By: Cierra MartocciaSarah ZionLauren DouglasNicklaus CoxLauren JohnsonSara Jane BlumenschineDemese SimmonsChristian Walker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIUcRJX9-o&feature=related

Now We Want to Hear From You

• http://www.polleverywhere.com/

Crystal’s Point• Thesis: “ All the popular beliefs about texting

are wrong, or at least debatable. Its graphic distinctiveness is not a totally new phenomenon. Nor is its use restricted to the young generation. There is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy. And only a very tiny part of the language uses its distinctive orthography” (9).

CHAPTER 1: THE HYPE ABOUT TEXTING Texting is a new

phenomenon that was developed in the early 1990s, but did not take off until the early 2000s

Texting’s spread was originally limited by companies ability to charge for the service and the penetration of the mobile phone

Chapter 1: The Hype about Texting?

Texts or short message service (SMS) were typically limited to 140 bytes of information

Texting is no longer limited to short, typed messages.

•Through the use of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) it is now possible to send pictures, ringtones, logos, graphics, animation, videos, etc.

Chapter 1: The Hype about Texting• Throughout history, as

technology has developed, linguistic disaster has been predicted. Texting has been no exception to such predictions.

• According to Crystal, it is a fairly popular belief that texting is a totally new phenomenon that is destroying the English language.

Chapter 2: How Weird is Texting?

Texting is perceived as “foreign,” “alien,” and “outlandish.”

Texting is said to “masks dyslexia, poor spelling, and mental laziness.”

However Crystal argues that: Texting is much more complex and fascinating than simple abbreviations, smiley face emoticons, and other weird symbols which most “texters” don’t even utilize.

Chapter 2: How Weird is TextingCrystal

hypothesizes that a person’s text language is individually based and can vary for many different reasons.

Age, geographic location, personal style, gender and ethnic differences

Crystal believes that because there is no uniformity to this new way of communicating people (mainly stuffy linguists) tend to view it in a negative manner.

CHAPTER 3: WHAT MAKES TEXTING DISTINCTIVE?

6 ways in which texting gives the impression of novelty:

- pictograms and logograms- initialism- nonstandard spellings- omitted letters- shortenings- genuine novelties 

CHAPTER 3: WHAT MAKES TEXTING DISTINCTIVE?

pictograms and logograms“the most noticeable

feature of text orthography”

logograms or logographs and pictograms

texting is sometimes compared to Egyptian hieroglyphs, but hieroglyphs are much more complex entities

but there is a point of overlap between hieroglyphs and textingrebus

Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive?

initialismthe reduction of words to their initial letters, ex. BBC, NATO, GF/girlfriend, BFF/best friends forever

examples from texting are new, but the process is not

Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive?

Nonstandard spellingOmitting letters

Spelling is consistent and inconsistent, would not be able to use nonstandard spelling if students did not have a grasp of spelling. Some letters are missing or omitted without changes meeting

Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive?

Shortenings:

Omitting one meaningful element of a word

Saves money and time if word is still understandable

English has always shortened words

Abbreviations have always been criticized

Most messages intimate/local so the parties understand each other

Message has to be viewed as a whole, not in isolation

Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive?

Most abbreviations are new, but borrowed

Texting can be single abbreviations or a string combination

They are not meant to be spoken aloud

Produced through texting games/competitions

Can be in slang terminology or codeA symbol has various meanings in

various situationsCan characterize texters by their

stylistic traits

Genuine Novelties

CHAPTER 4: WHY DO THEY DO IT?

-Two Main Reasons: convenience and fun (for teh lulz!!1!)-Abbreviations compensate for inconvenience of multiple key strokes and tiny keyboards.-Human ludic temperament gives rise to texting competitions, seeing who can text the fastest or who can write the best text poem.

“14: a txt msg pom.his is r bunsn brnr bl%his hair lyk fe filingsW/ac/dc/ going thru.I sit by him in kemistryit splits my @omswen he :-)s @ me.”-Julia Bird

Chapter 4 continued

1. Economics: less expensive than calling

2. The medium’s communicative strength: immediate, direct, personal, private.

3. Allows one to multi-task.

4. Bypasses social niceties, no need for salutations and farewells.

- AGE:People of ALL ages text!

Although teens and young adults are still the most avid texters.

- GENDER:Women text more than

men and write longer, and more grammatically complex sentences. Also express wider range of content and use traditional orthography mixed with emoticons and abbreviations.

Chapter 6: What do they text about?Crystal establishes that text messages perform a

wide range of social and informational functions.

Texting also fulfills the human ludic desire, and as such is used to circulate jokes and chain messages

Texting is used for this purpose in all areas of society, especially in the workplace, universities, and in political campaigns.

Chapter 7: How do other languages do it?

• Numbers influence• Complex letters are typed in 3 methods:

– Multi –press system – Phonetic system– Handwriting recognition

• Problems: word length• Texting is heavily influenced by English• Letter replacements• -Influences of language is seen in spellings• All the languages shorten words by using

combinations of initial & medial letters

Chapter 8: Why All the Fuss?Assumptions:

• Texting is nonstandard, therefore many older people tend to stray away from dealing with it.

• It is thought that texting will destroy a child's ability to spell, punctuate, and capitalize.

• Linguistic habits from texting will transfer over to other school work (using “textese” to write term papers or give presentations)

• People believe that texting will ruin a generation of adults

• Texting is also attributed to lower grades in schools.

Crystal’s Argument

• Point: All of these assumptions are not true. Texting studies have shown that texting does not harm our use of language!

Scholarly Reaction

s

The New York Times

Excessive texting is a health issue:

-it leads to anxiety, school distraction, failing grades, and sleep deprivation

-always causes unrest & pressure

makes staying in touch too easy (autonomy???)

has potential to be beneficial, but can do great

harm

has terrible implications for the classroom

everyone is catching the bug

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=3

Scholarly Reactions“2 txt or not 2 txt, tht is th?”

by : John Sutherland• Texting as a dialect• For the mentally lazy, not

just a time saver• Praises the book for

multiple viewpoints and exploring each perspective and thought in detail

• “young tongue” texting compared to “old tongue” telegraph language

Sutherland, John. “2 txt or not 2 txt, tht is th?” NewStatesman [1996] 4 Aug. 2008: 50+. LiteratureResources for Gale. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.

Scholarly Reactions

Llyod Evans -Compares texting to shorthand

-Says that he himself (Evans) was an old man who began to fully accept texting and a quick means of communication

-Praises the book as a link between generations

-Believes that Crystal’s argument is supported by legitimate research and a realistic view of the situation.

-Texting is not a problem for today’s society.

Evans, Lloyd. “Short and Sweet.” Spectator 19 July 2008: 34. Literature Resources from Gale. Web 7 Nov. 2010.

SCHOLARLY REACTIONS

Excellent resource for real story behind textingCrystal doesn’t really stick to chapter topicsTexting is changing constantly so analysts cannot pin it downHas good information on social phenomenonBelieve it’s good that Crystal also presents dangers of textingReaders get pros and cons and then make a decision themselves

Is Texting Good or Bad? TXTING: The gr8 db8 by David Crystal, reviewed by Karen Iveshttps://mail.google.com/a/mailbox.winthrop.edu/?AuthEventSource=SSO#inbox

Review by Karen Ives

SCHOLARLY REACTIONS Txting: frNd or foe? David Crystal addresses

the popular beliefs that texting enables the decline in literacy. Crystal argues that the standard and non-standard features are good characteristics that help to form a standardized language of textism and increase language skills.

http://www.davidcrystal.com/DC_articles/Internet16.pdf

Crystal complicates our understanding of what “Literature” is by describing texting as a genre. We assumed literary genres could only be “traditional” forms, such as the novel, the short story, the poem. Yet Crystal’s argument displayed how texting as a genre is capable of generating poetry and short stories that are unique to the constraints of the medium and also fulfill the aesthetic expectations of other literary genres.

DONT4GETPlease remind me 2 remind u about reminding me 2 send u this reminder that reminds me of reminding u that i am always ur friend. DONT 4GET!

Disciplinary Assumptions• Crystal also complicates

how we thought texting affects the English language. Although some text speak, such as “LOL,” has worked its way into colloquial speech, Crystal argues that “textese” has not degraded English but added more depth by providing a new complex code for communicating in the medium.

Disciplinary Assumptions

Crystal’s argument showed that the ideologies that motivated 18th century grammarians to freeze the language are the same ideas causing the aversion to texting today. The myth of the perfect language and the undesirability of change, so engrained in our sentiments about English, still contribute to the backlash against texting and the media hype about the “death” of English. Although texting has created linguistic changes, Crystal shows that some of these changes are not as alien to our language as they seem at first.

Disciplinary AssumptionsText messaging abbreviations are developed as a way to shorten the time it takes to say something. In a society where there seems to be less time to do things and where the attention span of the average person has decreased, it is possible that this desire to write down ideas quickly can translate to other forms of writing. Students may know not to use text abbreviations in their formal writing, but could texting impact students writing to a point where there is little to nothing other than the information for which is being asked. If texting directness becomes a norm, could that spread to other mediums of writing such as poetry or fiction?

Disciplinary Assumptions

• With the increase in availability of cell phones to teenagers, there is a whole new medium of communication for adolescent gossip. Dealing with this form of gossip, is a new challenge that teachers will need to address in the classroom.