Effects of SMS Texting on the Writing Skills of University Students: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Writing is very essential language skill to be learnt by the students in their academic life. When appearing in any exam or attempting any class test, they need to pay very close attention to the accuracy, appropriation and standards of language. To maintain such language standards has become challenging in modern era due to increasing use of technology by the students in their daily life. The students' formal writing is being affected with SMS texting. The present study addresses the issue of SMS texting influencing students' writing skills negatively at a University level in Pakistan. The present study investigated five SMS features including vowel deletion, alphanumeric homophony, graphones, short forms and emoticons and smileys in paragraphs and answer scripts of their semester examination written by 100 undergraduate students in a public sector university in Pakistan. The study found that the students' formal writing is negatively affected with these SMS features. The students use these SMS features in their writing without considering the formal and informal contexts. The study recommends that the students need to avoid such technological lingo-referring to a language specific to mobiles and computers, in their academic context i.e. classroom activities and examinations. The students need to get familiar with standard variety of English and distinguish between technological and formal use of English language.

Full text

Effects of SMS Texting on the Writing Skills of University Students: A Case Study of
Undergraduate Students in Sindh, Pakistan
Sahib Khatoon
Sahib.khatoon@faculty.muet.edu.pk
English Language Development Center (ELDC),
Mehran University of Engineering & Technology Jamshoro Sindh Pakistan
Prof: Dr. zainol Abdin jafre
Dr. Amelia Abdullah
Syed Waqar Ali Shah
Abstract
Writing is very essential language skill to be learnt by the students in their academic life. When appearing in any
exam or attempting any class test, they need to pay very close attention to the accuracy, appropriation and standards
of language. To maintain such language standards has become challenging in modern era due to increasing use of
technology by the students in their daily life. The students’ formal writing is being affected with SMS texting. The
present study addresses the issue of SMS texting influencing students’ writing skills negatively at a University level
in Pakistan. The present study investigated five SMS features including vowel deletion, alphanumeric homophony,
graphones, short forms and emoticons and smileys in paragraphs and answer scripts of their semester examination
written by 100 undergraduate students in a public sector university in Pakistan. The study found that the students’
formal writing is negatively affected with these SMS features. The students use these SMS features in their writing
without considering the formal and informal contexts. The study recommends that the students need to avoid such
technological lingo—referring to a language specific to mobiles and computers, in their academic context i.e.
classroom activities and examinations. The students need to get familiar with standard variety of English and
distinguish between technological and formal use of English language.
Key words: Academic Writing, SMS texting, Standard Language, Technologies, Informal context
1. Introduction
Writing is considered a very significant mode of communication. It helps people to exchange
information and share research done in any discipline in any part of the world. Over the years,
there have been variations in linguistic system which can be observed through diachronic study
of any language. This phenomenon is discussed by linguists under headings like ‘language
evolution’ and ‘language change’. Such change in language is also evident in modern times due
to globalization which has brought a large number of technologies in the global market.
Bronowicki (2014) notes that with the advancements in technology including computers, I-pads,
mobile phones, the text messaging has increasingly become very important for individuals. Text
messaging is not only part of their social but also academic life. This exposure to text messaging
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is influencing students’ academic writing in classroom negatively (Thurlow, 2006). The
technology has shaped students’ attitude that they do not have to put more efforts ino their
writing. Thus, they use very shortened form of language in formal setting what they use in their
SMS text, Chat or E-mails. As a consequence of such exposure to emerging trends in English
language due to technological developments, the students feel difficult to distinguish between the
formal and informal writing (Rosen et al, 2010).
A number of scholars across the world have investigated the effects of technology on writing
skills of English language. Crystal (2008) working on the relation between language and internet
notes that a new variety of English is coming into play what he calls ‘textese’. Textese—the new
dialect is the result of influence of continuous chats in chat-rooms online and SMS messaging
through mobile phones. The linguists have coined several new terms referring to the study of
technological language. Crystal (2001) calls this emerging variety as ‘Net Speak’, ‘Weblish’,
‘Netish’ ‘Internet language’ or ‘e-discourses’ (p.17).
Such influence of the technology on English language is observable in different parts of the
world. As elsewhere in the world, English language in Pakistan is also posed with a threat of
technological lingo which refers to a particular set of words which are specifically used on
internet, mobile and smart phones for communication. The students at university level highly
depend on mobile phones, laptops and other forms of technology in both academic and social
life. They use smart phones in classrooms for taking notes of the lectures and sharing the
necessary information with their class fellows. To do so, they use abbreviated language in order
to save the time and energy. Consequently, this attempt of the students has resulted in harmful
effects on their formal writing which is reflected in their assignments and examinations scripts.
The present study, however, is an attempt to explore the ways SMS texting affects the writing
skills of undergraduate students at Mehran University of Engineering & Technology Jamshoro
Sindh Pakistan.
1.1 Statement of the problem
The increasing rate of SMS sending through modern technology including computers, internet
and smart phones is negatively influencing writing skills of undergraduate students in Sindh
Pakistan which is a threat to the standard variety of English language. Therefore, the strategies
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need to be formulated and implemented in the classroom so as to maintain the standards in
formal writing.
1.2 Aims
The study aims to investigate the influence of SMS Texting on Writing Skills of Undergraduate
Students at the Mehran University of Engineering & Technology Jamshoro Sindh. The following
are the two broader aims of the present study:
To investigate the morphological and syntactic distortion in writing skills of
Undergraduate Students due to the influence of SMS texting.
To investigate whether or not the linguistic distortion affects the clarity of message.
1.3 Research Questions
Based on the above research aims, the following research questions were formulated to
investigate the effects of SMS texting on the writing skills of undergraduates:
RQ1: What kind of morphological and syntactical distortion takes place in writing skills of
Undergraduate Students due to influence of SMS Texting?
RQ2: Whether or not the linguistic distortion affects the clarity of message?
1.4 Significance of the Study
English language like any other language in the world is very complex in nature consisting of a
body of rules. It has its own spellings, pronunciation, meanings and use. It is necessary to
maintain the standards of any language in formal settings. In an academic setting in Pakistan
where English is used as a medium of instruction, the students need to differentiate between
formal and informal patterns of writing. The Weblish or Netish is fine in informal settings like
SMS texting, chats or E-mails. However, when this is allowed in formal academic setting, it
violates the very basics of English language. It violates the orthography of the words and the way
they are pronounced. Furthermore, it affects the grammaticality of English language which
creates problems for intelligibility of any message being conveyed. Thus, the present study is
significant for the reason that it attempts to purge ‘Textese’ from the ‘Standard Written English’
in educational context. Besides, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology which is the
context of the present study accepts a significant number of admissions every year belonging to
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varied sociocultural and educational backgrounds. Most of the candidates in the university come
with varied language proficiencies. Many students come from government sector colleges where
English is paid a little heed in terms of developing academic writing skills. In this scenario where
students’ academic writing skills are already crippled, use of technology including internet and
mobiles phones also contribute their share in worsening their academic writing skills. Thus, a
need is felt to conduct a research on this issue which in turn can help teachers and students to
focus on formal variety of language while ignoring ‘textese’.
2. Literature Review
There are two opposing views on whether SMS texting influences students’ writing skills or not.
One school of thought is led by Crystal (2008) who is of the viewpoint that SMS texting does not
negatively affect English language. In his newspaper article (July 05, 2008), Crystal argues that
from the studies conducted in different countries, it can be said that there is no much threat of
SMS texting on ‘standard English’ For example, an American Study revealed less than 20%
participants who used abbreviated language in their formal writing; a Norwegian study showed
lower population with just 6% using abbreviations; in his own study in UK, the figure is about
10%,. Crystal (2008) argues that using abbreviations is not a new phenomenon and students do
not habitually use these abbreviated forms in their homework and examination. Another school
of thought is in conflict with Crystal’s (2008) position. Russell (2010) considers SMS language
as an independent and a new language. He argues that students need to learn the basics of
English language in pedagogic situations so that they could distinguish between slang texting,
lingo and correct English.
Sutherland (2002) notes that the new emerging abbreviations due to technology are influencing
English language negatively. He further comments that the new arrivals are yet to be recognized
by dictionaries. Humphreys (September 24, 2007) highlights the threats technological lingo
would have on standard variety of English language. He suggests that SMS service is destroying
English language. Most common words are being replaced with abbreviations, for instance, ‘thx’
for thanks; ‘u’ for you; ‘4’ for ‘for’.
Dansieh (2011) notes that more and more people worldwide are acquiring and using mobile
phones so they cannot escape text messaging which is integral part of their social life. In this
situation, a substantial number of people especially students are at risk. Omar and Miah (2012)
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conducted a study in the USA on effects of technology on teens’ writing skills. They found that
technology has had a negative impact on writing skills of teens in USA and the ‘net speak—the
technological language’ they use, do not follow the grammatical and syntactic rules of written
English. Rather, they are immersing inappropriately into formal school work. (p.9)
In a similar vein, Oluga & Babolola (2013) found the negative effects of SMS texting on
Nigerian Students’ writing skills. The students in Nigeria mistakenly used shortened language of
the SMS texting in their classroom writing tasks. For instance, words like ‘this’, ‘what’,
‘because’, and ‘people’ were found to be mistakenly written as ‘dis’, ‘wot or wt’, ‘bcs’ and ‘pple’
respectively. Another study conducted in the African context by Veronica (2014) revealed the
similar results. Veronica (ibid) holds the view that SMS language is a serious threat to standard
written English especially the spellings—the orthography of words is highly under the influence
of technology. British Broadcasting Company (March 04, 2003) reports that the text messaging
has long been blamed for deteriorating the standards of English language. The technology,
according to the report, has changed the spelling and grammar of English language, especially in
paper and pencil writing.
Limited research has been conducted in the present context of the study to examine the impact of
SMS texting on writing skills of students. Rafi (2010) maintains that SMS language in Pakistani
context ignores orthographic and syntactic regulations of language and students’ written
communication reflect these mistakes due to their excessive use of SMS texting in their everyday
life. Yousif & Ahmed (2013) conducted a study in Gujrat to investigate how SMS texting
influences writing skills of university students. The researchers used a survey technique and
administered a questionnaire among 100 participants. The study found that most of the students
receive 100 to 200 SMS texts daily and their habit of reading and sending SMS texting has
influenced their formal writing. The students make spelling mistakes in their formal writing in
university. The present study adopts a different from the studies done previously in a sense that it
observes writing samples of students (n=100) in classroom setting and also examines their final
assessment copies. The study contributes in the existing body of knowledge by investigating the
influence of SMS texting on writing skills of undergraduate students at Mehran University of
Engineering and technology, Jamshoro Pakistan.
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3. Methodology
The present study used qualitative approach for the collection and analysis of data. The
qualitative approach helps the researchers to understand the phenomenon in more depth. Dey
(1993) holds the view that qualitative research can be any method other than survey i.e.
participant and (non-participant) observation, interviews, the collection of documentary materials
and alike.
3.1 Data Collection & Analysis
The data of the study came from 100 undergraduate students who aged between 18 to 25 years
belonging to two engineering departments i.e. Software (first year) & Telecommunication (third
year) departments of Mehran University of Engineering and technology, Jamshoro.
The students were asked to write a paragraph on a topic selected by the present researchers.
Besides, the final examination scripts of the same students were also used for the corpus of the
present study.
The paragraph samples and examination scripts of 100 were analyzed using content analysis to
investigate the SMS features i.e. vowel deletion, alphanumeric homophony, graphones and short
forms. The use of emoticons and smileys were also taken into account during analysis of the
scripts of population under study. Content analysis helps the researchers to codify qualitative
data into themes and categories (Creswell, 2008). Qualitative researchers rely on content analysis
for analyzing comprehensive data encoded in the text.
The proficiency level of students varied though all the participants studied English for almost 10-
12 years. The division in line with private and government sector was the reason for varied
proficiency in use of English language in class and outside.
3.2 Explanation of the key categories under investigation
The following categories were formulated for analysis of effects of SMS texting on academic
writing skills of the students at Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro
Sindh.
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a. Vowel Deletion
Veronica et al (2014) defines vowel deletion as a process referring to the exclusion of vowel
letters from a given word which is used in SMS texting for the purpose of brevity. For instance,
‘pls’, ‘kds’ are used for ‘please’ and ‘kids’ respectively.
b. Alphanumeric Homophony
Alphanumeric homophony is blending of letters and numbers used to give meaning of any word,
phrase or sentence. Most texters as commonly observed use ‘4 U’ for ‘for you’, ‘2day’ for
‘today’, ‘n8’ for ‘night’ in their SMS texts every day.
c. Graphones
The word ‘graphone’ is made up of two parts: graphic and phones. The former refers to
orthographic or written representation of the words while the latter means the speech sound.
Brass & Mous (2013) defines graphones as SMS feature in which words are written the same
way they are pronounced. For example, ‘Y’ for ‘why’, ‘U’ for ‘you’, ‘R’ for ‘are’ are commonly
seen instances in SMS texting.
d. Short forms
Short forms are the abbreviated spellings used in SMS texts. These are sometimes reflected in
formal writing of the students. For example, ‘GM’ for ‘Good Morning’. ‘GN’ for ‘Good Night’
are used in SMS texts.
e. Emoticons & Smileys
Emoticons and Smileys are icons and different faces used to express feeling of happiness,
sadness, surprise, annoyance and wonder. This is every day practice of the SMS texters to
convey their feelings through emoticons and smileys.
4. Findings & Discussion
The study analyzed 100 paragraph samples and 100 answer scripts of undergraduate students at
Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro for highlighting the SMS features
including vowel deletion, alphanumeric homophony, graphones, short forms, emoticons and
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smileys. The study aimed at investigating these features which in turn affect students’ formal
academic writing skills of students at university level. The study indicate that students’ formal
writing is highly affected with SMS features.
Vowel deletion used for the brevity purpose was most dominant SMS feature found in the
samples collected for the present study. The texters mostly omit vowels and use the rest of letters
to represent a word. The formal writing of the students is thus affected with such habit. The
present study found many instances of the same nature in students’ answer sheets & paragraphs.
These examples include ‘pls’ for ‘please’, ‘thr’ for ‘there’, ‘gd’ for ‘good’, ‘bcs’ for ‘because’,
‘wt’ for ‘what’, ‘frm’ for ‘from’ among others. These words were found with omission of vowels
in students’ sentences. For example, they wrote ‘Thr are many benefits of mobile phone’, ‘We
can gain many things in life bcz of knowledge.’ Likewise, many other instances present
throughout paragraph samples and answer sheets were found by the present researchers.
Another most dominant SMS feature found in the samples was alphanumeric homophony which
relates to the blending of number and word to represent the word. The students blended letters
and numbers considering it as a word. A few instances found by the present researcher include
‘2day’ for ‘today’, ‘w8ng’ for ‘waiting’, ‘b4’ for ‘before’, ‘n8’ for ‘night’ etc. The students wrote
a few sentences in their paragraphs containing alphanumeric feature of SMS texting. Students as
they are more habitual in their daily life to use this feature in their SMS texting, wrote sentences
like ‘In 2day’s world, a man is technologically more advanced than the past’, and ‘During n8,
the people use cell phones excessively’. Use of such blending in students’ write-ups is purely the
result of their regular use of alphanumeric homophony in their SMS texts.
Graphones which refers to the use of a letter or number o represent a word was third most
dominant feature found in the present study. The common and frequent instances of graphones in
the samples used in the present study include ‘U’ for ‘You’, ‘Ur’ for ‘Your’, and ‘C’ for ‘See’.
For example, a student in his answer copy of the semester exams wrote ‘It is important to c the
audience in writing any draft’. This SMS feature was more present in students’ answer sheets
attempted in their exams.
The SMS features which was found in very less quantity from the corpus of the samples were
short forms, emoticons and smileys. The students wrote some short forms in their answer scripts
and paragraphs. These short forms were less general in nature. They used jargon-like
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initializations in their samples. For instance, they used ‘MUET’ for ‘Mehran University of
Engineering & Technology’ and ‘pkg’ for ‘package’. Besides short forms, some students also
used emoticons and smileys in their writings to express their feelings and emotions. A female
student used  at the completion of the answer in her copy. However, this feature was not much
apparent in the samples.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The present study aimed to investigate the morphological and syntactical distortions in students’
formal writing caused by SMS texting. Besides, the study also attempted to seek the answer
whether this distortion in formal writing affects the clarity of message or not. The five SMS
features including vowel deletion, alphanumeric homophony, graphones, short forms and
emoticons and smileys were investigated in students’ written paragraphs and exam answer scripts
to reach the objectives of the study. The study found that students’ formal writing is affected with
above mentioned SMS features. The corpus from the sample showed presence of vowel deletion
(most dominant feature in the sample of the present study), alphanumeric homophony (second
most dominant SMS feature), graphones (third most dominant feature) and short forms and
emoticons which were less evident in the study. The findings show that the regular use of SMS
texting by the students in their daily life affects their formal writing. The students consciously or
unconsciously bring in the ‘textese’ in their write-ups which leads to distortion of language
(morphology and syntax) of English language. Thus, it affects the standards of English language.
However, the present study found that the clarity of message is not affected in spite of
morphological and syntactical distortion in their write ups. The intended meaning of the students
in their writing is clearly understood.
Based on the findings, the present study recommends that the students need to be very careful
about use of formal and standard language in their writings in an academic setting. They need to
avoid SMS language in formal context including classroom activities and examinations. This
violates the standards of English language. The study suggests that the teachers should play their
role by getting students familiar with their use of SMS features in their writings and guide them
to avoid such input at their best.
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