DGL Purple Cobras

In fact, there’s powerful evidence that digital tools are helping young people write and think far better than in the past.

But Prof. Lunsford did find a big change in how students were writing – and it was a positive shift. Over the past century, the freshman composition papers had exploded in length and intellectual complexity.

It used to be that students did comparatively little writing out of school; even if you were in university, there was little call for it, and few vehicles to showcase your writing. But now, as Prof. Lunsford’s research has found, 40 per cent of all writing is done outside the classroom – it’s “life writing,” stuff students do socially, or just for fun. And it includes everything from penning TV recaps to long e-mail conversations to arguments on discussion boards.

For those of you who worry about the effect of texting on literacy, there are several studies showing no negative effects. But beware of popular media on this topic.

It isn’t a cause of bad spelling: you have to know how to spell before you can text. Texting actually improves your literacy, as it gives you more practice in reading and writing.

The ten-year study, funded by the British Academy, examined the effect of the use of text messages on eight to 12-year-olds.

'We were surprised to learn that not only was the association strong, but that text use was actually driving the development of phonological awareness and reading skills in children.'

Psychologist Dr Clare Wood, who led the study at Coventry University, said the use of abbreviations, commonly used in text messaging, helped in the development of children's reading and writing skills.

Texting and “text speak” can be used to help build foundational reading skills (link is external) such as word recognition and phonological awareness. You can also use texting to generate discussions of formal and informal language (link is external) and writing for different tasks, audiences, and purposes (link is external), which are necessary skills for meeting college and career readiness standards in reading (link is external), writing (link is external), language (link is external), and speaking and listening (link is external). Although it may not seem like it, texting is writing, and students who text frequently are engaging in frequent writing (link is external). Therefore, it makes sense to harness all of that energy and use it as a way to help your students build their writing skills (link is external)!

That is, students who were using text speak the most frequently tended to be more adept with language. The authors also concluded that use of textisms may be "contributing to reading development in a way that goes beyond simple phonologically based explanations" (p. 155).

“A generation ago, a teen who couldn’t read well could still participate pretty fully in the social conversation among peers,” says Timothy Shanahan, president of the International Reading Association. “But with so much written chatter, being able to read and write have become definite social advantages. There is simply much more pressure to know how to read than in the past

“In coming years literacy will mean knowing how to choose between print, image, video, sound, and all the potential combinations they could create to make a particular point with a specific audience,” says Bronwyn Williams, associate professor of English at the University of Louisville.

Having multiple literacies, however, does not only mean being comfortable composing with a variety of media; it also means understanding how to use different facets of language in each situation. “I think we often don’t give kids enough credit with their control over language,” says Eric Paulson, associate professor of literary education at the University of Cincinnati. “They can text ‘IMHO’ on their cell phones, write ‘my own opinion is’ in a school essay, and read ‘it is my belief that your scar hurts when Lord Voldemort is near you’ without getting discombobulated.” Switching from a language appropriate for a text message to a linguistic mode more appropriate for addressing a teacher or writing an essay is a practice young people can easily be comfortable with.