AN INVESTIGATION ON THE MENACE OF TEXT MESSAGE ABBREVIATIONS AND ITS IMPACT ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATIONS

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE MENACE OF TEXT MESSAGE ABBREVIATIONS AND ITS IMPACT ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE EXAMINATIONS

Background Of The Study

The term "text message" (TM) refers to the practice of using abbreviations in written communication that are not always understood by all people. It crafts short messaging services (SMS), instant messages (IM), black berry messages (BBM), and other types of communication by making use of abbreviated versions of the languages involved. This kind of interaction often does not adhere to any particular language pattern, norms, rules, spellings, grammar, or any other form of linguistic norm (Agboola, 2022).

According to Ahlqvist (2022), abbreviations and acronyms are used rather often in chat chats and text messages as a method to speed up talks, get points through quickly, and reduce the amount of typing that is required when you are in a hurry. A term or phrase that is shortened to its abbreviated version is known as an abbreviation (e.g. TV is an abbreviation of television). Vosloo said that an acronym is formed when one takes the initial letter of each word (or the majority of the syllables) in a sentence and puts them together to generate an abbreviation (for example, "TGIF" is an acronym that stands for "Thank God It's Friday"). According to Smith (2008), if a person misunderstands an abbreviation or uses one in the incorrect context, it may be quite humiliating. Students engage in significant amounts of texting in English, are exposed to a variety of helpful texting acronyms, and are required to read an article on the relationship between texting and literacy (Alao, 2021).

According to Anglistiky (2020), in recent times there has been a growing worry that the proliferation of text messaging among young people is having a detrimental impact on the reading abilities of these individuals (Anglistiky, 2020). On the other hand, a recent study examined the spelling and punctuation of some students who text and other kids who do not text, and the researchers found no significant differences between the two groups. When you are texting, it is essential to be quick and to the point. This is done so that we may save both time and space. When a reader who is not familiar with texting comes across abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons, they are likely to get confused. This "language" is simple to read and simple to write, making it ideal for texters. Since a few years ago, people have been debating whether or not texting has any negative impacts (Arikunto, 2022).

Teachers in Nigeria started finding instances of texting abbreviations in the papers that their students were turning in for exams. One group of students that became notable for their extensive use of abbreviations was the group that produced a full account of summer vacations using text language. A sample of the piece was sent by the instructors to a major newspaper, and readers responded by sending in hundreds of letters expressing their thoughts (Awoyemi, 2020). In contrast, the rules of English, as they are presented in a school setting, prescribe a right word and grammar for every case, such as "lay" vs "lie," "can" versus "may," and "it's" versus "its." However, when it comes to texting, brevity and conciseness are of the utmost importance. Any message that makes sense may be sent, and the range of possible messages is rather large (Awoyemi, 2020). Once a careless attitude toward proper grammar becomes the accepted standard in texting, it will eventually spread to other areas of communication as well.

According to the findings of a research project carried out at Delta State by Ochonogor, Alakpodia, and Achugbue titled "The Impact of Text Message Slang (Tms) or Chartroom Slang on Students Academic Performance," it was discovered that students who texted more abbreviations had a poorer performance on grammar tests. However, not all of the available texting conveniences had the same impact: "Word adaptations," which might include abbreviations and slang, had a detrimental influence on the examination, although "structural adaptations" did not have a significant impact on the test (Awoyemi, 2020).

According to Agboola (2022), there was a fake school essay made in the past that was completely composed of texting abbreviations. This essay was published for some time. To our regret, a great number of people fell for it. According to Taiwo's opinion, instructors were required to present instances of textisms in examination response papers, and he saw just one case of hasty writing in all of the papers (Agboola, 2022). Taiwo continued by saying that when he questioned the pupils directly about whether or not they would ever utilize text speak in their work. The response that was given to Taiwo was "Why on earth would anybody ever want to do that?" "To do so would be ridiculous." Quite so. The contrast between the style of texting and the style of writing an essay is so glaringly obvious that only a fool could fail to see it, according to Taiwo. In a similar vein, Ahlqvist, (2022) came to the conclusion that when he questioned a large number of examiners on their experiences with textisms in test replies. The response was a negative. Ugot continued by saying that he had conducted research and asked students whether or not they used textisms during tests, and the answer was nearly always affirmative. However, many people, including students themselves, are under the impression that students do not utilize abbreviations in tests. It's incredible how the public's imagination can be so easily manipulated by these falsehoods (Ahlqvist, 2022). Another urban legend is that students' literacy would suffer as a result of texting. According to Alao (2021), this misconception is dispelled immediately upon gaining exposure to actual events. Recent studies have shown that the more pupils text, the higher their literacy scores will be. This is a fascinating finding, and it brings up an important question. Because with experience, reading and writing become easier to do. Texting offers this opportunity for practice, however the problem arises when relying on the use of abbreviations more often than is required.

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