Short Thesis- The Impact of Text Messaging: How Technology Has Created A Linguistic Subculture

 

The Impact of Text Messaging: How Technology Has Created A Linguistic Subculture

Abstract

Text messaging is very common thing for this generation. But sometimes it creates a lot of misunderstanding, because everyone is not comfortable with the short forms. And it hampers in the language. This paper explores how the technology has created linguistic subculture by short messaging. The data will come from the survey from ages and different places. This paper is based on statistics, mathematics or numerical, hypothesis analysis of data collected through questionnaires and surveys. And how SMS plays different roles in various contexts casual to institutional conversations through conversation analysis approach from different data. We know the people of this generation uses text messages but if they avoid the short forms then it would not misunderstand by anyone. The results are yet to be come in order to see if they support the hypothesis of the flexible behavior of SMS the different perceptions from different audience. However, it is expected that for some people it will effective because they can write their feelings which actually, they could not express it by saying. But some people may change the habit of using short forms that can help in linguistic form.  

Introduction

Technology makes our life so easy that we can talk to people very easily. At first we can just talk to each other via phone. But now it is too easy to talk each other by SMS (short message service). Text messaging is very common thing which we do in our daily life. Nowadays we just use so many short forms in text messages. Sometimes it creates a lot of misunderstanding, because everyone is not comfortable with the short forms. Some people use so many short forms that create many problems for many people who do not know about this. Like they use ASAP (as soon as possible), LOL (laugh out loud), Dka(Dhaka), FG(Farmgate) and many more. Who do not know this words it they feel that this word means some slung and they misunderstand by those people. Sometimes people use it to save their time or sometimes they are very confused about the spelling and they write the short text just because they want to hide their fault. But for the text messages some people also get benefited from this. Because for the deaf or mute people its more easier thing to communicate with other people. And they can also build their relations with others. As a result, the impact of text messaging is a gift to someone and for someone it is the key of misunderstanding the language in Bangladesh.

Research question:

How do text messages impact the linguistic subculture in Bangladesh?

Literature Review

Text messaging is very common thing which we do in our daily life. Nowadays we just use so many short forms in text messages. Sometimes it creates a lot of misunderstanding, because everyone is not comfortable with the short forms. Sometimes people use it to save their time or sometimes they are very confused about the spelling and they write the short text just because they want to hide their fault. But for the text messages some people also get benefited from this. Because for the deaf or dumb person its more easier thing to communicate with other people. And they can also build their relations with others. As a result, the impact of text messaging is a gift to someone and for someone it is the key of misunderstanding the language in Bangladesh.

SMS (Short Message Service) is creating new opportunities for the people who cannot talk or have hearing problem. So, for them technology of SMS (Short Message Service) is a gift. In Mary R Power & Des Power’s (2004) article titled “Everyone Here Speaks TXT: Deaf People Using SMS in Australia and the Rest of the World” said that the impact of text messages or SMS (Short Message Service) is good for the people who are deaf and mute, because they cannot communicate with others. Because they use sign language. But for SMS they can see the text message and also reply them.

 

The youth practice many codes, break grammatical rules, use short forms and form new slang words. The study found major gender and institutional differences in several aspects of SMS use. In Abu Sadat Nurullah’s(2010) article titled “The Use of SMS [text messaging] and Language Transformation in Bangladesh” he surveyed in University of Dhaka and private university students of the country. The results said that Bangladeshi youth are significantly affected by current trend of SMS communication.

There is also many more words which people use. But it is confusing and also everyone cannot get the correct answer and they got confused. Sometimes students do this mistake in their examination copy. They must have the knowledge between the formal and the informal words. In Nenagh Kemp’s (2011) article titled “Texting versus txtng: reading and writing text messages, and links with other linguistic skills” said about the textism messages. Which were faster to write than those in conventional English. But it took nearly twice as long to read, and caused more reading errors. In her article she said about now-a-days people write txtng rather than texting.

In Tiong-Thye Goh’s(2011) article titled “Exploring Gender Differences in SMS-Based Mobile Library Search System Adoption” investigates the differences between male and female students perceived a short message service (SMS) library catalog search service when adopting it. Based on a sample of the students, the results said that there is a big difference in usefulness and intention. But there is no differences in genders. The result said that SMS efficiency has an influence on self-efficacy for males but not for females. Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) experience has a stronger but less significant influence on self-efficacy for females but very little influence for males. Perceived usefulness is still the driving force behind intention to use for both genders. The findings suggest that factors influencing self-efficacy and its impact on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs are different for each gender. They discussed for both researchers and practitioners.

The studies reveal that literacy scores may correlate differently with frequency of texting, use of textese/textisms and knowledge of textisms; that there may be different correlations for reading, writing and spelling; and that the correlations may differ for formal and informal writing. In Lieke Verheijen’s(2013) article titled “ English Studies. The Effects of Text Messaging and Instant Messaging on Literacy” said in her article reviews said that the last decades are on the effects of text messaging and instant messaging on literacy. She said in the article about the determination of positive or negative affect of literacy. Although the majority of studies found very positive things in literacy, some found it negative, while still others report conflicting findings or no significant correlation at all. correlation means a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things. The mixed results could also be caused by differences in the designs and populations of the studies.

Certainly, a lot of work have been done which looks more into the similar thoughts as many of their uses in various contexts. So, in Bangladeshi subculture SMS (Short Message Service) is very much popular. But the problem is sometimes people are so busy or to lazy to write the full form of something. They just use the short form and one day maybe the actual language will be lost in this short form of language. The students write the short forms in their examination paper too. They became so robotic to laugh or to cry in real world also. And the impact is very harmful for some people who actually cannot relate it. They got confused and some miss communication. But for some people it is very effective because they can write their feelings which actually, they could not express it by saying. So, the technology has created the good things but we are doing it in a wrong way.

Methodology Statement

This research topic is based on linguistic so quantitative method is suitable for this research topic. Quantitative methods are based on statistics, mathematics or numerical, hypothesis analysis of data collected through questionnaires and surveys. In this research the target audience are 16-30 years old age people. This survey will be taken from universities, restaurants, shopping malls in Dhanmondi and Farmgate area. The survey will help to analyze the research properly.

Time Scale

For complete the whole research, it will take 12 weeks.

TIME PERIOD	CONTENT
1st & 2nd week	Preparing for research & writing the introduction, abstract and research question
3rd & 4th week	Writing literature review and prepare the questions for serve
5th , 6th & 7th	Data collection
8th,9th & 10th	Analysis and write the result, findings
11th & 12th	Conclusion and revise

Conclusion

In many ways, texting has made communication easier by helping people avoid long, unpleasant phone conversations and making a quick. Texting increases the frequency of small talk and can be a great asset to people beginning to form a friendship. They maybe much more comfortable texting each other witty one-liners than they are picking up the phone and calling. But texting is almost by definition surface-level communication. When people communicate primarily via text, they are much less likely to have meaningful conversations. In Bangladeshi subculture messaging is very much popular because they can express their feelings by writing who cannot talk. The impact is very harmful for some people who use the short form of message. Because it is hampering the language. In this generation people are so use to it. If it will go on like this then someday every people will write like this then it will face many miscommunications. We know the people of this generation uses text messages but if they avoid the short forms then it would not misunderstand by anyone. Some people get confused and also creates miss communication. It is very effective for some people because they can write their feelings which actually, they could not express it by saying. So, the technology has created the good things but we are doing it in a wrong way. So, everyone should change the habit of writing anything in short form. Otherwise, people get face some major problem in language after some day.

 

 

Work citation

Power Mary R & Power Des. (2004). Everyone Here Speaks TXT: Deaf People Using SMS in Australia and the Rest of the World. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 9(3),333-343

Ahmed, S., Nurullah, A. S., & Sarkar, S. (2010). The Use of SMS [text messaging] and Language Transformation in Bangladesh, 6&7, 107–139.

Kemp Nenagh.(2011). Writing Systems Research. Texting versus txtng:                                  reading and writing text messages, and links with other linguistic skills, 2(1),53-71.

Goh Tiong-Thye.(2011). Exploring Gender Differences in SMS-Based Mobile Library Search System Adoption. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 14(4), 192-206.

Verheijen Lieke.(2013). English Studies. The Effects of Text Messaging and Instant Messaging on Literacy,94(5),582-602.