DGL Team C

ifty-two high school students aged 13-15 years, and 53 undergraduates aged 18-24 years, all users of predictive texting, translated conventional English sentences into textese using two methods: writing messages down and typing them into mobile phones. Participants produced a variety of textisms, and in both translation methods, adolescents and young adults used textisms in nearly identical ways. This was true for the proportion and types of textisms used, textism categories produced and consistency with which textisms were spelled. The use of textisms was negatively correlated with scores for reading, nonword reading, spelling and morphological awareness, but some of these relationships were accounted for by participants' usual text-messaging frequency. For these age groups, concerns that frequent texting may mask or even contribute to poor linguistic skills cannot be dismissed

A total of 6.2 million children aged between six and 12 years of age ventured into a virtual world in the 12 months between April 2007 and April 2008. Media and gaming industry analysts predict that by 2011 more than one-half of all children in that age group will be visiting virtual worlds regularly, going more often and staying longer. Paying attention to the kinds of online and offline practices these worlds promote in relation to identity and text is, for educators, both interesting and important.