If you thought today’s kids were hurting their literary skills with all those grammar-killing, abbreviated text messages, you might be wronger than you know. Contrary to some research that would indicate otherwise, a new study from the British Journal of Developmental Psychology suggests that frequent text messaging by children actually boosts reading skills. In essence, all tho
se “textisms” that have been blamed for destroying the English language may be helping these kids become more literate.
The study, by Beverly Plester and her colleagues at Coventry University in the UK, had 88 children aged 10 to 12 write text messages describing 10 different scenarios. The kids were then studied separately for their reading skills. In looking at the data, the studies revealed that those children who used the most “textisms” in their text messages were more likely to be more literate.
But, why does the use of textisms improve literacy? Plester believes that it all has to do with textisms’ phonetic nature. By exposing the kids to more phonetic-based text, they’re honing their literary skills. “Phonological awareness has long been associated with good reading skills. These kids are engaging with more written language and they’re doing it for fun.”
Whatever the case, it is becoming more of an accepted fact that text messaging isn’t hurting our kids, making them dumber, or killing the English language.
So, does this help make the case for that unlimited text messaging bundle as a good educational investment?
[Via: NewScientist and TechDirt]