Technology has introduced a new form of communication - text messaging. Everybody seems to have a negative comment on the state of literacy today, and many of them pin the blame on new technology. Even though technology has provided the ability to communicate with people halfway across the world, some people believe it has limited the interaction with those who are closest. Textism has made communication easier by helping people avoid long unpleasent phone conversations. Texting allows individuals to literally express their thoughts, convey information, and maintain relationships using tips of their fingers. The invention and subsequent use of the text message has redefined the way in which an entire generation communicates with each other. …show more content…
Textism has been proven to stimulate 10- to 12-year-old children’s literacy skills. Bushnell, Kemp and Martin (2011) have examined children and found a positive correlation between their usage of textism and their literacy skills. They found that more frequent application of textism translated into significantly higher spelling scores and better verbal reasoning. In their paper, Bushnell et al. mention that “this positive link between textism use and literacy skills speaks against media claims that text-messaging has a detrimental effect on spelling”; furthermore, it allows children to use textism that can have the result in “greater, rather than lesser, spelling abilities” (p. 34). The exact reason behind this positive correlation has not yet been scientifically established, but the overall opinion is that through texting children are adapted to the written word more frequently. Thus, textism should not be regarded as an unnecessary evil, but as a benefactor for children which can improve their literacy skills. Mainly, textism brings out creativity. For children textism does not solely appear to be a way to type faster, but also to be creative with a language. They use symbols and punctuation signs to create riddles and electronic drawings on their phones. This particular usage of language may increase children’s enjoyment of reading and writing texts. Bushnell et al. (2011) suggest that this may lead to “greater engagement and achievement in traditional literacy activities” (p.