Troutman 1

Lavonne Hope Troutman

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1102-026

3 May 2011

I wasn’t very excited about doing this paper again because I was really discouraged after

receiving feedback. I didn’t know what else to use as my product piece to put in my portfolio, so

I had to sit down and tell myself that it is very important for me to at least attempt to revise this

paper. I’m confident that it’s better than before. I took just about every comment that was made

into consideration and I cut out the paragraph about Urban Dictionary because after I read it a

few times, I felt like it was pointless. I just hope I corrected things the way they should’ve been

corrected.

Say Wht?

“Idk ‘bout chu bt i aint tryna hear all dat!” While this may sound more of spoken

language, it can also be considered as written language because people often write the way that

they talk. Sentences such as these are a mixture of slang and text language. Why does this sort of

language even exist? Jean Aitchison, Emeritus Professor of Language and Communication at the

University of Oxford, believes that teenagers have their own words and that their use of text

messaging is unfamiliar to adults (20). I believe slang and text language go hand in hand because

they both can eventually have an effect on your writing skills, especially if you constantly

talk/text that way. Therefore, the question is can individuals differentiate when to use these
 Troutman 2

languages? Since I want to become a teacher, I think it would be important for me to know about

the languages adolescents use on a daily basis.

Michael Adams, English language and literature professor at Indiana University, adds in

his book, Slang: The People’s Poetry, different definitions of slang that come from different

dictionaries. Each one of these dictionaries (Encarta Word English Dictionary, American

Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, and the New Oxford American

Dictionary) agrees that slang is language of a peculiar/exclusive group (7-8). Now that we

understand what slang really is, let’s talk about how this word came about. Author Hugh Rawson

interviewed another author, J. E. Lighter, at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. One of the

many questions asked was, “When did the concept of slang arise in English speaking countries?”

Lighter insists that it came into use in the 1750s, but wasn’t added in the dictionary until 1828. In

the American Dictionary published by Noah Webster, he defined slang as “low, vulgar

unmeaning language” (Rawson). Looking at what dictionaries are now saying about slang, we

can conclude that the concept of slang has changed over the years.

We now know when slang came about and the first thought of it, so let’s look at who

actually uses it. According to the interview given by Rawson, Lighter claims that, “the largest

group undoubtedly consist of people under the age of 25, regardless of occupation or interests or

ethnicity” (Rawson). In my research, no one seems to disagree with this statement. Aitchison

observes that most users of slang are teenagers (20). Lindsey Adkison, reporter at The Brunswick

News, asserts that “slang words have been around probably as long as teenagers. The two just go

together.” This supports the fact given by Lighter that slang has been around for a while and it

most definitely fits teenage lifestyle. A perfect example of slang being used among teenagers
 Troutman 3

comes from an interview with someone very close to me and how this phrase was for their

exclusive group.

I interviewed my boyfriend, Austin Ager, who is now twenty-two years old, about a

certain phrase his brother and friends made up about three years ago and are still using

frequently. “Whenever someone does/says something stupid or random, you have to say ‘10’ and

look at the person with a straight face to make him/her feel dumb.” Austin doesn’t recall what

made his brother come up with something like that, but it took a month or so for everyone in

their area to catch on to it. I must admit, when this was first said to me, I had no idea what he

was talking about! After awhile, he finally explained it to me and I no longer felt clueless. I’ve

used it so much that I now have my younger siblings using it, too! My mom doesn’t really

understand why we walk around the house yelling “10!” to one another. Even after I explained it

to her, she still didn’t understand. This most definitely supports the definition of slang and who

uses it.

We’ve looked at slang, now let’s look at text messaging. The reason why I talked about

slang first is because we use that language in our text messaging among other characters. One

concern that comes to mind when I think of text messaging is the affect it can have on a student’s

ability to write, or does it even have an effect on their writing? The rest of this paper will focus

on text language and whether it affects students’ writing ability.

Authors Latisha Asmaak Shafie, Norizul Azida, and Nazira Osman believe that the use of

text messaging is for people to get their point across without using the proper writing skills they

learned in school. The use of text language in everyday lives has raised a fear that it can affect

students’ writing performance (26). Jacquie Ream, former teacher and author of “K.I.S.S. Keep
 Troutman 4

It Short and Simple,” asserts that text messaging is destroying the way kids write (“Is Texting

Destroying Kids’ Writing Style” 4). However, not everyone thinks that text language affects the

writer, or the way we talk. Australian journalist Jory Rex claims that just because SMS language

is new and doesn’t consist of proper grammar, spelling, or punctuation, that doesn’t mean it’s

going to destroy communication or the way we write (18). I don’t completely agree with this, but

I don’t disagree with it either. In my honest opinion (and the same thing goes with slang

language), if you can’t differentiate between when to use these languages, then it can definitely

affect the way you write and talk. It took me a while to differentiate when to use these languages

because I enjoyed talking/texting/writing the way I wanted to. However, when I received

academic papers back from my teachers, there were tons of spelling and grammatical errors.

Seeing the grades I was making because of those errors, I had a choice to make. I was going to

either continue writing that way and make bad grades, or I was going to learn when to

appropriately use that language. Now that I know when to use it, the only time you’ll see me

using text/slang language is when I’m out of an academic or formal setting.

Shafie, Azida, and Osman conducted a study involving 264 texters of UiTM (Universiti

Teknologi MARA, a university in Malaysia) Perlis. The ages of the participants were 18 – 22

years old. During the course of the semester, the participants were told to use SMS language

when texting their professors so professors could determine if this language affects writing skills

or not. The study concluded that students know what language to use during formal and informal

situations and the ability to switch accordingly enables young people to properly use English and

text language appropriately (30).This shows that students know when to use this language, they

just have to be able to differentiate at that given time.

 Troutman 5

I am still a firm believer that slang and/or text language can only affect an individual’s

writing skills if he/she cannot differentiate when to use these languages, and my example about

my spelling/grammar mistakes in school because of slang and text language supports this. I also

believe that it is a cognitive thing and it only affects writing if you let it. I think it is very

important for parents and educators to make sure students and children know when these

languages are appropriate. My initial question was answered; it isn’t a yes or a no as to whether

slang or text language affects the written word. Everyone has their own opinion on this and I still

believe that what I say about it is true. As long as we know when to use it, using slang and text

language won’t affect our writing skills.

 Troutman 6

Works Cited

Adams, Michael. Slang: The People’s Poetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

Adkison, Lindsey. “Slang gives teens their own secret language.” The Brunswick News. 13 May

2009. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.

Ager, Austin. Personal Interview. 3 Apr. 2011.

Aitchison, Jean. “Whassup? Slang and swearing among school children.” Education Review.

19.2 (2006): 18-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.

“Is Texting Destroying Kids’ Writing Style?” Curriculum Review 48.1 (2008): 4. Master FILE

Premier. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.

Rawson, Hugh. “Slang.” American Heritage. 54.5 (2003): 69. Master FILE Premier. Web. 31

Mar. 2011.

Rex, Jory. “Text speak wrecking the language? Making youngsters illiterate? A gr8 db8 bt imho

thts rbsh.” The Advertiser (2011): 18. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.

Shafie, Latisha Asmaak, Norizul Azida, and Nazira Osman. “SMS Language and College

Writing: The Languages of the College Texters.” International Journal of Emerging

Technologies in Learning. 5.1 (2010): 26-31. Education Research Complete. Web. 31

Mar. 2011.
Troutman 7