Teens can't get any more illiterate anyway
Boffins from Coventry University claim texting could have a positive effect on the way kids interact with language.
Their recently published study found that so-called "textisims" could,
in fact, have a positive impact on reading development. The study
focused on 88 children aged between 10 and 12, who were given 10
different scenarios and tasked with writing about them using text
messages.
Their literary masterpieces were then taken apart, and textisms were
split into categories, such as shortenings, contractions, acronyms,
non-conventional spellings, and analyzed.
Dr Beverley Plester, the lead author of the report, said most media
reports about illiterate teens were based on selected anecdotes, and
the study failed to find many examples of text speak. Furthermore, it
found no evidence of a detrimental effect of text speak on conventional
spelling.
"What we think of as misspellings, don't really break the rules
of language and children have a sophisticated understanding of the
appropriate use of words," she said.
We believe the cunning little snowflakes cheated, and successfully hid the extent of their texting related illiteracy from researchers.
More
here.