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Txt Msgs Make Kidz Gr8 Spellrz, Study Says
Just because your young daughter types "CU L8R" when she texts her friends doesn't mean she won't be able to spell real words when she grows up. In fact, one new study claims that, contrary to popular belief, texting will actually improve her spelling skills.The study, conducted by researchers at Coventry University, examined 114 9- and 10-year-old children who did not already use cell phones. The subjects were prompted to take a series of reading, spelling and phonological awareness tests, before being divided into two groups. Half of the kids were given a mobile phone with which to text their friends on weekends and holidays. The second group served as a control. After ten weeks, researchers administered a second wave of tests, and recorded any differences in performance.
After controlling for differences in individual IQ levels, researchers found that children who regularly texted over the ten-week period improved their test results by a greater margin than those in the control group. The report speculates that these higher test scores could be explained by the "highly phonetic nature" of text lingo, as many abbreviations require students to understand the alphabet in a unique way. The study also acknowledges that texting could exert a positive effect on literacy "because of the indirect way in which mobile phone use may be increasing children's exposure to print outside of school."
The results were apparently robust enough to convince Professor Clare Wood, a senior lecturer at Coventry's psychology department. "We are now starting to see consistent evidence that children's use of text message abbreviations has a positive impact on their spelling skills," she told the Telegraph. "There is no evidence that children's language play when using mobile phones is damaging literacy development." So there you have it. If you want your kid to be a Gr8 speller, you'd better teach him how 2 txt.
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Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsSatyricalJan 23rd 2011 1:51PM
calling bullshit on this
notanaxkillerJan 26th 2011 6:24AM
I agree with u [lol] satyrical.
lauraJan 26th 2011 7:04AM
As a teacher I disagree. I have actually had students hand in papers with "ure" and "u". In fact the opposite is true. Texting doesn't teach them at all.
riddlemethisone2Jan 26th 2011 7:31AM
I agree what a useless waste of time. The answer was given at the begining of the article..She gave phones to kids who never had phones before.These kids are going to try to spell the words right not knowing,because they are new to text, that they can use abreviations.why not test kids who have always used texting?I also think she is looking at the wrong problem I believe texting causes,and I am not a professor,the loss of the spoken word anf leaves alot of open interpitation as to the real mood of the conversation, I know the smileys,happy face sad face,but to cut to the meat and potatoes and use your time better talk and get it over with confront the person face to face and speak.The cell phone has its great uses but then there are all the sneaky secret things going on.Look at the articles on sexting,cheating plus I hae to say trying to speak to someone who is a texter is so damn annoying. They think they are multi tasking but they always say "what "or " I didnt hear you say that". Its called complete undivided attention. The same method you would use when you teach your children.So many kids live their life on the phone texting, and you wonder where the good old family time went. take your poll of what the parents think about it .. Sorry Professor its not a good thing and now we see about the radiation the phone puts off having cancer affects from frequent use or just carrying it close to your body . thank you though you have just inspired and given the text world a boost. Oh and I have a 17 yr old daughter who uses her speakerphone to communicate with her bf who is at college to get help with her math they rarely text so I am not without examples
BridgetJan 26th 2011 7:52AM
i second that... a bunch of crap
stephenJan 26th 2011 8:08AM
Someone needs to teach the researchers at Coventry University how to conduct studies that provide constructive results, not just findings that suit them and back their theories. A more significant study would have been to have the non-cellphone group read a book or two on their free days and maybe introduce them to how to use a dictionary. Then do your comparison. But maybe everyone should just take a Evelyn Woods speed texting course.
BillJan 26th 2011 8:44AM
Hopefully this was a private study not funded by the Federal or State government....and the results are pure speculation
taiken888Jan 26th 2011 8:47AM
I think this is not completely true...the only way I could see texting helping a kid learn to spell better, is the way the new smart phones will auto correct punctuation, and spelling. Thus, showing a kid the proper way of spelling the word. But as far as a child learning better spelling by text things like "gr8", and "c u l8tr"...I don't think that this teaching them anything at all....I don't see how it could, they will think that is ok to use in school papers, and so on...