Image by k4dordy @ Flickr
The recent, but not altogether surprising, revelation that texting while driving is really frigging dangerous (figures like “23 times more likely to be in an accident”) was a wake-up call for those of us old enough to operate motor vehicles. On the heels of that, new research suggests that the lexicon of text and SMS speak, coupled with the predictive typing tools present on even the most basic cell phones, could be hindering the development of spelling skills of younger users.
I could go off on a substantial rant about how people can’t spell to save their lives, and that the various auto-correct features in many text editors (yes, even the one we use on the back-end here adds that helpful red squiggle when we transpose a cuople letters), but, really, that’s stale ground. We, as a species, are very good at inventing things to make our lives easier, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise when people take advantage of these shortcuts and come to rely on them.
History Lesson: The 160 character limit isn’t completely arbitrary (it’s only mostly arbitrary, but at least some effort went into figuring it out). In case you haven’t had your coffee yet, and need to get the blood pumping, text messaging service is essentially free for cell phone service providers, since it’s using a second radio channel that would be left empty during voice communication. Text plans are almost pure profit margin.
But, back to the topic at hand (or at least, at thumbs).
The children who used their phones a lot were faster on some of the tests but were less accurate. We suspect that using mobile phones a lot, particularly tools like predictive text, is behind this…. If you’re used to operating in that environment and entering a couple of letters and getting the word you want, you expect everything to be like that.
– Professor Michael Abramson
Instant gratification, or at least a lessening in the effort required to achieve a desired outcome, is tough to turn down. However, instilling an excessive reliance on outside assistance is probably not such a great and enduring legacy. I’m sure everyone out there can recall cringing at a poorly-rendered company communique or similar gaffe (whether or not you were the author). I use an ancient cell phone, where the predictive text feature can be turned on or off (I typically leave it off, both because I’m a Luddite, and one of those cretins who meticulously spell out just about everything, even when texting). I have no idea if more contemporary devices allow users to do this.
The conflation of predictive typing algorithms (especially the ones that learn from their user) and the reliance on shorthand isn’t doing youngsters any favors when it comes to learning to spell and type well (in addition to the difference in input mechanisms if they’re using a non-QWERTY interface).
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On the other hand, given that the laws behind spelling are next to useless anyway http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8110573.stm what with all the exceptions, languages being fluid (except maybe French), and internet speak becoming prevalent in multiple languages, maybe simply spelling everything fohnetiklee isn’t such a bad idea. I get the point of formal communication versus casual, and that the older generation (which I guess I’m rapidly becoming part of) won’t like the adjustment, but since the point of language is simply to communicate ideas, thoughts, and so on, should the mechanics really matter if the job gets done?
It’s less a matter of formal vs. casual (and I could rail mightily on that subject), it’s a concern that folks who grow up with their spelling propped up by these external supports won’t be equipped to deal well when they’re stripped away. If you’ve ever had a limb immobilized for a broken bone, you’ve seen how the muscles atrophy. Think how weak that arm or leg would be if it had been in a soft cast most of your life?
Knowing the rules and consciously breaking them is a different state of affairs than not knowing they exist at all.
This post strikes me as dang kids today, mutter, mutter.
“However, instilling an excessive reliance on outside assistance is probably not such a great and enduring legacy.” Even if you’re a mountain man living off the land, odds are that someone else mined and smelted the metal for your knife. The idea of absolute self-sufficiency is a tremendously attractive one, but in reality we rely on outside assistance every day for almost everything we do. I think broadening your skill base is a great thing to do. Complaining about spell check when you’re routinely relying on hundreds of other enabling technologies is a case of people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
While there’s a little “get off my lawn!” going on here, the fact that the underlying tenet — that research is actually suggesting that there is an actual decline in skills — is of interest.
I’ve done a variant the mountain man thing (extremely rural living, 1997-2000), and can’t say I recommend it too heartily. For one thing, it took forever to get broadband.
What’s to say they will be stripped away though? And if that situation happens infrequently, is there a net loss of functionality, or a net gain? This is like the math argument that calculators are the destruction of mathematical ability, but on the whole they are a huge net benefit.
I think I agree with c0nn3ry on this one…language is just a tool to communicate. And this is coming from someone who never uses shortcuts when he writes. Grammar Nazi’s drive me nuts.
“Stripped away” may have been overstating things, but I don’t think this quite makes it to an apples-to-apples comparison between it and calculator use. Doing cool and complicated stuff with one’s TI, even the fancy graphing ones, is not going to be a leisure activity remotely as popular or often engaged in as text messaging.
Calculators are a tool; texting is a medium.
Besides… You don’t really want me to point out that inappropriate apostrophe, do you?
“Knowing the rules and consciously breaking them is a different state of affairs than not knowing they exist at all.”
That’s a fair point Rafe. I agree that there should be a recognition of the different arenas of communication and what is acceptable where, because even as things change (and they will), there are certain things that just aren’t done. For example, swearing like crazy when first meeting your new girlfriend’s parents.
On a separate note, I’ve been lurking since discovering this blog (can’t remember where now) for the last few months. As this is the first post I’ve commented on, let me say thanks for putting in the time to consolidate the kind of information that you do, and putting it in a useful form. I really appreciate the geeky but not overly technical tone that respects your audience’s intelligence without being impenetrable jargon.
Thanks!
I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it; I figure it’s probably safe to err on the side of sounding too geeky rather than sounding like an iron-flinging meathead (which would be a fair criticism of me some days; the only technology I’m engaged with while I lift is an MP3 player, timing device, and a heart rate monitor).
If you have anything in particular you’d like to see discussed, delved into, or otherwise dissected, you can shoot me a note, or fire it off to ask@shrinkgeek.com.
Sometimes I look forward to a future where I can prey on the weak/stupid. Other days it scares me to think that they weak/stupid are all around and DRIVING CARS!