OMFG! Kids are using text language in written schoolwork

Study reveals US school kids are increasingly using text language in written work

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A new study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project has revealed that around two-thirds of middle school and high school pupils in the United States are guilty of incorporating lazy instant messaging (IM) and phone text language into their written work.

According to the survey results, around one in four respondents admitted to dropping emoticon symbols directly into their school work, which include the likes of drawn and text-based winks and smiley faces -- i.e. ;) and :).

Similarly half of those polled said they used informal punctuation and grammar, while forty percent said they have cut corners in terms of expression, with the likes of LOL, a text speak response meaning to laugh out loud, being one such application.

Amanda Lenhart, a senior researcher at Pew Internet, said that the incorporation of such relaxed and casual written language into school work is nothing to be especially worried about and is merely a text-based form of slang for this particular generation.

Lenhart notes that conversational slang is something that always crops up from generation to generation; although, before today’s technological advances, it has usually evolved from spoken words.

Yet finding an educational balance between formal and informal writing in the classroom might be somewhat of a concern for teachers, not least when students admit to lapsing into the convenience of IM and text-based language.

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