by children are highly phonetic in nature (often spelling as they speak), this shows a high degree of sensitivity to letter-sound correspondences in language. It just comes in a more unconventional form, and that unconventional format is what worries people”. Her argument therefore is that txting actually helps children to recognise the links between speech sounds and written letters. Her colleague, Dr Plester, states that “pre-teens who use the most ‘textisms’ do best in standard literacy measures of spelling and reading.” In addition, another study, by the National Literacy Trust, concludes that children who blog, text or use social networking websites are more confident about their writing skills.
The point of Rowan’s article is that although ‘txt-speak’ is not ideal, it nonetheless encourages children and teenagers to read and write. Ultimately from a speech and language therapy perspective, although a person may have difficulty expressing exactly what they want to say (in either spoken or written form), the overall desire to communicate is far more important.
If you think your child may benefit from support with their literacy skills, Integrated Treatment Services could be of help. Contact us here: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry/
Sarah Bennington July 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
