I used to write in that way as a funny way when I was 14. But once my brother told me "You look like an idiot" and then I changed to the traditional way. Lol. Maybe we need to make young people more aware of the importance of writing well..

Although phone texting is changing in this decade, in my opinion I think won´t be a problem if the student has the understanding that this vocabulary is to be used only on text messages, .

But if the student doesn´t have this understanding, he or she would be in serious trouble when writing a paper.

I do not see a problem there. Young students are multi-task and have the ability to cope with various languages -academic and phone texts, f.i.-, and can move smoothly from one to the other. Culturally and technologically speaking it is a strength rather than a weakness.

Elder people should be able to have or develop such capacities, too.

Till now i didn't found any problem that i had encountered.But using it on facebook since several years , it has affected my quality of language when i communicate with friends in other countries. It is as if chat vocabulary has lower my quality of electronic communication.But phone texting has its own ways of communicating. SMS means short message service and hence we should abbreviate when we communicate .

Perhaps, yes, this kind of use of shortening words will ultimately have some effect on the users of such techniques. This is a very serious question indeed!

According to you, framing shortened words requires skill! U r wrng, Revathi! Hardly any skill is required to do that!

Definitely, Day by day the student writing skills will be affected. Of course, that depends on the times they use texting messages. If the student uses such words in certain situations he/she might get used to such strange vocabularies. Although in critical conditions, they might be useful.

From experience students at the university use these shorthands in exams which l think is very bad. Has anyone realised this in students exam scripts? Share your experience if you have

Charles, I completely agree. Sometimes it is really dissappointing... when you find shortened words in exams.

And, Carlos, I disagree. Some of those students could be multi-task but at the same time they are losing essential tasks. Of course, they can phone texts quite well, but they should be able to write an essay, too, and sometimes they´re not.

Dear Charles,

I did not know that such shorthand is used by some students even in University examinations! This should not be accepted.

In my experience, students are generally able to differentiate between what is basically formal and informal speech and communication. This is a key skill in professional communication, be it talking with peers, talking to patients, talking to your boss etc.

I think any 'blurring' of these boundaries simply reflects a lack of acknowledgement of this ... fact. In professional and higher education there is a requirement to appreciate the needs of others (perhaps before your own), & appropriate communication skills are an indicator of this ability. If somebody takes shortcuts in their appreciation of others, then they should not be surprised if others make summary judgements of their perception or commitment. Willfully using 'txt spk' is not the same as any genuine language difference or variation.

I used to write in that way as a funny way when I was 14. But once my brother told me "You look like an idiot" and then I changed to the traditional way. Lol. Maybe we need to make young people more aware of the importance of writing well..

My son (age 8) is to be amongst the last set in his school to use a hand-written book to do his native language studies, before they transfer to a purely on-line / computerised system. People often forget that 'composition' is just as relevant if you are using a quill or a keyboard. This skill has however been seen as out-moded, even though it forms the basis of how we communicate effectively.

If you draw from research from online gaming, we can conclude that prolonged use of text-based, mediated communication (texts, online games, etc.) has little impact on one's social ability, particularly for the "average" user.

See:

Lemmens, J. Valkenberg, P., Peter, J. (2011). Psychosocial causes and consequences of pathological gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 144 - 152

Kowert, R., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2013). Unpopular, Overweight, and Socially Inept: Reconsidering the Stereotype of Online Gamers. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 17(3), 141 - 146.

Kowert, R., & Oldmeadow, J. (2013). (A)social reputation: Exploring the relatoinship between online video game involvement and social competence. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(4), 1872 - 1878.

Along those lines, Rachel, actual empirical communication research with mostly adolescents, with only a few exceptions, seems to suggest either no relationship between texting and more formal language skills or even a positive relationship between them. I believe that the tendency to perceive a negative relationship is driven by our expectations (especially as older individuals) and what is conventional, popular, media-driven thought. Check the communication-oriented databases, and you'll see what I mean. A good summary statement of these findings is made by N. Kemp as part of a fairly recent special issue of the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (2011, vol. 27, p. 3): "Together, these papers provide a range of evidence on

the links between mobile phone texting and more conventional

literacy skills, in children, adolescents and

adults of various backgrounds and abilities. One clear

conclusion that emerges is that exposure to textese does

not result in the deterioration of conventional reading,

writing and other language skills, as has been widely

suggested in the popular press. On the contrary, the relationship

between textese use and literacy skills seems to

be overwhelmingly positive, and even, at least in part,

causal." Therefore, what concerns me most is not how texting is affecting people's language skills, but how the situationally inappropriate use of texting might affect our interpersonal skills and relationships.

Looking at the young people, I started following some abbreviations when one day my own daughter was critical of my text messages. Only then I realized, that it's not that every teen is inherited with using (the term Nicholas has used) 'txt spk' .

Agreeing and disagreeing with Nicholas on the point of formal and informal language. I think, not only students, even the children are aware of the formal and informal environment around them. However, we need to do a little more to familiarize them with the rhetorical and linguistic patterns of the academic and personal styles.

Richard, your concern about interpersonal skills and relationships is my concern too. Sending and emotion symbol is quick, but does the sender actually mean it? What about ethos???