Community Corner
Texting-Related Poor Grammar Is Nothing to LOL About
A Penn State study says middle school-age texting habits could lead to declining language and grammar skills. What do you think? Take our poll.
"Tweens" who use text messages to communicate with friends and family might be at risk of declining language and grammar skills, according to researchers at Penn State University.
The middle school-age children who frequently use language adaptations, known as techspeak, when they text performed poorly on a grammar test because they often use shortcuts, such as homophones, omissions of non-essential letters and initials to compose a text message. Examples are LOL (laughing out loud), gr8 (great), nite (for night) and *$ (Starbucks).
The researchers said using these shortcuts can hinder a tween's ability to switch between techspeak and proper grammar.
Find out what's happening in Forest Hills-Regent Squarewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Will texting spell the end of proper grammar and spelling? What do you think? Take our poll and tell us!
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.