Cell Phones And Their Influence On Our Campus - 1601 Words

You cannot walk across campus of the University of Arkansas without seeing someone sucked into their phone and staring at the screen. What are they doing on there? Texting, Snapchatting, Tweeting, or even updating a Facebook. I bet almost everyone on our campus has at least typed one text message on their phone walking from one class to another. It was found, by The Centre of Science Education at Sheffield University, that around ninety percent of the youth have cellular devices, and about ninety-six percent of them use their devices to text (Plester, Wood, Bell 137). People tend to call less and text more while using their cell phones, and this may be a factor as to why the most preferred communication style is reported as texting (Cingel†¦show more content†¦Positive and negative effects on students’ literacy has been found when it comes to the topic of texting. Teachers have said that they have received students’ work that has contained textisms (Powell and Dixon 58). When this work is reviewed, teachers have said that they believe that these textisms can be attributed to the amount of texting that their students do, which in turn is negatively affecting their schoolwork (Verheijen 595). Texting in today’s society is having effects on literacy, and the media has just caught on to this anomaly in the past few years. Although it is thought of having just a negative impact on literacy, it has been found that textisms have also made positive contributions to students’ literacy as well. Students who regularly read and compose text messages show a tendency to have a greater awareness of literacy and vocabulary. Studies have shown that when students see abbreviations of words, such as those they would use while texting, have resulted in them being able to obtain more material in a quicker period of time and performing better on spelling tests. When students text, they regularly practice their abbreviation skills, which can then be applied for educational benefits such as performing well on spelling tests or by making studying an easier and quicker process. Along with the use of abbreviations, texting has also increased the efficiency at which we can communicate. With the use of textisms, or abbreviations,