Hamilton 1

April Hamilton
Professor Lofswold
English 101
September 11, 2016
Paper 1 Summary
Does Texting Affect Writing?
Michaela Cullington attended Marywood University in Pennsylvania and graduated in
2014. She received a masters degree in speech and language pathology. Cullington wrote the
essay Does Texting Affect Writing? Her essay begins with how easy it is to text message in the
day. It can take place at just about anywhere whether traveling somewhere or being at a local
store. Texting allows having communication with others short and easy, allowing a quick reply.
Today most people create a new language by abbreviations. This new language is known as
Textspeak. (pg 361)
Many people are concerned about Textspeak. Cullington hears what articles and teachers
have to say before making her own assumptions. An article from USA Today Texting, Testing
Destroys Kids Writing Style in September 2008. It states that of high school seniors, only 25%
of them are competent writers. Also Jacquie Ream blames texting for students lack to spell and
write well. Jacquie expresses: We have a whole generation being raised without communication
skills. (pg 362) Teachers are concerned about Textspeak found in their students writing. Some
say it is a second language or second nature for the students.

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Cullington collected different peoples complaints and responses about their concerns of
Textspeak affecting writing. Some others thought of Textspeak as being beneficial. Sterberg,
Kaplan, and Borck believe that texting encourages students to write formally and enjoy it more.
(pg 364) They also feel that texting helps students use their creativity and new ideas. David
Crystal discusses about texting helping students the ability to summarize and express oneself
concisely. (pg 364) A junior high school teacher, Shirley Holm, describes texting a
comfortable form of communication. (pg 365) Cullington discovered that there are both
positive and negative opinions on this topic.
Using some different methods, Cullington surveyed a small group of students on their
thoughts if they think texting impacts their writing. She purposely chose students with different
personalities believing the results would lead to a wide spread of different views and opinions.
(pg 366) Cullington also surveyed the teachers on a questionnaire similar to what she gave the
students. As she received the results, she was quite surprised how different the views were from
the students to the teachers. Cullington went furthermore into detail to get more knowledge
based from reading students research papers.
Cullington used the results she has collected to have her own findings. She discovered
that texting has a minimal effect on student writing. Most students said that they know what is
appropriate for writing. Cullington found herself an agreement with Dennis Barons book. A
Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution. (pg 368) They both respond saying
that students do know the difference of when to write in a text and when to write formally.
Cullington also found support through a study at a Midwestern Research University. (pg 369)
The research team made a hypothesis which was incorrect. They thought texting and
abbreviations would create a negative impact on students, which it did not. Cullington also know

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that abbreviations in formal writing is unacceptable and makes her seem less intelligent. She
reports that texting does not affect students writing abilities. (pg 368) Some people still believe
that Textspeak is a negative, while others, think of it as a positive.