Teachers call for urgent action as pupils write essays in text-

Sunday Herald, The, Mar 2, 2003 by Jenifer Johnston

Education experts have warned that children's obsession with text messaging is seriously affecting classroom standards of English.

Increasing numbers of schoolchildren are using mobile-phone shorthand as their first choice in written language, with traditional grammar, spelling and construction suffering as a result.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has warned about the problem in its assessment of the last Standard Grade diet of exams, stating that '"text-messaging language' was inappropriately used" in the writing section of last year's English exam.

The trend for text language, which teachers claim is spreading "like wildfire", has led to one leading teaching union to call for a complete ban on any acceptance of the practice.

The National Association of School Masters and Union of Women Teachers spokesman Tino Ferri said: "The majority of teachers would support a crackdown on this sloppy form of writing. But there are also a few teachers who claim that getting pupils to carry out written work using text language is better than nothing. How sad is that?"

Judith Gillespie, development manager at the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said the marked decline in good grammar in schools was partly linked to the craze for text messaging.

She said: "There must be rigorous efforts from all quarters of the education system to stamp out the use of texting as a form of written language so far as English study is concerned.

"There has been a trend in recent years to emphasise spoken English rather than written language and so pupils think orally and write phonetically. The problem is that there is now a feeling in some schools that pupils' freedom of expression should not be inhibited, so anything goes. But "texting" must not be allowed to become acceptable written English - it will only further erode the language."

An English teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, at one of Scotland's leading state secondary schools said she was shocked to read an essay by a second-year pupil written in text message shorthand.

She said: "I could not quite believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate. When I challenged the pupil, she told me that was how she preferred to write because she found it easier than standard English."

Texts - 160-character messages sent from phone to mobile via the Short Messaging Service (SMS) - were first introduced to the UK in 1994. Scotland has more than 3.5 million mobile phone users - half of them teenagers - and between them they send nearly four million text messages every day.

The form of writing, where vowels are often dropped, symbols used instead of words and contractions like "LOL" (laughing out loud) are used, was born in internet instant messaging services where speed and brevity is the key. Text abbreviations feature in the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The National Association of School Masters and Union of Women Teachers called yesterday for a complete ban on the use of text language in English classes, which it claims is "spreading like wildfire".

Dr Cynthia McVey, a lecturer in psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, said that "texting" has already successfully invaded the language.

"Many young people don't write letters. Sitting down to write or type an essay is unusual and difficult, so they revert to what they know and feel comfortable with - texting. To them it's quick, attractive and uncomplicated.

"I can understand the frustration of teachers and I think it's important that they get across to their pupils that text messaging is for fun but that learning to write proper English is vital for their career or future study."

However Sheila Hughes, a senior lecturer in the department of language education at the University of Strathclyde thinks if teenagers express themselves well with the medium it should be embraced.

"Texting is a great opportunity for teaching to explore a new use of language. Pupils are thinking about vowels and punctuation even if they are dropping them. You can't stop language changing so let's just exploit it - pupils have power and control of that language and it has a purpose we have to value."

The Scottish Executive said it was not aware that "texting" was becoming a major problem in English classes but stressed that ministers were committed to improving literacy in schools.

A national development officer for literacy has been appointed to work with education authorities.

A spokeswoman said: "Spelling and grammar are basic skills that are key components of the 5-14 curriculum. In our response to the national debate on education, ministers made it clear that literacy and numeracy will be at the centre of any revised curriculum."

CN U TRNSL8 A TXT SA?

This is part of an essay written in text language by a 13-year- old girl at a secondary school in the west of Scotland:

"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2 go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ kds FTF. ILNY, its gr8.