Report: Text messaging harms written language

**ZeoBandit** · 04.27.07, 06:22 AM

Report: Text messaging harms written language
POSTED: 10:57 a.m. EDT, April 26, 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland (Reuters) -- The rising popularity of text messaging on mobile phones poses a threat to writing standards among Irish schoolchildren, an education commission says.

The frequency of errors in grammar and punctuation has become a serious concern, the State Examination Commission said in a report after reviewing last year's exam performance by 15-year-olds.

"The emergence of the mobile phone and the rise of text messaging as a popular means of communication would appear to have impacted on standards of writing as evidenced in the responses of candidates," the report said, according to Wednesday's Irish Times. "Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing."

The report laments that, in many cases, candidates seemed "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary".

In 2003, Irish 15-year-olds were among the top 10 performers in an international league table of literacy standards compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

**sisca** · 04.27.07, 07:06 AM

OMG idk wtf they r talking about.

**Wickett** · 04.27.07, 07:08 AM

ROTFLMAO

**Double Down** · 04.27.07, 07:53 AM

The only surprise to this article is that it was a study done in Ireland. I'm sure it's even worse in the US. And nevermind kids, grammar is bad enough with the adults over here. I get emails from friends that leave me speechless. Well educated, smart people with good jobs who don't know a fucking thing about punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, or writing a paragraph. It makes me nuts.

And don't even get me started on the "their, they're, there; you're, your" thing.

Really not trying to sound like Joe English here. I just don't think it's too much to ask that grown adults know the basics of how to write a coherent email.