Text messaging has been criticized for a perceived negative impact on spelling skills of students and its increasing appearance in formal school papers. This paper presents a study of the effects of text messaging on the spelling skills of ninth and 12th grade students at a U.S. high school in a Chicago suburb. The 20 students – six in the ninth grade group and 14 in the 12th grade group – were given a questionnaire concerning their texting practices and a grade-appropriate spelling test. They also were asked if it is appropriate to use textisms in formal writings and to write a formal email to their principal. The use of texting showed no significance on spelling, either for high/low text groups or long/short history groups. I did find a spelling significance between ninth graders and 12th graders. All students responded that textisms are not appropriate for formal papers, though one student used two textisms in his formal note. This study should inform future research into the effect of text messaging on the spelling skills of U.S. youth given the scarcity of research on the subject.
","abstract_html":"<p>Text messaging has been criticized for a perceived negative impact on spelling skills of students and its increasing appearance in formal school papers. This paper presents a study of the effects of text messaging on the spelling skills of ninth and 12<sup>th</sup> grade students at a U.S. high school in a Chicago suburb. The 20 students – six in the ninth grade group and 14 in the 12<sup>th</sup> grade group – were given a questionnaire concerning their texting practices and a grade-appropriate spelling test. They also were asked if it is appropriate to use textisms in formal writings and to write a formal email to their principal. The use of texting showed no significance on spelling, either for high/low text groups or long/short history groups. I did find a spelling significance between ninth graders and 12<sup>th</sup> graders. All students responded that textisms are not appropriate for formal papers, though one student used two textisms in his formal note. This study should inform future research into the effect of text messaging on the spelling skills of U.S. youth given the scarcity of research on the subject.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Muhammad, James G."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication and Training","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David Rhea, Ph.D.","Michele McMaster, Ph.D.","Marilyn Yirku, M.A."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:24:36Z","subjects":["texting","textisms","SMS","teens","teenagers","research instrument","Communication Technology and New Media"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://opus.govst.edu/theses/32","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David Rhea, Ph.D.","Michele McMaster, Ph.D.","Marilyn Yirku, M.A."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Muhammad, James G."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication and Training"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["texting","textisms","SMS","teens","teenagers","research instrument","Communication Technology and New Media"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://opus.govst.edu/theses/32"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Text messaging has been criticized for a perceived negative impact on spelling skills of students and its increasing appearance in formal school papers. This paper presents a study of the effects of text messaging on the spelling skills of ninth and 12th grade students at a U.S. high school in a Chicago suburb. The 20 students – six in the ninth grade group and 14 in the 12th grade group – were given a questionnaire concerning their texting practices and a grade-appropriate spelling test. They also were asked if it is appropriate to use textisms in formal writings and to write a formal email to their principal. The use of texting showed no significance on spelling, either for high/low text groups or long/short history groups. I did find a spelling significance between ninth graders and 12th graders. All students responded that textisms are not appropriate for formal papers, though one student used two textisms in his formal note. This study should inform future research into the effect of text messaging on the spelling skills of U.S. youth given the scarcity of research on the subject.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring the Effects of Text Messaging on the Spelling Skills of Ninth and 12th Grade Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David Rhea, Ph.D.","Michele McMaster, Ph.D.","Marilyn Yirku, M.A."],"dc:creator":["Muhammad, James G."],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Text messaging has been criticized for a perceived negative impact on spelling skills of students and its increasing appearance in formal school papers. This paper presents a study of the effects of text messaging on the spelling skills of ninth and 12th grade students at a U.S. high school in a Chicago suburb. The 20 students – six in the ninth grade group and 14 in the 12th grade group – were given a questionnaire concerning their texting practices and a grade-appropriate spelling test. They also were asked if it is appropriate to use textisms in formal writings and to write a formal email to their principal. The use of texting showed no significance on spelling, either for high/low text groups or long/short history groups. I did find a spelling significance between ninth graders and 12th graders. All students responded that textisms are not appropriate for formal papers, though one student used two textisms in his formal note. This study should inform future research into the effect of text messaging on the spelling skills of U.S. youth given the scarcity of research on the subject.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://opus.govst.edu/theses/32"],"dc:subject":["texting","textisms","SMS","teens","teenagers","research instrument","Communication Technology and New Media"],"dc:title":["Exploring the Effects of Text Messaging on the Spelling Skills of Ninth and 12th Grade Students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication and Training"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:24:36Z"}