Chatspeak Does Not Affect Language Development

Experts from the University of Alberta, in Canada, have recently discovered in a new study that chat and texting speak does not seem to adversely affect children's ability to learn language properly. Known among parents and teachers for the seemingly barbaric abbreviations it uses, the specific language that is employed today by teenagers to communicate via web posts, e-mail and text messages seems cryptic to many, and not at all easy to read. According to study author Connie Varnhagen, the language variation between written and spoken English is actually a good thing.

In the new report, she underlines the fact that teens using chatspeak have no more difficulties spelling than those who do not use this form of communication. And there are plenty of people on the web obsessed with correct language, as there are users altering it in the most unbelievable ways. Details of the new, class-based investigation Varnhagen conducted can be found in the latest issue of the scientific journal Reading and Writing. “Kids who are good spellers [academically] are good spellers in instant messaging. And kids who are poor spellers in English class are poor spellers in instant messaging,” the expert says.

Chatspeak is the name now given to the Simple Messaging Service (SMS) language used by teens and adults alike in e-mails, instant messages, phone messages, bulletin-board posts, and online chatting. It incorporates numerous abbreviations and slang, and a sentence written this way can be made to visually look entirely different from the way it looks like when it is written in regular words. Some 40 students, aged between 12 and 17, participated in the investigation, the researcher reports.

“Going through the participant conversations, it was interesting to note how many new words that children are using online. We would have to decipher the meaning of the language with online dictionaries or by asking younger siblings,” UA student researcher Nicole Pugh, also one of the co-authors of the new journal entry, says. She adds that the complexity and volume of chatspeak simply amazed her. The two scientists say that the research should alleviate at least some concerns that parents and teachers have about their children using chatspeak, and that authorities could even consider touching on this issue in a regulated, academic context.

“If you want students to think very precisely and concisely and be able to express themselves, it might be interesting to have them create instant messages with ideas, maybe allow them opportunities to use more of this new dialect in brief reports or fun activities. Using a new type of language does require concentration and translating it to standard English does require concentration and attention. It's a little brain workout,” Varnhagen concludes.