Texts and emails aid learning, say experts

YOUNGSTERS are improving their communication skills thanks to modern forms of writing like text-messaging and email, educationalists insisted yesterday.

The experts were reacting to claims from examination officials over the linkbetween the popularity of abbreviated writing and the apparent decline in standards of written English in Junior Certificate tests.

The State’s chief examiner in English, in a review of the examination, said:“Expertise in text messaging and email is affecting spelling and punctuation in particular.

“Text messaging, with its use of phonetic spelling and little or no punctuation, seems to pose a threat to traditional conventions in writing.”

But yesterday, Limerick education expert Ted Motherway insisted text-messaging and email were good ways for children to develop a love for language.

“I would not be inclined to panic about it (children texting) at all as long as they knew when it was appropriate to use it. I don’t think that children are so unintelligent that they would write a job application, for instance, in the language of a text message,” he said.

Mr Motherway spent 45 years as an English teacher and helped draw up the national English curriculum for primary schools.

Abbreviated writing such as texting and email gives youngsters vital language skills in communicating clearly and concisely, helps build confidence in written communication, and develops social skills, he said.

“More people are communicating using text and email as everyone has to do it these days — it won’t mean the death of standards in the English language.”

Although no figures exist for the numbers of texts sent by children in Ireland, the Irish are among Europe’s most prolific texters and send on average of 1,000 each a year.

Gareth Davies, past chairman of the Irish Cellular Industry Association, said afacility on phones known as predictive texting helped children with language.

“This is helping improve their literacy skills as ‘predictive texting’ uses the full word and children have know the correct spelling to use the right word,” he said.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) this week published its review of the 2006 English paper in the Junior Certificate. The SEC’s criticisms of the effect of texting and emailing on standards of English were made in the section of the report dealing with the higher level exam papers.

Although the report carried no explicit examples of text-style language from exam scripts, the SEC recommended that, in future, students avoid such abbreviated forms of writing in tests.

In a section on recommendations for future students, the SEC report said: “English written in your examination answer book will be more complex and varied than that used for texting on your mobile phone. Good spelling and well-used punctuation add clarity and precision to your writing.”

Txt subjecks

Examples (verbatim) of poor written English in the Junior Cert:

“The subjecks we study is English mats iris ess and science wood work and the sports is fottball basc ball and tens pinpon.”

“He (Harry Potter) defetid the bakails and tom riddle harry was in hosabal for the day or to.”

“Ice Age 2 because funny look and I saw the film.”

“The paramedics couldn’t get a pulse and then it occred to me Martina had problems with her heart and its even harder for her to be resusitated.”

“One tuff time with Dylan wasn’t enough”