NWODO, ADAORA GLORIA

PG/MA/08/48967

SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS) AND ENGLISH

LANGUAGE USAGE IN SELECTED SECONDARY

SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA URBAN

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY

STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

Webmaster

Digitally Signed by Webmaster‟s Name

DN : CN = Webmaster‟s name O= University of Nigeria, Nsukka

OU = Innovation Centre

JANUARY 2011

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS)

AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE USAGE IN SELECTED

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA URBAN

BY

NWODO, ADAORA GLORIA

PG/MA/08/48967

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

JANUARY 2011

i

TITLE PAGE

SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE (SMS)

AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE USAGE IN SELECTED

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NSUKKA URBAN

ii

APPROVAL PAGE

This project has been approved for the Department of English and Literary

Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

By

-------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Dr. Chinyere L. Ngonebu Rev. Fr. Prof. A.N. Akwanya

Project Supervisor Head of Department

-------------------------------- --------------------------

Dean of Faculty External Examiner

iii

CERTIFICATION

Nwodo, Adaora Gloria, a post graduate student in the Department of

English and Literary Studies with registration number PG/MA/08/48967 has

satisfactorily completed the requirements for the course and research work

for the Degree of Masters of Arts in English.

The work embodied in this project is original and has not been

submitted in part or full for any other diploma or degree of this or any other

university.

------------------------------- ----------------------------------

Dr. Chinyere L. Ngonebu Rev. Fr. Prof. A.N. Akwanya

Supervisor Head of Department

iv

DEDICATION

TO ALMIGHTY, GOD MY DIRECTOR

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my appreciation to my wonderful supervisor, Dr.

Chinyere L. Ngonebu. But for her encouragement, support, and proper

supervision, I would have given up in-between this project work.

I met a brother as the former Head of Department of English and

Literary Studies, in the person of Prof. Sam Onuigbo. He guided me in the

choice of my project topic. I pray God to bless him.

My husband, Prof. O.F.C. Nwodo, and all my children: Daddy, Fochi,

Odev, Meriala and Mmasi, God bless them for supporting my course.

I am very grateful to Favour Computers (Chika), for a neat typing. To

all others who assisted me, and whom I cannot mention here, God bless

them all.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page - - - - - - i

Approval Page - - - - - - ii

Dedication - - - - - - - iii

Acknowledgments - - - - - - iv

Table of Contents - - - - - - v

List of Tables - - - - - - vi

Abstract - - - - - - - vii

1.1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION - 1

1.2 Statement of Problem - - - 9

1.3 Research Questions - - - 10

1.4 Purpose of Study - - - 10

1.5 Significance of Study - - - 10

1.6 Scope of Study - - - 11

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction - - - 12

2.1 Theoretical Framework - - - 12

2.1.1 Neogrammarian Theory of Language Change - 13

2.1.2 Image Theory of Meaning - - - 15

2.1.3 The Dynamics of Language - - - 16

2.1.4 Computer Medicated Communication (CMC) - 18

2.1.5 The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) 20

2.1.6 GSM Service - - - 22

2.1.7 Short Message Service - - - 24

2.1.8 Advantages of Short Message Service (SMS) - 26

2.1.9 Some Features of SMS - - - 27

vii

2.1.10 SMS as a Writing Skills - - - 29

2.2 Empirical Studies - - - 29

2.2.1 GSM and the Nigerian Situation - - 35

2.3 Conclusion - - - 38

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction - - - 39

3.1 Research Method - - - 39

3.2 Area of Study - - - 42

3.3 Population - - - 42

3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique - - 43

3.5 Research Instrument - - - 43

3.6 Analysis of Data - - - 44

CHAPTER FOUR: COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.0 Introduction - - - - - - - 45

4.1 Research Question One - - - - - - 46

Table I; Unusual Abbreviations and their Suspected Meaning in the

Students‟ Essay Writing - - - - - 46

Table II: Grammatical Errors in the Students‟ Essay Writing - 49

Table III: Punctuation Errors in the Students‟ Essay Writing - 51

Table IV: Spelling Errors in the students‟ Essay Writing - 52

4.2 Research Question Two - - - - - 55

Table V: Unusual Abbreviation and their Suspected Meaning in

the Students‟ Text Messages - - - - - 55

Table VI: Grammatical Errors in Students Text Messages - 57

Table VII: Punctuation Errors in the Students Text Message - 58

viii

Table VIII: Spelling Errors in the Student‟s Text Message - 59

4.3 Conclusion - - - - - - - 62

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

5.0 Introduction - - - - - - 63

5.1 Discussions of the Findings - - - - 63

5.1.1 Findings from Students‟ Essay Writing - - 63

5.1.2 Findings from Students‟ Text Messages - - 66

5.2 Recommendations - - - - - - 69

5.3 Conclusion - - - - - - - 71

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research - - - 72

References - - - - - - - 73

Appendix AI – 20: Samples of Students‟ Essay Writing

Appendix BI – 15: Samples of Students‟ Text Messages

ix

LIST OF TABLES

Table Pg

i. Unusual Abbreviations and their Suspected Meaning in the

Students‟ Essay Writing - - - - - 46

ii Grammatical Errors in the Students‟ Essay Writing - 49

iii Punctuation Errors in the Students‟ Essay Writing - - 51

iv. Spelling Errors in the Students‟ Essay Writing - 52

v. Unusual Abbreviation and their Suspected Meaning in

the Students‟ Text Messages - - - - - 55

vi. Grammatical Errors in Students Text Messages - - 57

vii. Punctuation Errors in the Students Text Message - - 58

viii. Spelling Errors in the Students Text Message - 59

x

ABSTRACT

The advent of the technology called Global System of Mobile

Communication (GSM) has brought in a paradigm shift from the

conventional English Language Writing, to what researchers now call SMS

system of communication. This has been observed in many places as well as

Nigeria. English language being an official language in Nigeria and fast

becoming a global language cannot diffuse into un-intelligibility through

such influences like SMS language. The importance of language generally to

man is such that any virus that portends catastrophe to it attracts special

attention. Some research works have been carried out to trace the influence

of the emerging trends on the users of this technology; this project is one of

researchers aims at identifying the influence of SMS language on the writing

performance of secondary school students, in Nsukka Urban Area of Enugu

State, Nigeria. An extensive literature review has been carried out on the

GSM technology, its special features especially the Short Message Services

(SMS) that brought in this encoding of English language through text

message, computer mediated communication, the importance and dynamics

of language and other relevant aspects of the project topic. From the

foregoing it is obvious that the SMS of GSM influences students’ writing.

1

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Global system for mobile communication (GSM), is a digital telephone

system that digitalizes and compresses data to help improve the speed of wireless

mobile when communicating… (answers.yahoo.com/question/index3/11/09).

GSM is one of the leading digital cellular systems that use narrowband Time

Division Multiple Access (TDMA) which allows eight simultaneous calls on the

same radio frequency (Webopedia.internet.com/img/mock/rcat-new.gif.12/10/09).

This system of communication is far more advanced than the traditional analogue

cellular technology (Computer.com/ITNewspaperJan.2002 Pg.11). GSM uses a

variation of time division multiple access (TDMA) and is the most widely used

of the three digital wireless telephony technologies (TDMA, GSM and DMA).In

2007, more than 690 mobile networks provide GSM services across 213

countries and GSM represents 82.4% of all global mobile connections. According

to GSM world, there are now more than 2 billion GSM mobile phone users

worldwide. The number of mobile subscriptions the world is expected to see by

the end of the ongoing year (2009) is reportedly heading for 4.6 billion as

reported by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) secretary, recently

(Softpedia.mht.14/10/09).

One of the objectives for the GSM-based platform was to offer advanced

services and functionality from a single network, and to meet this goal, the designers

made it part of the standard and based the architecture on the Integrated Services

Digital Network (ISDN) called model. (Comptuer.com/ITNewspaperl.Jan. 2002

Pg.11).

2

GSM services are a standard collection of applications and features

available to mobile phone subscribers all over the world and are the world‟s

most dominant mobile phone standard. The design of the service is

moderately complex because it must be able to locate a moving phone of the

same service anywhere in the world. The GSM standard also provides

separate facilities for transmitting digital data. This allows a mobile phone to

act like any other computer on the Internet, sending and receiving data via

the Internet protocol (Wikipedia, 2009). The mobile may also be connected

to a desktop computer, laptop or Personal digital Assistants (PDA), for use

as a network interface (just like a modem or Ethernet card) (Wikipedia,

2009).

With the ascendancy of Information and Communication Technology

(ICT), the world has been compressed into a global village. GSM enhanced

the velocity of world communication. The gamut of services which mobile

phone renders include

(1) Integrated Voice Call

(2) Internet Access; (separate facilities for transmitting digital data

which allows a mobile phone to act like any other computer on the

internet, sending and receiving data via the internet protocol)

(3) Circuit Switched Data

(4) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),

(5) Music Player, (Mp3)

(6) Calculator

(7) Calendar

(8) Digital Colour Camera

(9) Short Message Services (SMS)

(10) MAPS

3

(11) Weather Channel

(12) You Tube

(13) Dictionary

(14) Encyclopedia

(15) Light

(16) Clock/alarm etc.

All these services are mostly transmitted in the English language. The

internet, with the majority of its content/ learning is written in English and it

is no wonder that people of this planet are using the English language as the

vehicle and bridge across borders and cultures. The language has become a

source of unity in communicating with a rapidly changing world

(Baskerville, 14). So, at a time in history when people want to, and can,

through the Internet connect with the world, English just happens to be the

tool close at hand that can do the job. English language commands

unparalleled international intelligibility. Onuigbo and Eyisi (2009, v)

describe it as an important centripetal force that….. pulls divergent chords

towards a central point in spite of the diversity of the world today. Even

though computer and lasers are tools for the space age, English is the

language of transmission. It has become a lingua franca, a global language

regularly used and understood by many nations for whom English is not

their first language. Any virus that interferes with English language learning

portends a catastrophe for world unity and peace in the globalization

process. With two billion people now speaking English or learning to speak

it, we can creditably imagine a genuine global language.

Short Message Service (SMS) language or textese is a term for the

abbreviations and slang most commonly used owing to the necessary brevity

of mobile phone text messaging. The objective of textese is to use the fewest

4

number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message, hence,

punctuation, grammar, and capitalizations are largely ignored. People like

John Humphrey, a Welsh journalist and television reporter, has criticized

textese as “wrecking our language”. He describes emoticons and textese as

“irritating” and essentially lazy behaviours, and summarised that “sloppy”

habits gained while using textese will result in student‟s growing ignorance

of proper grammar and punctuation” (Wikipedia 14/01/09). David Crystal in

his findings summarized in his popular book Txting: “the Gr8 Db8” says

that despite scholarly research to the contrary, the popular notion that text

messaging is damaging to linguistic development of young people and to the

English language itself persists. (mhtml:file://:\smslanguage-Wikipedia,the

free encyclopedia. Mht12/10/09).

Peter Baskerville in his book Global English: a Paradigm Shift

(www.knol.google.com 14/10/09) says: “change has been the one constant

in the development of the human race since the beginning. But never has

change been so immense as it has been in the past decade. Just think about

the massive changes taking place in our environment, technology,

communications and economies just to name a few… and so it is now with

language, in the form of Global English. According to him, recent statement

has been made by researchers, that English in the 21st century has not only

become the lingua franca of international business but is becoming the

lingua franca of all global communication. The eventual effect on the

English of this development can only be guessed at today, but there can be

little doubt that they will be as important as anything that has happened to

English in the past sixteen hundred years (Philip,

Durkan.www.askoxford.com/world of Oxford/history. 1/10/09).

5

In Nigeria , GSM means telecom explosion. The GSM revolution

began in August 2001 and changed the face of Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) in Nigeria. Since the GSM launch,

mobile telephony has rapidly become the most popular method of voice

communication in Nigeria. Growth has been so rapid that Nigeria has been

rightly described in various fora as “one of the fastest growing GSM markets

in the world”. A growing number of population in Nigeria own a mobile

phone, making it an increasingly important aspect of everyone‟s lives.

Likewise, GSM has revolutionized our business environment. Today, the

people of Nigeria can transact their business from the comfort of their homes

through the GSM facility (mhtml:file://E:\allAfrica-com. 16/10/09).

Hamadoun Toure, International Communication Union (ITU) secretary

general said, “ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) are vital

within developing countries to ensure that ordinary people can fully

participate in the knowledge economy of the 21st century (Softpedia.mht.

14/10/09). Nigeria is developing, and so… should not allow the ICT driven

globalization, development, peace and unity be hampered by the said serious

influence of the GSM/SMS, internet/email systems of communication. A

high proficiency in the communicative ability of Nigerians in English

language should rather be encouraged.

Opinion differs as to the use of SMS language. People have expressed

their concern about the influence of SMS on the English language and said

that the popular SMS and e-mail phonetic spelling have corrupted the

English language. There have been some reports in the media of children

using SMS language for essay in school: (mhtml:file://H:\sms language.

10/14/09).

6

Prince Charles in The Guardian of June 8, 2005 attacked teachers in a

gathering, saying that plans to allow children to study text messaging as part

of GCSE English studies were damaging the prospects of future generation.

Others maintain that text messaging is merely one stage of our revolution

and it is on the way out.

While some people decry the woe of text messaging and SMS

language, others like David Crystal, a Professor of Linguistics in the

University of Wales, Bangor9 said in The Guardian of February 28, 2005,

that “the advent of new language styles and forms engendered by the

Internet, and related communication development such as SMS messaging,

should be greeted with delight”. To him, it is the greatest opportunity for the

development of the English language since the advent of the printing press

in the Middle Ages (mhtml:file//E:\textually_org). Experts believe that the

new form of communication such as mobile phone texting, email and

internet messaging are helping us to stay in touch with each other

(mhtml://:GlobalEnglish.org/English a paradigm shift). In China, it is

believed that text messaging preserves everyone‟s dignity by eliminating the

human voice. It has also been observed that English has undergone four

stages in the past and is in the process to the fifth.

The four stages English Language has undergone as recorded by Peter

Baskerville are

(1) Old English (Germanic tribe) 450 to 1100 AD

(2) Middle Age English (William the Conqueror) 1100 – 1500 AD

(3) Modern English (Dialect of London) 1500 – 1800 AD.

(4) Late Modern English (Industrial Revolution) 1800 – 2000.

(5) Post Modern English (Internet) since 2000.

7

Baskerville consequently observed that “those sceptable about a new

English being created from the technology of the internet and text messages

will only need to view the new 900 SMS acronym list from a social mobile

network provider SMS Fun Dictionary to see how a new language can form

from English within just a few years.

The curiosity for this project arose when I intercepted a student

teacher‟s text message during a gathering. This was what I saw in her mobile

phone.

Hi hw r u. U‟re gr8, ryt? GF, I wntd 2 c u FTF A3

drng d hols, bt u wr scrse.

FYI, u r enlstd 4 an award in ur dept. IMHO, u sld rsh bk

2 skul 2 clm it, IYKWIM CUL. :-*, MK

The effort both the girl and I made to decode the message proved abortive,

until I personally took this message home and used the internet to find the

full meaning of some of the abbreviations.

The translation reads thus:

“Hello love, how are you? You are great, right? Girl friend, I

wanted to see you face to face, any place, anytime, any

where during the holidays, but you were scarce. For your

information, you are enlisted for an award in your

department. In my humble opinion, you should rush back to

school to claim it, if you know what I mean. See you later,

smiling! Mike Love”

It may be illogical to hope and to believe that language is dynamic

and thus not allow the apprehensions created by the above mentioned

systems become verified. From the foregoing, it is obvious that something is

happening between the conventional English grammar and/or usage and the

system of its usage in the GSM/SMS as an information communicating

8

technology. The pattern with which information is passed through the GSM

has changed in structure and probably in other linguistic levels of English

language. The major interest in this project is therefore to find out whether

GSM/SMS system of communication has influenced conventional English

language to such extent that students in secondary schools forget the

standard rules of the language.

Some researches have been done on the influence of GSM/SMS

language, with university undergraduates. An example is that of the National

Universities Commission (NUC) and the British Overseers Administration

(ODA) in 1990. Chiluwa (www.educ/utas.edu/au/users/Journal, Oct. 2009),

of the Covenant University, Nigeria also researched on the extent to which

textmessaging constructs Christian value belief system and sentiments in

Nigeria.

In the same vein a similar investigation was carried on the

socioliguistic of mobile phone SMS usage in Cameroon and Nigeria by

Feuba Wanji Elvis of the Department of English, University of Yaunde.

Ezekwesili (2008: 382) has also studied the impact of GSM/ICT on

undergraduate writing. All these researches found adverse impacts of SMS

coded language on the English language.

To the best of my knowledge, no such research has been conducted

with secondary school students. No analysis has also been done on the

pattern of text messaging with this group of students in Nsukka Urban.

This study therefore, aims at determining the influence of the short

message service (SMS) on secondary school students on the learning of this

all important language and by extension, on the teaching of the most widely

spoken language of our time, English.

9

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

There is a paradigm shift from the conventional English language

writing to what researchers have now call GSM/SMS, Internet/ e-mail

systems of communication. The problem is identifying the influence of

GSM/SMS, internet/e-mail systems of communication on the learning of the

English language.

The fact that English language in Nigeria is studied in a second

language situation creates enough problem, but the emergence of GSM/SMS

and e-mail system of communication makes the learning of English more

complex with the interference features from this new development. Many

researches (as recorded above) have examined the problems of English in a

second language situation at various levels of linguistic usage. There is so

much literature on the phonological and syntactic problems of learners of

English in a second language situation, but the emerging trends in

GSM/SMS and e-mail system of communication add new dimensions to

these problems. The emerging trends have provoked great interests but not

much has been done in exploring the influence of the emerging trend on the

structure and general development of the English language among secondary

school students. And that is what this project is designed to fulfill.

Sporadic comments may exist, but this project is designed to do a

detailed study with a view to providing a systematic view that will

characterize the situation and the possible dangers of the communication

revolution on the development of the core features of English, on the level of

performance of the students at secondary school level.

10

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will guide the study:

1) Is there any influence of SMS language on the learning of English in

secondary schools?

2) To what extent does SMS system of communication affect the writing

of secondary school students?

The data for answering these research questions will be generated from

(a) Students‟ essay scripts

(b) Students‟ text-messages.

1.4 PURPOSE OF STUDY

The purpose of this study is

(1) To identify the influence of SMS system of communication on

English language performance of secondary school students.

(2) To identify the extent to which SMS language influences the

writing performance of the sampled population.

(3) To expose other users (parents/ teachers) of SMS to the danger

of the influence of SMS language on young students.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The identification of the influence of SMS system of communication

on the learning of English language by secondary school students is

significant in the following ways:

(1) It will reveal the level of impact of SMS system of communication

on the students‟ performance in English.

11

(2) It will provide teachers with enough technique to employ to meet

the massive and evolving need of youths so desperate for

information and learning.

(3) It will assist parents in interpreting some text-message

abbreviations forged to confuse their understanding of certain

contents, such as “CPC” which means “Keep Parents Clueless”

and also help them check their children‟s performance in English.

(4) It will help learners curtail the excesses involved in the use of

GSM/SMS, Internet/e-mail.

(5) It will enable second language teachers to be alert to the challenges

posed by students‟ unrestrained dependence on SMS and its

backwash on their writing ability.

1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY

This study is an investigation of the influence of SMS system of

communication among senior secondary school students in Nsukka

Urban. The focus will be on the influence of SMS on the writing

performance of this category of students. Consequently, the study will

cover only senior secondary schools in Nsukka urban.

12

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

Language change is a known fact. But while every language has a

limited number of phonemes, the number of lexemes or meaningful sounds

is open–ended, because every language is capable of inventing new words to

express new ideas (Akoha 1995:310).

Global systems mobile (GSM) has brought about a kind of change in

English language pattern of writing through short message service

(SMS).This is yet another change among the rest of the changes that English

language has passed through in the past.

a. This chapter will review the theoretical and empirical aspects of

language change as it relates to GSM. The theoretical studies will in

addition review GSM technology and some of its applications

including the SMS that is our major focus here.

2.1 THEORETICAL STUDIES

“The phenomenon of language change probably attracts more public

notice and criticism than any other linguistic issue”. This, according to

Crystal (1987:4), is because it is a widely held belief that change must mean

deterioration and decay whereby older people observe the casual speech of

the young and conclude that standards have fallen markedly. They place the

blame in various quarters – most often in schools where patterns of language

education have changed a great deal in recent years. Crystal (1987:4) asserts

that language change is inevitable and rarely unpredictable and that those

who try to plan a language‟s future waste their time, if they think other wise

– time which would be better spent in devising fresh ways of enabling

13

society to cope with the new linguistic forms that accompany each

generation. Crystal continued to say that languages do not develop progress,

decay, evolve, or act according to any of the metaphors which imply specific

endpoint and level of excellence. They simply change as society changes.

Some (societies) are moving to an order where the verb precedes the object;

others to an order where the object precedes the verb. Some languages are

loosing vowels and gaining consonants, others are doing the opposite”.

From observation of what is happening with the English language

with regards to SMS in Nigeria, the language is vowels. This is evident in

words like „text‟ now written in text messages, as „txt‟, „how‟ as „hw‟,

„your‟ as „ur‟, „you‟as „u‟, people as „pple‟, game as „gme‟, „was‟ as „ws‟

etc.

2.1.1 Neogrammarians Theory of Language Change

Neogrammarians theory of language change is that of a natural

process. Neogrammarians stated that changes are automatic and mechanical

and therefore cannot be observed or controlled by the speakers of the

language.Their main contention is that language change is systematic. They

found out that what sounds like a single „sound‟ to a human ear is actually a

collection of very similar sounds. They call these similar sounds „low level”

deviation from an idealized‟ form. They argue that language change is

simply a slow shift of the idealized form by small deviation.

(http/:www.ancientscript.com 28/1/2010).

An American linguist, William Labov advanced a social theory of

language change. He found that at the beginning, a small part of a population

pronounces certain words that have, for example, the same vowel

differently, than the rest of the population. This occurs naturally since

14

humans do not all reproduce exactly the same sounds. However, at some

later point in time, for some reasons, this difference in pronunciation starts

to become a signal for social and cultural identity. Others of the same

population who wish to be identified with the group either consciously

(more likely) unknowingly adopt this difference, exaggerate it, and apply it

to change the pronunciation of other words. If given enough time, the

change ends up affecting all words that posses the same vowel, so that this

becomes a regular linguistic sound change.

Other critics argue that similar phenomenon apply to the grammar and

to the lexicon of languages. An interesting example is that of computer word

creeping into standards American language like „bug‟ „crash‟, „net‟ „e-mail‟

etc. This would conform to the above theory in that, these words originally

were used by a small group (i.e. computer scientists), but with the boom in

the internet, everybody wants to become technology savvy. And so these

computer words start to filter into the main stream language. We are

currently at the exaggeration phase where people are coining weird terms

like „Cyber- pad‟ and „dotcom‟ which did not exist before in computer

science.

This social theory sounds more plausible than others for our study

because human beings are social animals and rarely do things without a

social factor.

More recently, Akwanya (2007:46) observes that dictionary

compilation seems to be moving away from listing exclusively individual

words corresponding to Chomsky‟s lexical items to sequences composed of

distinct lexical items like the „air traffic controller‟, „airs and graces‟, „man

in the street‟, „matter of life and death‟, „theartre of the absurd‟, „unknown

quality‟ and so on. These are presented as head words in so far as these are

15

treated by the language community as a single bundle of meaning. What the

change is about is to express new realities in English language. This was not

so before.

Bredsdorff (1821, 1886) tried to explain the causes of language

change. He considered the following factors:

1. Mishearing

2. Misunderstanding

3. Misrecollection

4. Imperfection of speech organs

5. Indolence

6. The tendency towards analogy

7. The desire to be distinct

8. The need of expressing new ideas

9. Influences from foreign languages.

Short message service (SMS) language came about as a need to

express new ideas brought about by the boom in information and

communication technology, (ICT)

2.1.2 Image Theory of Meaning

This theory explains words in terms of the images with which they are

associated with in the mind. The giving of a name is preceeded by the

derivation of the image from the object. Like referential theory, it is a

connection imposed and fixed by the mind.

Ferdinard de Saussure according to Akwanya 2007 said that meaning

is to be understood in the context of signs in general. A sign is a linguistic

element that writes a sound image, or its graphic equivalent,

and a concept. A sign does not exist except as the sound image or signifier

16

tied to a definite content or signified. Language exists as a system because

the signs are interrelated among themselves, and it is by virtue of this

relationship that signs have meaning (Akwanya, 2007: 26).

This explains why emoticons used in text messages always reflect the

signs associated with the particular concepts, thus, signifies love;

☺signifies laughter or joy etc.

2.1.3 The Importance and Dynamics of Language

What has been said and written about the dynamics and importance of

language is vast. This may probably be because of its very significant feature

to human kind. Great and small, young and old have established the

importance of language to man. Ferdnand de Saussure, a great linguist says

“In the lives of individuals and societies, language is a factor of a greater

importance than any other” (Ngonebu, 2008:1)In Chomsky‟s opinion,

possession of human language is associated with a special type of mental

organization, not simply a higher degree of intelligence (quoted in Akwanya

1999:7). Akpuru-Aja (2008:1) asserts that:

“Fundamantally, there is power in language, whether spoken or

written or by sign language. This is because language is not just

about phonetics and expressive communications. It carried

power of action, command and influence. The craft of language

determines emotional reactions or responses; feelings of

calmness or rage. Why? This is because there is power in

language.

Language is a system through which man collates, organizes and

relates his thoughts and ideas, and interacts with his fellow human beings.

Because language has to do with mankinds that changes with time, it also

changes drastically with him. This is why Ngonebu (2008:1) asserts that it

17

is continually in flux-dropping old expressions, adapting new ones,

borrowing from other languages and cultures and even dying off. Language

allows for necessary changes in form and function and like the society that

uses it, language is dynamic in its scope of reference (Onuigbo and Eyisi,

2009:2).Onuigbo and Eyisi continued to say that language is a

multidimensional social phenomenon whose function and status vary with

the environment and context of use. This is true of the fact that when the

Europeans came for trade, they formulated the English language that suited

their purpose (Pidgin English). When the colonialists came, they upgraded

Pidgin English to a level that will allow them carry on with their missionary

work, and for commerce and business. From the above, it is clear that

language had always changed with man‟s purposes, for it is influenced by

many factors such as class, society, development in science and political

circumstances. It is the opinion of Akwanya (1999:8) that language has a far

more complex reality than a means of communication and encoding

information. It can be used for analysis of patterns of social organisations,

for analysis of tradition and ideology amongst other functions.

We saw in the introductory chapter that English language has gone

through four stages and is on the process of the 5th

. In 1477, the first book in

England was printed by William Caxton. This gave rise to the

standardization of English language. At this period, the dialect used in

London area was used as a standard reference and first set a standard in

written English.

Many years later, British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) introduced

the Received Pronunciation (RP), thus setting a standard of spoken

language. Today, BBC speaks a variety of accents because RP pronunciation

18

is declining in prestige and considered to be a rather snobbish accent.

(ettishing Vol. 1).

The medium that is changing language the most today is the internet,

mainly by computer mediated communication (CMC)

2.1.4 Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

Computer mediated communication (CMC) means that human beings

communicate with each other with the help of computer (Herring, 1996:

Introduction).

The media has never been as influential as it is today. As most people

spend many hours per day in front of the Television (TV), they probably

hear more language from the media than they do in conversations. One can

therefore say that the society is influenced by the language that occurs in the

media. CMC has features of both written and spoken language and is mainly

used in e-mails, text-messages and internet Chat Rooms. The most distinct

feature of CMC is the use of abbreviations and emotions (*lol* and ☺). This

shows that in a way language is going back to where it all started: the use of

pictures to convey meaning (Baumgartdner et al., Ettistlnig Vol. 1).

Computer Mediated Communication has features that do not conform

with the standards of English and that is the point where linguists and other

professionals grumble with the system. Ngonebu (2008:21) asserts that this

rising development among the young people of today is beginning to hinder

their effective use of English language. This rising development is their over

reliance on mobile phones and mobile text messages which is detrimental to

their writing. She observed that mobile text-messaging, is characterized by

19

unusual abbreviations, contractions, tense and grammatical infelicities,

replacement of spelling with sounds and concord incongruity.

Ezekwesili and Chinedu (2008:338) have this say:

The global systems mobile has completely eroded the little

writing ability acquired by (English) learners. It has also

become the major source of corrupt influence on the use of

English of students in Nigeria. Text messages sent through

GSM are highly coded and abbreviated that an ordinary

person cannot decode them. These abbreviations have so

destroyed the spelling competence of learners that if nothing

is done to stem, the tide of this disturbing flow, writing will

suffer a devastating decline.

Academics bemoan the effect that e-mail and text messages have on

teenagers‟ communicative skills. But a similar trend was found in 18 01

when „pugh‟ replaced with abbreviation, a part of a word (Textually. Org).

What more is to be said about the influence of GSM/ SMS language than to

explore necessary avenues to curb the excess usage starting from the primary

level because some pupils in primary schools already have access to mobile

phones and to the Internet either directly or indirectly. The future

implication of negligence may lead to a complete loss of the rubric of

functional writing, because even in the area of grammar, text messages are

filled with structural deviants.

20

2.1.5 The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)

Mobile and wireless technologies apply to products that are capable of

functioning without tethered connection. This definition includes MP3 music

players, digital cameras as well as communication devices such as mobile

phones. A lot of thought has gone into the design of mobile phone systems.

It can seamlessly provide voice communications to a large pollution spread

across large geographical areas. A mobile phone system consists of cellular

arrangements of base stations spread across the entire area of coverage.

The history of radio telephony dates back to 1926 in Europe where it

was first used in first-class passenger trains. Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia noted that these were not mobile phones because; they are not

normally connected to the telephone network.

During the early 1940, the company, Motorola developed a

backpacked two-way-radio, the walkie-talkie and later a large hand held

two-way radio. The first fully automatic mobile phone system called the

MTA (Mobile telephone system A) was developed by Ericson (another

company) and commercially released in Sweden in 1956. One of the first

successful public commercial mobile phone networks was the ARP network

in Finland launched in 1971.

This was sometimes viewed as a Zero Generation (OG) cellular

network. In 1983, the Motorola introduced the First Generation (1G) mobile

phone system. In the 1990s Second Generation (2G) mobile phone system

such as Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), IS – 136

(TDMA) Time Division Multiple Access) began to be introduced.

21

The first GSM network (Radiolinja) opened in Finland in 1991. The

Second Generation (2G) phone system introduced a network variant to

communication as SMS (Short Message Service) text messaging became

possible initially on GSM networks and eventually on all digital networks.

Today, the general public prefers sending text messages to placing voice

calls.

In October 2001, NTTDoCoMo launched the Third Generation (3G)

phone system in Japan. This system is what many people currently use in

their digital cellular phones today. This new technology is not only capable

of transferring voice data (such as phone calls) but also capable of

transferring other types of data including e-mails, information and instant

messages.

In 2002, the Danger Hip Hop Company launched the T-mobile

sidekick. One of the first to include a quality web browser, reliable email

access, instant messages amongst other features.

The Black Berry 5810 was also introduced in 2002. The same year,

Sanyo and Sprint made the Sprint SCP 5300 IXS to include digital camera.

2004 saw the introduction of a brand called RAZR. RIM launched the

smallest and the thinnest BlackBerry Pearl with a reliable e-mail technology.

In 2007, Apples (another company) released the iphone, a beautifully

designed device that includes an innovation and the much hyped-up-touch

screen navigation interface, which doesn‟t require the use of stylus. The

device is available exclusively, through AT and T in the United States.

On October 2008, Google released Google Android phone (G phone)

that has fifteen features and ten Android applications. Android phone toped

22

the list of GSM in 2008 as many features were introduced in Google

Android such as weather channel, encyclopedia etc.

The 3GP standard of mobile phone used today has file extension. The

format is widely used for decreasing the storage bandwidth requirement so

that it can be used with mobile phones. It also allows a streaming of video

and audio technology. The files can be viewed directly on a mobile phone or

be transferred to a home computer for watching after the files have been

converted. The users of 3GPs are allowed to create various video files like

.avi, Wmv, Playable on the computer. Video calls started with 3GP phones.

GSM, therefore, is a powerful technology that has overtaken many

other digital mobile phone networks. It is a technology, which is the leading

cell phone standard all over the world. The first system was online in 1991

when it was formally known as Group Special mobile. Now it stands for

Global System for Mobile Communication (Adapted from Wiki Answers –

What is GSM. mht. 14/10/09). This technology (GSM) is an open system and

is non propriety technology which is rapidly growing and constantly

evolving with wireless, satellite and cordless systems offering greatly

expanded services.

2.1.6 GSM Services

(a) Global system for mobile communication (GSM) services is a

standard collection of applications and features available to mobile

phone subscribers all over the world (Wikipedia-the free

encyclopedia).

23

Generally, the key feature of a mobile phone is the ability to receive

and make calls in any area where coverage is available. Other supplementary

services provided by GSM include

i) Call forwarding

ii) Barring of outgoing or incoming calls

iii) Advice of charge

iv) Call hold and call waiting

v) Multiparty service

vi) Calling line identification presentation / restriction

vii) Closed User Groups (CUGs)

viii) Explicit Call Transfer (ECT)

Other features installed in the GSM phone include

(a) MP3 Music Player

(b) Calendar

(c) Calculator

(d) Instant Light

(e) Dictionary

(f) Weather Channel (Google Android phone)

(g) Wiki Mobile Encyclopedia (Google Android Phone)

(h) HTML Web Browser.

(i) High Megapixel Colour Camera

(j) Maps

(k) Tracking

(l) Navigation, etc.

There are currently plans in place to develop fourth generation –4G-

technology. The goals for this new set of standards include a communication

24

of technologies that will make information transfer and internet capabilities

faster and affordable to cellular phones. Waiting anxiously is the only way to

find out what the manufacturers will think of next

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history_of_phones. 24/9/09).

2.1.7 Short Message Service (SMS)

As the world experiences great revolution in information and

communication technology, new forms in structure and usage of English

language emerge. And so it is with short message service of GSM.

In addition to other services and to general internet access, the other

important and special service such as short message service (SMS) is also

provided by the mobile phone operator. Short message service or silent

messaging service, or textese is a communication system, using standardized

communications protocols, allowing the interchange of text messages

between mobile telephone devices (wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

12/10/09). This was originally defined as part of GSM series of standards in

1985 as a means of sending messages of up to one hundred and sixty

characters (including spaces) to and from GSM mobile handsets. Most SMS

messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports

other types of broadcast messaging as well.

The first SMS message was sent over the Vodafone GSM network in

the United Kingdom on December 3, 1992. The text message was “Merry

Christmas”. The first SMS typed on a GSM phone is claimed to have been

sent by Riku Pihonen, an engineering student at Nokia in 1993.

Short message (more commonly known as text messages) has become

the most commonly used data application on mobile phones with seventy

25

four percent of all mobile users world wide already as active users of SMS,

or 2.4 billion people by the end of 2007 (Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia.

26/9/09).

SMS can be likened to a rebus, which uses pictures and single letters

or numbers to represent whole words e.g “; I „u‟ which means “I love

you,” which uses the pictogram of a heart for “love” and the letter “u” for

“you”. This is closely associated with the image theory of the meaning of

word, where word meaning is explained in terms of the images with which

they are associated in the mind. Akwanya (1999:17). SMS language or

textese is a nascent dialect of English that subverts letters and numbers to

produce ultra-concise words and sentiments. The invention of mobile phone

messages may be considered as its source, although elliptical styles of

writing date back to at least the days of telegraphs. There are no standard

rules for writing SMS language, and a lot of words can also be shortened,

such as “text” being shortened into “txt” or “tx”. Words can be combined

with numbers to make it shorter such as using the number “8” for its

phonetic pronunciation e.g. great written as gr8. Textese seeks to use the

fewest number of letters, and helps in dealing with space constraints of text

messaging, although the advent of texting clearly came from a desire to type

less, and to communicate more quickly than one can manage without

shortcut. This is probably because early SMS permitted only 160 characters.

The key idea for SMS was to use telephony optimized system and transport

messages on the signaling paths needed to control the telephony traffic

during time periods when no signaling traffic existed (Wikipedia 12/10/09).

No individual expert or company can claim to be the “father” or “creator” of

the SMS. The project was a whole and indeed a multi-national collaboration

26

at its best. Therefore, the responsibility for SMS innovation is not with a

single person but with a network of closely co-operating persons who have

this innovation.

2.1.8 Advantages of Short Message Services (SMS)

Mobile terminated short messages can be used to deliver digital

content such as news alerts, financial information (such as bank transaction

alerts of deposits and withdrawals, interest on loans and loan terms) etc.,

and also Logos and ring-tones. Mobile originated short message may also be

used in a premium-rated manner for services such as televoting. Leading

businesses of all size-small, medium and large enterprise are achieving

success implementing SMS or text message services to gain business

process, reducing costs, increasing revenue and customer satisfaction

(http://www.clickatell.com/business101. 29/10/09).

SMS has been used for

(1) Developer Solutions

(2) Financial Services

(3) Social Networking

(4) Mobile Marketing

Advanced models (of GSM) enable users to access the internet, send

and receive e-mail and text message, watch TV, listen to music, take photos,

navigate by the Global Positioning System (GPS) and phone some one

(Awake, Nov. 2009:3). Some GSM operators provide local news, data,

pictures, facts, and messages that can be disseminated through calls and

SMS, over large distances. A good number of phones have options for

27

storing dates and appointments and are capable of reminding one as the

dates fall due (Akpabio 2205: 135).

There are now “cell phones for every two humans on Earth”, and at

least 30 nations have more cell phones than people. “Indeed, we are

witnessing the fastest global diffusion of any technology in human history”

says Washington Post Newspaper (Awake, Nov. 2009:3).

2.1.9 Some Features of SMS

(1) SMS subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra concise words and

sentiments

(2) It uses pictures and single letters and numbers to represent whole

words,

(3) It uses fewest number of characters needed to convey a

comprehensible message, hence, punctuation, grammar and

capitalization are largely ignored, etc.

In the vocabulary of SMS language, the following are the norm:

(1) Single letters can replace words example

be becomes b

see ,, c

the ,, da or d

okey ,, k

no ,, na

are ,, r

you ,, u

28

with ,, wit

why ,, y

is ,, iz

oh ,, o

(2) Single digits can replace words, e.g.:

ate becomes 8

for ,, 4

to or too ,, 2

one or won ,, 1

(3) A single letter or digit can replace a syllable e.g:

ate becomes 8

great ,, gr8

mate ,, m8

later ,, l8r or L8a

skate ,, sk8

skater ,, sk8r

tomorrow ,, 2mro

for or four ,, 4

before becomes (combining both of the above) b4

therefore becomes thr4,

once becomes 1ce

29

Combination of the above can shorten a single or multiple words:

„Your‟ and „you‟ now become „ur‟ and „u ,„you are,‟ becomes „u re‟.

(Adapted from wikipedia – the free encyclopedia-SMS language. 12/9/09).

2.1.10 SMS as a Writing Skill

The paradigm shift of English language is obviously noticeable in the

written form of the GSM/SMS text message and not in the spoken form.

Text massages are written not spoken and so the change that usually occurs

in languages is mostly in the written form just like the case of GSM/SMS.

In the era of telegraph, there was what was called Morse code. The

Morse code is not an actual language, rather, a shorthand facility that forms

a link between the communication mode (in this case telegraph) and the

actual language of the content it carries. Both the Morse code (of telegraph)

and the condensed letters and numbers (of SMS) are in the written form.

Writing, according to Akwanya (2007:58) is one of the two ways in which

language becomes ostensive. Morse code and SMS are skilled writing that

emerge to express new realties.

This project is geared towards identifying how the skilled (SMS)

writing influence the writing performance of secondary school students. It

should be clear here that emphasis is on writing not on speaking or reading,

and so has to do with people who can write.

2.2 Empirical Studies

There are thousands of abbreviations, pictograms and emoticons used

in SMS language. The problem is that individuals create their own shortcuts

different from what is on print thereby causing more confusion. Baskerville

30

remarks that the system of SMS language already has a life force of its own

and to a large extent is out of our control. This is true because people at high

official positions receive official messages from their phones that are highly

encoded with SMS abbreviations and do not begrudge it, rather they

themselves reply such letters with encoded messages. English grammar

online… the fun way to learn English states that when worse comes to

worse, some students simply shorten their tests to SMS. This is what a 12

year old Scottish girl in her 7th year did in her composition about her last

holiday.

(They are numbered by me for clearer understanding and the translation

follows after).

1) “My Smmr holds wr CWOT

2) b4, we usd 2 go to 2 NY 2c my bro, his GF and 3 :-@ kids FTF

3) ILNY, its gr8

4) Bt my Ps wr so $:-/ BC O 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd

2wks up N.

5) Up N, WUCIWUG-O

6) I ws vvv brd in MON.

7) O bt baas & ^^^^^

8) AAR8, my Ps wr :-) – they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc

& qt.

9) IDTS!!

10) I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2 c my M8s again

11) 2day, I cam bk 2 skool

12) I fl v O:-) BC I hv dn my hm wrk

13) NW its BAU.

31

Translation

1) My summer holidays were a complete waste of time

2) Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girl friend

and their three screaming kids face to face.

3) I love New York, it is great

4) But my parents were so worried because of September, that they

decided to stay in Scotland and spend two weeks up North.

5) Up North, what you see is what you get – nothing

6) I was extremely bored in the middle of no where

7) Nothing but sheep and mountains

8) At any rate, my parents were happy with the peace and quiet

9) I don‟t think so

10) I wanted to go home as soon as possible to see my mates again.

11) Today, I came back to school

12) I feel very saintly because I have done all my home work

13) Now it‟s business as usual

The above essay is a pointer to what we shall see in the future if care

is not taken.

The essay writer carefully coined personal abbreviations to suit her

purpose. These are her abbreviations:

smmr - summer

hols - holidays

wr - were

CWOT - complete waste of time

B4 - before

32

Usd - used

2 - to

NY - New York

C - see

Bro - brother

GF - Girl, friend

Thr - their

:-@ - Screaming

ILNY - I love New York

Gr8 - great

Bt - but

Ps - Parents

§÷/ - worried

BS - because

O - of

9/11 - September 11

dccd - decided

SCO - Scotland

Spnd - spend

2 wks - two weeks

N - North

33

WUCIWUG - What you see is what you get

O - Nothing

ss - was

brd - bored

vvv - extremely

mon - middle of no where

baas - sheep

^^^^^ - mountains

AARS - at any rate

:-) - happy

ICBN - it could be worse

ha –p - happy

Pc & qt - peace and quite

4 - for

sd - said

IDTS - I don‟t think so

wntd - wanted

hm - home

ASAP - as soon as possible

2c - to see

m8s - mates

34

2 day - today

cam - came

bk - back

skool - school

v - very

O:-) - saintly

hv - have

dn - done

work - work

BAU - business as usual

Since the technology has found its way into every corner of the world

–even crossing the divide between rich and poor – and has become a part of

life for many, caution and care should be the user‟s watch words. User‟s

could only be brought to consciousness by this type of project that aims at

revealing the excesses of GSM technology and starting early to guide the

young ones against the dangers.

While watching the other vices of addiction, distraction and

interruption brought about by the new technology, one has to be careful that

it becomes a blessing not a curse.

From the above, it is very clear that a lot of people are apprehensive

of this emerging or emerged trend of encoded communication. It is not

Nigeria alone that bemoans the excesses of SMS language. Dorothea

Baerthlein, a German lady in “Topics online magazine - @ 1997-2008

published by Sany and Thomas Peter‟s observed that “Languages have

35

always changed naturally and that she disagrees with a restriction by law”. If

we should adopt her assertion, something would have to be done about the

point in question here. New Zealand Qualifications Authority discourages

the use of text abbreviations after suggesting that they may be used in certain

subjects, provided they clearly show the required understanding (NZQA

Press statement). This discouragement may be as a result of what has been

said earlier in this work, (page 25 no. 3)

2.2.1 GSM and the Nigerian Situation

It is obvious from the above and from what Ezekwesili (2008:383)

reported, that there is a paradigm shift in the mode of communication

particularly among students, since the introduction of the global systems

mobile (GSM) in Nigeria. This situation has to be seriously examined

because it compounds the problem Nigerians already have in the learning of

English as a second language. In this era of information and communication

technology, Nigeria must join the rest of the world to harness all that there

is, in the technological super highway. The need for territorial expansion,

politics, trade, science and technology has established English as a world

language. Nigeria like many other nations of the world is part of the global

network of information and technology (Onuigbo and Eyisi, 2008: 61). The

internet revolution as Nwanne (2005:164) asserts provides marginalized and

economically under-developed nations with an opportunity to get into the

international playing field.. access an array of information that can help

modernize their lives and societies… to promote African civilization. So, the

internet and the GSM services are relevant to Nigeria at the present state of

development, especially in the areas of research, business, medical and legal

36

practices, E-mail, document transfer, image protection, advertising,

publishing and commercial transactions (Thomas, 2005:168). An important

element in social change remains the technology and Nigeria cannot do

without it, especially now that the whole world is becoming one. Mcluhan in

Akpabio (2005.132) contends that the medium is the message, „because it is

the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human

communication and action. It may be difficult to avoid GSM/SMS or

Internet/e-mail, so what is to be done is to build the capacity of persons in

charge of the flow of English language, since the trend in communication

among our students today is mainly through phone calls and text messages.

The apparent existence of many unrelated languages in Nigeria makes it

imperative for Nigerians to be proficient in English communicative skills,

and more so since it is Nigeria‟s means of getting access to the world of

scholarship in Science, Arts, Literature, Philosophy and Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) as asserted by Ezekwesili and Chinedu

(2008:381). According to Jong (2009:138) Africa in general and Nigeria in

particular is presently at the bottom of ICTS ladder.

Alarmed by the already deplorable situation of English language

among Nigerian University undergraduates, the National Universities

Commission (NUC) in collaboration with British Overseas Development

Administration (ODA) introduced the Use-of-English courses in the

universities (and later imbibed by other tertiary institutions) as a way of

improving the knowledge and use of the language. Analysis of data from

oral and written, formal and informal, conscious and unconscious

communications in the university setting reveal that despite the introduction

of the Use-of-English, there is still a general pattern of a mixture of slang

37

and some new phrases such as: “as in”, “I mean like”, “is like”, which

Olayamu (2006:19) referred to as new fillers. The pattern also reflects a

serious influence of the SMS system of communication on the learner‟s

written language as in the use of:

Ur = your

U = you

4 = for

dia = dear there

gd = good

Despite the shortfalls of GSM services, it is no doubt a technology

that has made socialization more appreciable than ever before its inception.

In terms of communication GSM according to Okoro and Barikui (2006:92)

has accentuated the “Global Village” (Mcluhan‟s prediction) phenomenon

and people appear to have been brought closer than ever before. They went

on to say that GSM companies in Nigeria have contributed immensely to the

growth of Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs), thereby boosting

the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)of the country as well as boosting the

informed sections like transportation and the artisans, etc. It has been a

source of motivation, improved education through e-learning, promotion of

culture and integration, entertainment and most of all economic

empowerment to many Nigerians. Little wonder why over 82% of

Nigerians preferred GSM to landlines phones (Okoro and Barikui 2006:92).

It has been speculated that GSM operators have contributed billions of naira

to the Nigerian economy and created over one hundred thousand jobs. Most

38

importantly is that GSM is available to all, regardless of status or locality,

which is no mean feat.

It is, therefore, surprising that this technology so much talked about

has impacted the lives and performance of students worldwide due to its

applications and services. These impacts on language users of English are

what this study hopes to substantiate.

2.3 Conclusion

Although SMS coded language may be seen as one of those changes

that occur in languages, care must be taken that it does not eventually

replace or corrupt what we know as standard English language. Already

there are so many varieties of English that developed during the 19th century

along with the immigration of traders from Britain and Island.

Trudgill observed that all these varieties of colonial Englishes are

similar to each other because they were formed out of similar mixtures

according to the same principles.

A world language like English should be protected from diffusing into

innumerable versions that could reduce its international intelligibility and so

there is need to trace the influence of such changes like SMS encoded

language on the writing performance of users and also to make sure that the

influence does not affect formal writing of English language.

Hence, this work aims at identifying the influence of SMS on the

writing performance of students, with the hope of placing a check on the

excesses of SMS on English language usage.

39

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter shall outlay the research method that is chosen for this

project. The features of this method shall be x-rayed and the reason the

particular research method was chosen shall also be discussed.

Consequently, the following areas shall be covered:

(i) Research Method

(ii) Area of Study

(iii) Population

(iv) Sample and Sampling Technique

(v) Research Instrument

(vi) Method of Data analysis

3.1 Research Method

After a careful review of research methods available for use in this

type of research, the descriptive research design was chosen. The features of

descriptive method of research fit/suit the sampling technique, the setting

and population, the research instrument and data analysis of this study.

Descriptive research method is self-explanatory. The terminologies

synonymous with this type of research are describe, write on, depict. Osuala

(2007.197) defines descriptive research as that research which specifies the

nature of a given phenomenon. The aim of descriptive research is to verify

formulated hypothesis that refers to the present situation in order to elucidate

it. In this project, we posit that short message service (SMS) of global

system of mobile communication (GSM) influences the writing performance

40

of secondary school students. The goal of this research is to find out whether

the method of writing text messages of the SMS influences the writing

performance of the target group.

Descriptive research according to Landman (1988:59) is that which is

primarily concerned with describing the nature, or conditions and degree in

detail, of present situation. The emphasis is on describe rather than on judge

or interpret. Descriptive research gives a picture of a situation or a

population. It is an offshoot of qualitative research methods which are not

represented as statistical summations but rather in a more descriptive and

narrative style, (Osuala, 2007:175). It suggests possible relationships,

causes, effects, and even dynamic processes in school settings.

Because the total (Universum) during a specific investigation cannot

be contemplated as a whole, the researcher makes use of the demarcation of

the population or of the selection of a representative test sample. Klopper

(1990:64) says that a researcher who makes use of descriptive method

usually aims at: (a) demarcating the population (representative of the

universum) by means of perceiving accurately research parameters and (b)

recording in form of a written report of that which had been perceived. The

aim of the latter, according to Klopper is that when the total record has been

compiled, revision of the document can occur so that the perceptions derived

at, can be thoroughly investigated. Test sampling, therefore, forms an

integral part of descriptive research and this is very apt for this project.

Two important questions arise frequently when test sampling is

anticipated by researchers using descriptive method namely:

(i) How big should the test sample be?

(ii) What is the probability of mistakes occurring in the use of the test

sampling (instead of the whole population)? The most important

41

criterion that serves as a guideline here is the extent to which the

test sample corresponds with the qualities and characteristics of the

general population being investigated.

It is advisable that when descriptive research method is attempted, care

should be taken that the test sample reflects the actual population it

represents. The size of the test sample can also be specified by means of

statistics.

The importance of descriptive research method is that it implies

complexity of phenomenon. The need for systematic ways of telling what a

situation is, means that the situation is no longer simple. The motivation of

this method, according to Osuala (2007:197), is that the detailed presentation

of the descriptive research method originates with awareness that no

systematic knowledge is available about the population or phenomenon

under study. It implies detailed presentation, longitudinal descriptions and

selected description.

Descriptive research method has its limitations. While it is a

prerequisite for finding answers to questions, it is not in itself sufficiently

comprehensive to provide answers. Descriptive research method cannot

establish cause and effect relationship. According to Osuala (2007:199), the

investigator cannot deduce conclusively the cause of the phenomenon or

predict what the future phenomenon will be. Despite its limitations, it is the

only method suitable for this research which aims at ascertaining the

influence GSM language has on the English essay writing performance of

secondary school students, because descriptive research method is still basic

for all types of research method in assessing the situation as a prerequisite

for inferences and generalisations.

42

3.2 Area of Study

Nsukka Local Government Urban Area of Enugu State has been

chosen for this study. A selected number of secondary schools in Nsukka

Urban shall make up the group of students whose text messages and essays

will provide data for this study.

There is always an influx of students into secondary schools in

Nsukka urban probably because this area situates the most renowned

university in the country: University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Moreover, the high

quality of secondary school teachers in this area attracts young adolescent

boys and girls who wish to tap knowledge from teachers who have their

first, masters,‟ and doctorate degrees because of their proximity to the

university. Even though the use of GSM is prohibited in schools, it is

obvious that most students in this area have mobile phones and so send and

receive text messages.

The choice of students from this area will fully expose the influence

of GSM, SMS on the students‟ essays.

3.3 Population

The number of students to be used for this study shall be drawn from

senior secondary school classes five and six (SS2 and SS3) students. These

are the students that mostly use GSM and who know the technique of

abbreviation and coding of text messages. The problem, if detected, shall

help students not to imbibe the wrong standards of English brought about by

the coding of SMS and not carry them into to the University. In the

University, it may be difficult to correct these problems because the students

would have got used to the coding and abbreviations.

43

3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique

There are nine secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Urban

Area. Out of the nine schools, five schools at the centre of Nsukka urban

shall be used, but out of this five, we will use proportionate random sample

to select 100 students from each school giving us a total of 500 students.

These schools also have larger no of SSI and SS2 students. Data will be

collected from all of them. This is because in descriptive research, a large

sample is very much encouraged.

The selected students in the sampled schools shall be addressed in

each school and told to copy out all their text messages within a period of

time including the following: the name of the sender, date and time the

message was sent and/or received, the sender‟s or receivers‟ phone numbers.

This is to make sure that they do not forge any message. Thereafter,, their

teachers shall administer the following easy topic on the sample:

(1) “Recently, the Government of Enugu State demerged secondary

schools into junior and senior secondary schools, and later re-

merged them. Write a letter to the secretary to State Government

(SSG), telling him how you feel about the whole exercise”.

The reason this topic is chosen is because all the students involved in

the sample experienced the demerging and re-merging of schools and each

would have comments to make on the issue.

3.5 Research Instrument

The instruments to be used for the collection of data in this project

are:

(i) Students‟ essays

(ii) Student‟s text messages.

44

3.6 Analysis of Data

All the raw text messages collected shall be analysed and their essays

shall also be analysed as they are written. The coded messages, spelling

errors grammatical errors and usual and unusual abbreviations shall also be

identified using frequency count percentages to ascertain whether SMS

codes have influenced these writings as well as the extent of the influence.

45

CHAPTER FOUR

COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

4.0 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, we shall present the findings of our research and

analysis of the data. Two categories of analysis are made here: the analysis

of the students essay writing and their text messages.

Four schools in Nsukka urban were surveyed: namely, University of

Nigeria Secondary School, St. Teresa‟s College, Nsukka High School and

Queen of the Rosary Secondary School all in Nsukka. A total number of one

hundred and twenty (120) students wrote out their text messages between

December 8, 2010 and February 2, 2011. Out of this number fifteen (15) text

messages were randomly selected from each school and presented as

Appendix A.

The students also wrote an essay on the topic: “Recently, the

Government of Enugu State damaged secondary schools into junior and

senior secondary schools with a principal to head each school, and later re-

merged them into one. In not less than 150 words (one and a half pages of

the foolscap sheet) write a letter to the Commissioner for Education, telling

him how you feel about the whole exercise”. Out of two hundred and forty

46

students that wrote the essay, twenty essays were randomly selected from

each school and presented for analysis as Appendix B.

The analysis is presented in eight tables: four tables for research

question one and four tables for research question two.

4.1 Research Question One: Is there any influence of text message

system of writing on the essay writing of secondary school

students?

The Data for Research Question One indicates that sampled school students‟

essay writing is influenced greatly by the students‟ text message system of

writing. The influence is grouped under unusual abbreviations, grammatical

errors, spelling and punctuation errors as shown in the tables below:

Table I: Unusual Abbreviations and their Suspected Meanings in the Students’

Essay Writing.

Unusual abbreviations Suspected meaning

Ur your

Ok okey

Dis this

sculls,sch, skulls, schools

Tuk took

2 to

d, de, E the

4 for

Dey they

Inz into

U you

C see

& and

Dat that

Zgeder together

congratul8 congratulate

Blocs because

Au ought

47

b/w between

Lab laboratory

Y why

Pls please

Hzs has

govt. government

4rm from

Yr year

Stn something

2ndly secondly

3rdly thirdly

sec. secondary

b/t but

Xpeshiali Especially

coTD continued

Jr Junior

2 to, too, two

Pce peace, piece

Mst Must

mt, gr8 mate, grate

Nw New, now

mtn, mint, meetn Meeting

Kp Keep

Mch Much

Cl Call

Trout throughout

Abt about

Stpd stopped

4goten forgotten

Blvd beloved

Xmass Christmas

celbr8 celebrate

1s once

sm1 someone

Mnth month

2mrw tomorrow

Gite night

tk, tke take

48

2day today

heart, love

laugh

Md made

dia4 therefore

8 eight, ate

gr8 great

É the

1 derful, 1 daful wonderful

2c to see

49

Table II: Grammatical Errors in the Students’ Essay Writing

Grammatical errors Correct form

this decision is not ok by me This decision is not all right…

before this actions were …. Before these actions were…

before the schools were merged as 1. Before the schools were merged as one.

teachers no more concentrate… Teachers no longer concentrated…

no more supervisioning … No more supervision…

4 an example … For example…

i.e. not being able … That is, not being able…

to do all the necessary thins require by the

student

To all the necessary things required by the

students….

student are very insultive to.. Students insult their ….

the principals has… The principals have …

I like you to see how I feel about… I like you to see how I feel about it.

when the schools are been divided… When the schools were being divided

…we should divide school any longer …we should not divide schools any longer

…school to be concidered one the best … school to be considered one of the best…

sir the whole student of the… Sir, the whole students of the…

the post was given to junior one‟s and they… … the posts were given to the junior ones and

they…

we has to… We have/had to…

the two principles were not going… The two principals are not going…

the junior students now insults… The two principals now insult …

we the junior ones never give… We, the junior ones, never gave

we do not have poor again We do not look poor again

the junior students finds it… The junior students find it…

this really have brought a problem… This really has brought a problem.

the junior student where performing poor The junior students perform poorly…

due to the strong head… Due to the stubbornness…

the junior students tends … … the junior students tend to…

for those leaving in the dormitory … For those living…

that will eventually leads…. That will eventually lead…

the junior ones have easily forgot those adage

…

The junior ones have easily forgotten.

… and so others has just stopped … and so, others have just stopped

Enugu State Commission Board Enugu State Education Board.

how I feel about the re-merge of schools How I feel about the re-merge…

… disappointing when I had about… … disappointing when I heard…

50

… that they are re-merged I feel very… … that they have been re-emerged, I felt…

…who will step for one Who will step down for the other…

I was also happy b/c it stop… I was also happy because it stopped…

I also flet happy b/c gives… I also felt happy because it gives…

there will be lack of use of the laboratory … The laboratory will not be used …

… and helping us to association… … and helping us to associate…

1st February, 2011 February 1, 2011

with five full following points,… With the following points…

… all the student … … all the students…

… and all sort of crime … … and different times of crimes

pls, sir, it at been… Please sir, it has been…

cuttism have become…. cultism has become …

by their so coll school mother … by their so-called…

in some schools student are been… In some schools, students are being…

these have bring poor… These have brought poor …

by the time when the school… By the time the school …

… to teach the junior one‟s and the senior

one‟s

… to teach the junior ones and the senior

ones…

… some school do lack teacher‟s do to… Some schools lack teachers due to…

… am happy with yr hand work… … am happy with your handwork…

we now found it difficult to… We now find it difficult to…

sir, befor i drop my pen it will please my … Sir before i drop my pen, it will please me…

sir, to tell u the truth i do not like for school

to damage.

Sir, to tell you the truth, i do not like the

schools to damage

yours faithfully Your faithfully…

… i write to you as the commissioner… … i write to you, the commissioner

various classes are lacky teachers… Various classes lack teachers…

… into two equal paths … into two equal parts.

… because it really improve … … because it really improved…

… employment of so many teacher … … employment of so many teachers…

… new staffs …. … new members of staff

51

Table III: Punctuation Errors in the Students’ Essay Writing

Punctuation errors Correct form

also the has effects … also, this have effects…

4 an example principals for example, principals…

ie not being able … that is, not being able…

… to be doing less work … to be doing less work

… a kind of job opportunity … … a kind of job opportunity…

… bad acts like :- stealing, raping … bad acts like stealing, raping …

first i thank … first, i thank…

sir the whole sir, the whole…

soon the poet was … soon, the poet…

secondly the junior students… secondly, the junior students…

i master okoro peter a student … I, master okoro peter, a student…

since it started it brought … since it started, it…

… causing confusion, choal, disunity, competition … causing confusion, chaos, disunity…

dear sir dear sir,

in addition to others d junior have … in addition to others, the juniors have…

queen of … queen of…

however, the frequent … however, the frequent…

… should be careful in the studies … should be careful in their…

… of enugu state on the latest latest … … of enugu state on the latest…

… when the secondary school in this state are … when the secondary schools in this state are

i,m very happy… I‟m very happy…

… how i feel for the exercise … how i felt about the…

in the 1st place… In the first place,

the junior students thinks… the junior students think…

it will impress me… It will impress me …

… those in jss3 the authority to be malterating … those in jss 3 the authority to maltreat…

those in jss2 and jss1 unnecessarily … those in jss2 and 1 unnecessarily

… it affected us the students‟ … it affected us the students

furthermore, wen… furthermore, when…

… student‟s insulting their teachers… … students insult their teachers

the school can not … the school cannot …

52

Table IV: Spelling Errors in the Students Easy Writing

Spelling errors Correct form

Disision decision

Allocated allocated

Committed committed

Cause because

Dere there

Tideous tedious

Dissipling discipline

Non none

Befor before

Wen when

Nd and

Dicedence decadence

rubry robbery

Neva never

Luk look

No know

B be

Rub rob

Tins things

Bi by

Commissioner commissioner

Mad made

scapogoat scapegoat

Ourselves ourselves

Priviage privilege

Turnerd turned

Sort short

Bin been

Where were

Gindian guardian

Gose goes

receprocal reciprocal

Al all

Startd started

Mony many

53

Writ write

Wit with

Annocced announced

Flet Felt

T It

Anoconment announcement

Dectors directors

Knw know

Wia where

Secondry secondary

peple, piple, pple people

Evry every

Oda other

Beta better

Certin certain

Wz Was

Leta latter

Izi easy

Advantage advantage

Disadvantage disadvantage

Rum room

Misondastandin misunderstanding

Hav have

Som some

Unifom uniform

Difciated differentiated

Den then

Cros cross

Sista sister

Havin having

Hat heart

Writing writing

Lean learn

resault result

Commional commissioner

almight, almiti almighty

Pupose purpose

Being being

54

Noning knowing

Studts students

Ar Are

Leason lesson

Certificate certificate

Wil Will

Conceding concerning

Disertarous disastrous

Faitful faithful

Jen jane

Maltreating maltreating

Wellbeing well-being

Weda whether

Incris increase

Distraction distraction

Wole whole

demergenation/demagement damerging

Dose those

Lik like

Anytin anything

Morphtin mufti

Developd developed

farmily family

Tim time

Favor favour

Mont month

hapi, hapy happy

wkend, wknd weekend

Tomoro tomorrow

55

4.2 Research Question Two: To what extent does text message system

of communication affect the essay writing of secondary school

students?

In what follows below, the researcher presents the data from the

students‟ text messages. From the data, a reoccurrence of text message

system of communication the essay writing of the sampled students. The

researcher analyzed fifteen (15) text messages from each school out of the

hundred and twenty (120) text message from the students. As in research

question one above, the researcher discovers four areas of which the text

message system of communication influence the students‟ essay writing.

These areas include unusual abbreviations, grammatical errors, spelling and

punctuation errors. The data here are presented under the above headings.

Table V: Unusual Abbreviations and their Suspected Meanings in the Students’

Text Messages.

Unusual Abbreviations Suspected meanings

2 to

sm1 someone

4get forget

love

1 one

@ at

4ward forward

4eva forever

Hrt heart

1tin one thing

Ans answer

56

Z is

Pls please

N and

Aw how

1 day one day

nyc nice

5 five

bday, bet day birth day

Ma my

4 u for you

4 nw for now

2 get to get

2 give to give

celebr8 celebrate

1n2 into

Hpy Happy

dia4 therefore

2dei today

Mt meet

Em them

Probs problems

Blg belong

Xmass christmas

h8 hate

57

Table VI: Grammatical Errors in the Students Text Messages

Grammatical errors Correct forms

i fall in lv with, my lng serch or lv ended. I fall in love with you and my long search for

love ended.

meeting you is fate … meeting you is by fate …

lv mks lyf so confusing but still … love makes life so confusing that…

… love is as strng as det … love stings like death

psn u lv is an extension f ursef someone you love is an extension of yourself

hap, nwyr, may god y as d new.. happy new year. may god be with you as the

new year

… pls pickd fone, saw ur misd cal. … please, pick the phone and see your

missed call

how u dey how are you?

msg na free 4m mtn message is free from mtn

such a pity it is a pity

i dey beach junction i am at beach junction

… die msg 2 5 oda student, … … this message to five other students…

ma guy, u no say na we we. my friend, you know that it is all ours.

i dey try i am trying

i go appreciate am wella i will appreciate it very well.

may god bless u, may god play yor may god bless you, play your for you and …

yor, 4 y, nd.. i am alright but …

wish y lots of luv, joy… wishing you lots of love joy…

how u doing, how are you doing?

may disnew be a yr… may this new year be a year of …

praise god? our defert … praise god, our defeat …

… have dis my number so pl2 save … have my number, saved

should in case doda one is not available. it should the other one is not available

58

Table VII: Punctuation Errors in the Students’ Text Messages

Punctuation errors Correct forms

ur voice trils me, ur precence changes my mood, ur

hug stirs me

Your voice trills me; your presence changes my mood;

Your hug stirs me.

tru lv is lyk gost, wich.. True love is like a ghost which…

witot humour, lyt sux, witot courage, lyf is hard… Without humour, life suck; without courage, life is hard…

.. i hug dem wit prayers may god‟s peace … I hang them with prayers. may God‟s peace …

lv message regardnd sm1 ess more than ursef

esteeming sm1 else higher…

Love means regarding someone else more than yourself

and esteeming someone else higher…

… dey re nt my choice, is alone is my choice … they are not my choice, you alone is my choice.

mony cannt buy lv bt wit patience nd miknes lv conkae Money can‟t buy love but with patience and meekness,

love conquer

it was‟nt nails dat kept jesus on d cross. but, his lv… It wasn‟t nails that kept jesus on the cross but the love…

it is bed time, time 2 thank god it … It is bed time; time to…

dis yr god wil mark u 4 glory ! This year, god will mark you for glory.

many tlkd about it, many dremt abt it… Many talked about it; many dreamt about it,…

how u dey. How are you?

how did the lesson go How did the lesson go?

… can i be more dan… … can I be more than….

wel it depends on the i … Well, it depends on the one …

hav a 1daful day!! col it cols 4 it. Have a wonderful day because it calls for it.

2day our saviour has risen… Today, our saviour has risen …

d abortion of a drmi is d det of e future some pipple… The abortion of a dream is the death of the future of some

people …

… ur smyl brings me nt tear … your smile brings me not tears…

buy joy, ur touch brings me not col but warint, ur… Buy joy; your touch brings me not cold but warmth;

your…

a swt wish on a swt day, 4rm a swt one a sweet wish on a sweet day from a sweet one

how u doing How are you doing?

am fine, how r u, Am fine, how are you?

y do u ask why do you ask?

do u wnt 2 come do you want to come?

59

Table VIII: Spelling Errors in the Students’ Text Message

Spelling Errors Correct Forms

Tks takes

T to

Av have

lyk, lik like

Lv love

Bt but

lyf tym life time

U you

dat‟s that is

Y why

Cn can

Anytin anything

Hapi happy

Bcos because

ppl, piple people

tym, tms time, times

Ur your

Al all

kis, kises kiss

Fal fall

Wit with

Lng long

d, de the

Tin thing

Pesn person

Lvd loved

ws, waz was

Becmny becoming

Drw drew

circl, cicl circle

Brek break

Neva never

Nding ending

Pawafl powerful

Estrng stringe

Arivd arrived

60

Buty beauty

Afta after

Kol call

Rote wrote

u‟re you are

u‟ve you have

hw/re u how are you

Hwz house

Husbd husband

Blezd blessed

Clot clothe

Dan than

Frnds friends

Fa far

Bn been

sizing, seasn season

xtra ordinary extra ordinary

Xcellence excellence

Wishn wishing

Hs his

bside, bsyd beside

Dil deal

fel, fil feel

echoda, choda each other

Iz is

Dem them

lyf tym life time

anytin, anitin anything

wyl, yl while

Wok work

Fet faith, fate

Mata matter

Tink think

Ndure endure

Wiling willing

Roks rocks

Bloks blocks

Mek make

61

Stepin stepping

Whl while

Wok work

Fet faith

Nem name

Y why

Drim dream

Mercilesli mercilessly

dsan defence

Len learn

Abov above

swit hat sweet heart

Smyl smile

Bliving believing

Swt sweet

Bita bitter

Sufa suffer

Around around

Ryt right

Luking looking

Supa supper

Mit meet

Clozest closest

Bst best

U you

brk tru break through

Shll shall

Fst first

Ope hope

Anti aunt

Oncl uncle

Bles blees

Mch much

Nw new

Gud good

nite, nit night

Thes these

Thro through

62

Dis this

Wil will

Abt about

Tel tel

Hyt height

Tots thoughts

Wntd wanted

Evn even

Wud would

Smuth smooth

Lyt light

Drmz dreams

Confes confess

gud wil good will

Olso also

Carin caring

Onez ones

Cloz close

Testimony testimony

Frsh fresh

Blesng bleedings

Sison season

Sori sorry

Redi ready

Skul school

Fone phone

4-3 CONCLUSION

Features of text messages infiltrate into students‟ essay writing in the

sampled secondary schools to such extent that many of our sampled students

have forgotten how to spell some words such as you, that, your, because, etc

correctly. The students now feel that u, dat, ur, b/c etc are the correct

spellings of those words.

63

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

5.0 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the data presented in chapter four are discussed. The

interpretation of the data would help to know the extent of the influence of

text messages on the writing performance of students of secondary schools

in the study area. The discussion shall be done under the following sub-

headings:

(i) Discussions of Findings

(ii) Recommendations

(iii) Suggestions for Further Studies

(iv) Conclusion

5.1 Discussions of the Findings

5.1.1 Findings from Students’ Essay Writing

The data on the first four tables under research question one (Table I-

IV) show the findings on the students essay writing. The tables indicate that

the essays are rippled with indiscriminate abbreviations of words,

grammatical errors, punctuation infelicities and spelling errors. Due to the

presence of these unusual or uncoventianl abbreviations in the students‟

writing, meaning is difficult to arrive at as most of them cannot be easily

64

interpreted. Meaning is often a matter of contextual deduction or inference.

Some of the unusual abbreviations are indications of the students‟ mother

tongue interference in the target language. This is because the students do

spell such words following the phonotactics of their mother tongue (Igbo). It

is clearly evident that students‟ unusual abbreviations and spelling systems

in tables V and VIII (that is, their text message system) influence their essay

writing greatly. Looking at table I and IV on one hand and table V and VIII

on the other hand, we can see lots of similarities in the unusual abbreviations

and spelling systems in both forms of writing-text message and essay

writing. For instance, we see such abbreviations as 2gada, congratulate, in2,

4, 4goten, mtn in tables I and V while we see such spelling forms like luk,

tine, wen, hav, oda, wz, hat etc in tables IV and VIII. It is observed that the

students are always in a hurry to compose their text message, hence, they

invent some abbreviations and spelling forms to facilitate this. This singular

practice of cutting corners is replicate in the sampled essay writing. This is

because those abbreviations and spelling forms in text messages are used in

their formal continuous writing like the essay. There is a transfer of this

negative influence of text message system on the students‟ general writing

habit. Even when the students are expected to write a take-home essay

assignment, they fail to look up the correct spellings of words in the

65

dictionary. They would rather use their “handy” abbreviations and spelling

forms instead of taking the pains of the “tedious search” in the dictionary.

The quantity of these abbreviations and spelling errors is such that calls for

concern. In the sampled essays, virtually every sentence contains an average

of two spelling or abbreviation errors.

In Table II of chapter four, we see stunning cases of grammatical

errors that include errors of concord, tense, errors, omission of verbs,

prepositions and other grammatical classes, the use of unEnglish words,

errors of homophones and others. Example include „students are insultive,

we has to, due to the strong head of the students, …for those leaving in the

dormitory, we now found it difficult to learning”. The effect of these

grammatical errors in the writing of the students are obvious: the writings

become unintelligible, incomprehensible and sometimes meaningless.

Where meaning is possible, it takes one who has patience to observe.

Again, in Table III of chapter four, we see a range of punctuation

errors in the students‟ essay writing. There is either the omission of commas,

full stops, apostrophe, question marks or the redundant addition of such

marks where they are not needed. This is synonymous with students style in

the text message. It was noted too that the use of pidgin expressions in the

essay writings of the students is necessitated by the students‟ use of such in

66

their text message. The students write text messages almost on a daily basis.

They hardly write essays. When they do, as in examination and assignments,

they are influenced by their usual habits in text message composition. This

trend undermines effective writing as the conventions of writing are

minimally observed.

5.1.2 Findings from Students’ Text Messages

Data on tables V-VIII in chapter four above represent the researcher‟s

discovery from the students‟ text message. As in the essays, there are

unusual abbreviations, grammatical, punctuation as well as spelling errors in

the data. The unusual abbreviations have covert meanings, which are very

difficult to interpret. They are mostly codes which are known to people that

are initiates into the linguistic secrets. Table VI is a list of some of the

unusual abbreviations with their suspected meanings. The suspected

meanings were made possible from the researcher‟s examination of the

contexts of their usage. That is, the contexts serve as lead way to their

interpretations. Some of the unusual abbreviations are formed from a tactical

combination of figures and letters of the English alphabet. Examples include

4get, Sm1, 1tin, 1day, 4u, 4n, 2get, 2give, celebr8, in2, dia4, 2dei, h8 and so

on. Others are done in the form of drawings. Example are @,, , * * *,

67

and so on. The above pictures represent at, love/heart, house and Christmas

tree respectively. These drawings in text message service is called emoticon.

Only those conversant with text messages can deduce the meanings of the

drawings. Other unusual abbreviations are pure English alphabets. Examples

include nyc, aw, 2, hrt, ans, n, hpy, mt, em, probs, big, etc. These

abbreviations cannot be said to be spelling errors at all.

The text messages of the students are indeed overflowing with

unconventional abbreviation. The various initials may have different unique

abbreviation for specific concept. It is most worrisome that students have

failed to distinguish formal and informal usage of words and abbreviation,

hence, abbreviations of all sorts are used without regard to formality or

otherwise. The invention of these unusual abbreviations by the students

should not be seen as a mark of style but as short cuts to their spelling

inefficiencies. Related to unusual abbreviations is the case of spelling errors

in the student‟s text message. In table VIII of Chapter four, a good number

of the students‟ spelling errors were made available. Some of the spelling

errors may be intentional but they constitute problems to reading and

comprehension. Students feel that spelling errors can be over looked hence,

they do not make efforts to spell words correctly. This trend is not only

dangerous but also alarming and has devastating tendencies. It is an

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indication of consumers‟ abuse of information communication technology

tools. Most of the students that abbreviate and spell words arbitrarily do not

know that they are wrong. They do not bother to look up the correct spelling

of these words in the dictionary. As this trend gets fossilized in their

linguistic habit, it becomes a dangerous replicating linguistics virus that has

the tendency of rendering the students‟ writing proficiency useless. The first

mark of excellence in writing communication is proper spelling, hence the

dictionary provides information on the spelling of words before other

grammatical and semantic informations are provided. Abbreviation cannot

be said to be a case of cutting the cost of sending messages. This is because

in some instances, the „abbreviated‟ becomes either longer than the correct

spelling of the word being replaced („4from‟ for „from‟) or equal to it as in

„mi‟ for „me‟. This leaves one in doubt of the actual reason for these

unnecessary confusing abbreviations and short spellings.

In Table VI, we see a list of some grammatical errors found in the

students‟ text messages too. These grammatical errors range from concordial

deviations of all sorts to flagrant use of pidgin such as “How you dey?, I dey

beach junction, my guy, u no say na we we”, and the likes. These

grammatical flaws do not show a mark of seriousness on the part of the

students‟ desired determination for improvement in the language. The

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carryover effect of these grammatical errors is seen in the overall

performance of these students in external examinations like NECO and

WAEC examination. There is always a massive failure in the subject owing

to reasons discussed. Equally, the students do not observe the rules of

punctuation. Without proper punctuation of any written piece, reading and

comprehension is sure to be difficult. Observed punctuation errors as we

have in Table VII include omission of commas, full stops, question marks,

wrong application of apostrophe and so on. The beauty of the students‟ text

message is battered as a result of their numerous punctuation errors.

5.2 Recommendations

As a result of the above revelations from the students‟ raw data, the

following have been recommended based on the inferences made from the

data:

Teachers of English as second language in the study environment and

elsewhere should brace up to the challenges posed by students‟

overdependence on ICT tools and their eventual poor attitude towards

reading and writing. By implication, English language teachers in second

language contexts should device some practical ways of reducing students‟

dependence on short-cut -technologies and re-focusing their commitment on

70

the traditional basics of learning the second language, they should be made

to realize that the grammar books and dictionaries of the target language

should form their primary reference point in moments of confusion. There is

no short cut to learning a second language. Learners should be advised to

imitate the native speakers of such a language so as to increase their overall

proficiency in the target language. By inventing their own spelling systems,

the learners are causing more harm and confusion in their quest to learning

the target language. The students should be made to know that no material in

the internet is uploaded with spelling short-cuts.

By constant practice, one gets to be perfect in a given set of habits. It

is observed that these students write text messages more than they do the

essay writing. That is the more reason why the errors discovered in chapter

four have almost been fossilized among them. It is, therefore, recommended

that students be given regular essay writing and comprehension reading

tasks. This will enable them discover the right spelling patterns, the rules of

grammar, correct system of punctuation and generally help them to drop the

long-acquired bad habits of writing. The more the students read, the better

they would write and vice versa. This underscores the need for wider

readership because the students would imitate the good styles and forms of

professional writers.

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Students should be advised to desist from inventing all manner of

short-cut- abbreviations. They should try to learn what is permitted in the

target language. Once a linguistic item is learnt, it becomes permanent so

long as the learner makes repeated use of such learnt item. Again, the

teaching of English grammar is of prime importance to students‟ level of

performance. The knowledge of the rules of a language is an important input

to learner‟s performance. It is only when adequate emphasis is placed on the

teaching of grammar that both writing and other skills of the target language

would be properly learnt by the students.

5.3 Conclusion

The discussions above have clearly validated the assumption that

students‟ essay writing is presently influenced by the pattern/style of writing

in their text message. The influence is negative and leads to an overall

breakdown of the communication process. When words are spelt anyhow,

there cannot be decorum in the students‟ writing pattern. There is both

conscious and unconscious transfer of the text message pattern of writing

into the students‟ essay writing. The students are getting helpless in handling

these influence as text messaging is dominating traditional essay writings.

As a result of the above empirical evidence, both the students,

teachers, parents and other stakeholders must pull efforts together to curb

72

this negative writing habit among our students. This is to ensure that both

the present and the future generation of writers get the best out of written

communication.

5.4 Suggestions for further Research

Owing to the issue raised in this investigation, the following are

suggested for future researchers who may be interested in ICT and second

language learners‟ composition.

(1) A comparative study of the influence of ICT on the writing habits

of students from selected higher institutions around the country.

(2) Strategies of using ICTs as means of improving students‟ writing

abilities.

(3) Contractive pithetoric of second language writing in the face of

ICT.

73

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