"The ultimate purpose of any type of communication is 'understanding,' whether it is considered 'proper" or 'correct' or whatever word you would like to use is completely arbitrary."
The age-old topic of slang, and the more modern subject of text language (SMS: short message service), usage and its effects on language development is a much larger discussion than I am willing to provide on this post, but I will state a few things I’ve read in favor of SMS language since slang has become more accepted in everyday life.
According to research the evolution of SMS language, its popularity, and frequent usage is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics, so basically you could not use it if you didn’t already have a strong grasp of language. In a typical text message, words are not abbreviated as frequently as widely thought. Abbreviating has been in use for a long time, way before the use of cell phones and is evident in the form of acronyms which have become actual words and are no longer recognized as acronyms. Both children and adults use SMS language, so if adults do not make the same errors children do in their written work, these errors cannot be attributed to SMS language alone. In order to use SMS language you must have a good knowledge of spelling.
Now, of course, there is both sides to every argument, but as a Language Arts teacher I tend to agree with these findings. Students need to learn to remove clichés and other spoken language from their writing, just as they will now need to learn to remove SMS language, which only provides an avenue to strengthen one’s language and writing skills by honing specificity and exactness.
English (United States) ·