By: Cierra Martoccia Sarah Zion Lauren Douglas Nicklaus Cox Lauren Johnson Sara Jane Blumenschine

1. By: Cierra Martoccia Sarah Zion Lauren Douglas Nicklaus Cox Lauren Johnson Sara Jane Blumenschine Demese Simmons Christian Walker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nIUcRJX9-o&feature=related

2. Now We Want to Hear From You • http://www.polleverywhere.com/

3. Crystal’s Point • Thesis: “ All the popular beliefs about texting are wrong, or at least debatable. Its graphic distinctiveness is not a totally new phenomenon. Nor is its use restricted to the young generation. There is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy. And only a very tiny part of the language uses its distinctive orthography” (9).

4. Chapter 1: The Hype about Texting • Texting is a new phenomenon that was developed in the early 1990s, but did not take off until the early 2000s • Texting’s spread was originally limited by companies ability to charge for the service and the penetration of the mobile phone

5. Chapter 1: The Hype about Texting? • Through the use of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) it is now possible to send pictures, ringtones, logos, graphics, animation, videos, etc. • Texts or short message service (SMS) were typically limited to 140 bytes of information • Texting is no longer limited to short, typed messages.

6. Chapter 1: The Hype about Texting • Throughout history, as technology has developed, linguistic disaster has been predicted. Texting has been no exception to such predictions. • According to Crystal, it is a fairly popular belief that texting is a totally new phenomenon that is destroying the English language.

7. Texting is perceived as “foreign,” “alien,” and “outlandish.” • Texting is said to “masks dyslexia, poor spelling, and mental laziness.” Chapter 2: How Weird is Texting? However Crystal argues that: Texting is much more complex and fascinating than simple abbreviations, smiley face emoticons, and other weird symbols which most “texters” don’t even utilize.

8. Chapter 2: How Weird is Texting • Crystal hypothesizes that a person’s text language is individually based and can vary for many different reasons. • Age, geographic location, personal style, gender and ethnic differences • Crystal believes that because there is no uniformity to this new way of communicating people (mainly stuffy linguists) tend to view it in a negative manner.

9. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? 6 ways in which texting gives the impression of novelty: - pictograms and logograms - initialism - nonstandard spellings - omitted letters - shortenings - genuine novelties

10. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? • pictograms and logograms • “the most noticeable feature of text orthography” • logograms or logographs and pictograms • texting is sometimes compared to Egyptian hieroglyphs, but hieroglyphs are much more complex entities • but there is a point of overlap between hieroglyphs and texting • rebus

11. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? • initialism • the reduction of words to their initial letters, ex. BBC, NATO, GF/girlfriend, BFF/best friends forever • examples from texting are new, but the process is not

12. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? Nonstandard spelling Omitting letters • Spelling is consistent and inconsistent, would not be able to use nonstandard spelling if students did not have a grasp of spelling. Some letters are missing or omitted without changes meeting

13. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? Shortenings: • Omitting one meaningful element of a word • Saves money and time if word is still understandable • English has always shortened words • Abbreviations have always been criticized • Most messages intimate/local so the parties understand each other • Message has to be viewed as a whole, not in isolation

14. Chapter 3: What makes Texting Distinctive? Genuine Novelties • Most abbreviations are new, but borrowed • Texting can be single abbreviations or a string combination • They are not meant to be spoken aloud • Produced through texting games/competitions • Can be in slang terminology or code • A symbol has various meanings in various situations • Can characterize texters by their stylistic traits

15. -Two Main Reasons: convenience and fun (for teh lulz!!1!) -Abbreviations compensate for inconvenience of multiple key strokes and tiny keyboards. -Human ludic temperament gives rise to texting competitions, seeing who can text the fastest or who can write the best text poem. “14: a txt msg pom. his is r bunsn brnr bl% his hair lyk fe filings W/ac/dc/ going thru. I sit by him in kemistry it splits my @oms wen he :-)s @ me.” -Julia Bird Chapter 4: Why Do they do it?

16. 1. Economics: less expensive than calling 2. The medium’s communicative strength: immediate, direct, personal, private. 3. Allows one to multi-task. 4. Bypasses social niceties, no need for salutations and farewells. Chapter 4 continued

17. Chapter 5: Who Texts? • AGE: People of ALL ages text! Although teens and young adults are still the most avid texters. • GENDER: Women text more than men and write longer, and more grammatically complex sentences. Also express wider range of content and use traditional orthography mixed with emoticons and abbreviations.

18. Chapter 6: What do they text about? • Crystal establishes that text messages perform a wide range of social and informational functions. • Texting also fulfills the human ludic desire, and as such is used to circulate jokes and chain messages • Texting is used for this purpose in all areas of society, especially in the workplace, universities, and in political campaigns.

19. Chapter 7: How do other languages do it? • Numbers influence • Complex letters are typed in 3 methods: • Multi –press system • Phonetic system • Handwriting recognition • Problems: word length • Texting is heavily influenced by English • Letter replacements • -Influences of language is seen in spellings • All the languages shorten words by using combinations of initial & medial letters

20. Chapter 8: Why All the Fuss? Assumptions: Crystal’s Argument Point: All of these assumptions are not true. Texting studies have shown that texting does not harm our use of language! • Texting is nonstandard, therefore many older people tend to stray away from dealing with it. • It is thought that texting will destroy a child's ability to spell, punctuate, and capitalize. • Linguistic habits from texting will transfer over to other school work (using “textese” to write term papers or give presentations) • People believe that texting will ruin a generation of adults • Texting is also attributed to lower grades in schools.

21. Excessive texting is a health issue: -it leads to anxiety, school distraction, failing grades, and sleep deprivation -always causes unrest & pressure • makes staying in touch too easy (autonomy???) • has potential to be beneficial, but can do great harm • has terrible implications for the classroom • everyone is catching the bug http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=3 Scholarly Reactions The New York Times

22. Scholarly Reactions “2 txt or not 2 txt, tht is th?” by : John Sutherland • Texting as a dialect • For the mentally lazy, not just a time saver • Praises the book for multiple viewpoints and exploring each perspective and thought in detail • “young tongue” texting compared to “old tongue” telegraph language Sutherland, John. “2 txt or not 2 txt, tht is th?” New Statesman [1996] 4 Aug. 2008: 50+. Literature Resources for Gale. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.

23. Scholarly Reactions Evans, Lloyd. “Short and Sweet.” Spectator 19 July 2008: 34. Literature Resources from Gale. Web 7 Nov. 2010. • Llyod Evans • Compares texting to shorthand • Says that he himself (Evans) was an old man who began to fully accept texting and a quick means of communication • -Praises the book as a link between generations • -Believes that Crystal’s argument is supported by legitimate research and a realistic view of the situation. • -Texting is not a problem for today’s society.

24. Review by Karen Ives Scholarly Reactions Excellent resource for real story behind texting Crystal doesn’t really stick to chapter topics Texting is changing constantly so analysts cannot pin it down Has good information on social phenomenon Believe it’s good that Crystal also presents dangers of texting Readers get pros and cons and then make a decision themselves Is Texting Good or Bad? TXTING: The gr8 db8 by David Crystal, reviewed by Karen Ives https://mail.google.com/a/mailbox.winthrop.edu/?AuthEventSource=SSO#inbox

25. Scholarly Reactions • Txting: frNd or foe? • David Crystal addresses the popular beliefs that texting enables the decline in literacy. Crystal argues that the standard and non-standard features are good characteristics that help to form a standardized language of textism and increase language skills. • http://www.davidcrystal.com/DC_articles/Internet16.pdf

26. Crystal complicates our understanding of what “Literature” is by describing texting as a genre. We assumed literary genres could only be “traditional” forms, such as the novel, the short story, the poem. Yet Crystal’s argument displayed how texting as a genre is capable of generating poetry and short stories that are unique to the constraints of the medium and also fulfill the aesthetic expectations of other literary genres. Disciplinary Assumptions DONT4GETPlease remind me 2 remind u about reminding me 2 send u this reminder that reminds me of reminding u that i am always ur friend. DONT 4GET!

27. Disciplinary Assumptions • Crystal also complicates how we thought texting affects the English language. Although some text speak, such as “LOL,” has worked its way into colloquial speech, Crystal argues that “textese” has not degraded English but added more depth by providing a new complex code for communicating in the medium.

28. Disciplinary Assumptions Crystal’s argument showed that the ideologies that motivated 18th century grammarians to freeze the language are the same ideas causing the aversion to texting today. The myth of the perfect language and the undesirability of change, so engrained in our sentiments about English, still contribute to the backlash against texting and the media hype about the “death” of English. Although texting has created linguistic changes, Crystal shows that some of these changes are not as alien to our language as they seem at first.

29. Disciplinary Assumptions Text messaging abbreviations are developed as a way to shorten the time it takes to say something. In a society where there seems to be less time to do things and where the attention span of the average person has decreased, it is possible that this desire to write down ideas quickly can translate to other forms of writing. Students may know not to use text abbreviations in their formal writing, but could texting impact students writing to a point where there is little to nothing other than the information for which is being asked. If texting directness becomes a norm, could that spread to other mediums of writing such as poetry or fiction?

30. Disciplinary Assumptions • With the increase in availability of cell phones to teenagers, there is a whole new medium of communication for adolescent gossip. Dealing with this form of gossip, is a new challenge that teachers will need to address in the classroom.