A survey taken place in 2012 showed that less than half percent of the students who took their SATs got selected for College. Where did they fall behind? In the writing section. Why did they fall behind? Because they texted their answers on paper! Teachers, the upholders of convention, were not able to comprehend the “symbolic” answers and therefore, marked them negatively. There was no other way. This is a serious concern being debated throughout ACADEMIA today, and has its effects in EMPLOYMENT too.
Altering Signifiers:
Language is symbolic in nature. All linguists knows this. According to Saussure, every word is a signifier, signifying meaning, that is pointing towards some referent in the external world. The combination of letters is arbitrary and can be changed. The pointy animal called hedgehog today might be called needlethingy tomorrow. The meaning would remain the same, only the form of the word would change. This is what is happening today. TEXTING LANGUAGE alters the word structure but the essence remains unchanged. ‘U’ still sounds like ‘you’ only shortened in form. It seems to be another step in the process of evolution of English language.
Technologized Language:
How many minutes do we spend in a day on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram etc.? A lot, I’m sure, and more than what we spend on actually interacting with one another. This enormous exposure to an entirely different techno-reality is bound to show up in our daily functioning. What is the medium that we use to verbalize our thoughts? Language. And if our thoughts are tainted with technological mechanisms, why not our language? This is why it seems that technology is creeping up on linguistic forms, and adding its own symbols to it.
Would you call it Sloppiness?
Teachers, mostly purists, hate it when language is used the way it is not supposed to. They think that it is a demeaning thing if you write BTW instead of By The Way, GR8 instead of Great, F9 for Fine, or BRB for Be Right Back. According to them, language influences thought, so if language is sloppy then thoughts would become sloppy too, and it would lower the overall level of intelligence in the student. Can you believe such claims? This is entirely hypothetical. Studies have shown that TEXTING LANGUAGE is still a code in itself, and completely capable of conveying meaning like any other code. It has the additional benefit of being fast-paced and energy-efficient.
SMS like a Pro vs Memo:
In EMPLOYMENT sector, TEXTING LANGUAGE has its own perks. How? TEXTING is a fast and reliable channel of communication within an organization. Nearly everyone has a mobile device, and can be contacted on a short-term notice. Formally stated memos, emails and fax become outdated when compared with TEXTING. Using it, an organization creates its own official jargon, which promotes unity internally, and privacy externally.
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