[1] Txting: frNd or foe?
If I ........ a pound for every time I heard
someone predicting a language disaster
because of a new technological development,
[5] I would be a very rich man. If I were a time
traveller, my bank balance would have started
to grow with the arrival in the Middle Ages of
printing, thought by many to be the invention
of the devil. It would have increased with the
[10] telegraph, telephone and broadcasting. And I
would have been able to retire on the profits
from text messaging.
All the popular beliefs about texting are
wrong. It isn’t just used by the young
[15] generation: the vast majority of texts
circulating in cyberspace are among adults,
especially by and to institutions.
Only ........ very tiny part of text messaging
uses a distinctive orthography. The
[20] abbreviations are not a totally new
phenomenon. Young people don’t use them in
essays, nor in exam scripts. And research is
piling up that text messaging helps rather
than hinders literacy. Texting has, indeed,
[25] added a new dimension to language use, but
its long-term impact on existing varieties of
language is negligible. It is not a disaster.
The popular impression is quite the
opposite. People think that the written
[30] language seen on mobile phone screens is
new and alien. It has been labelled “textese”,
“slanguage”, and a “digital virus”. It has been
described as foreign and “outlandish”.
However, ........ most striking characteristic
[35] of text messages is the combination of
standard and non-standard features. Although
many texters like to be different and enjoy
breaking linguistic rules, they also know they
need to be understood. There is no point in
[40] paying for a message if it breaks so many
rules that it ceases to be intelligible. There is
always ........ unconscious pressure to use the
standard orthography.
Adapted from: CRYSTAL, David. Txting: frNd or foe? The Linguist, v. 47, n. 06, Dec. 2008/Jan 2009. Available at: <http://www.davidcrystal.com/DCarticles/ Internet16.pdf>. Access on: Sept 09, 2012.
Consider the statements below.
I - Research indicates that text messages harm languages by breaking their grammar and spelling rules.
II - Text messaging is a digital virus used mostly by young people.
III - Texting is only one out of a variety of technological developments that have had an impact in the way languages are used.
Which are correct, according to the text?
