Journal Study Review #2

Dan Solecki

EDU 6210

Journal Entry #2

Citation:

Wood, C.; Jackson, E.; Hart, L.; Plester, B.; L.Wilde. The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children's reading, spelling, and phonological processing skills.  Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Feb2011, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p28-36. Retrieved from EBSCO Host Database: Professional Development Collection.  DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00398.x.

REVIEW OF THE EFFECT OF TEXT MESSAGING ON 9- AND 10-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN’S READING, SPELLING AND PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSING SKILLS

Summary:

The purpose of this study was to see if text messaging by children had a positive or a negative influence on their literacy skills.  The study begins by citing a previous study in the United Kingdom that determined that the use of text messaging abbreviations actually led to positive performance on reading and spelling standardized tests by preteens (Plester et al 2008).  An additional study performed in 2009 suggested that the use of text messaging language, in this case when used on a mobile device, was able to “account for a significant variance in reading ability” (Plester et al 2009).  Wood, Jackson, Hart, Plester, and Wilde choose to perform an additional study in order to confirm or disprove the 2008 Plester study. 

The research group studied 114 children in the United Kingdom between the ages of nine and ten years old who did not already own a cell phone.  Participants were split into two groups:  a control group who did not receive phones and an experiment group who received mobile phones.  All participants had to take several assessments to measure their literacy abilities.  Then, students in the experiment group were given mobile phones and asked to text regularly every weekend for ten weeks.  At the end of each weekend, phones were collected, text messages were logged and examined, and all participants were assessed again (though on a smaller scale, the study points out).  At the end of the ten weeks, participants were given the same assessments that they were given at the beginning of the study in order to measure any growth or regression of literacy skills.

Results of the study conflicted with Plester’s previous studies.  Based on the results, it was shown that children who have access to mobile phones for text messaging do not have a significant advantage over those who do not such devices (Wood 2011).  It was, however, proven through the study that “textism use during texting was linked to spelling development, and the number of messages sent and received was linked to lexical retrieval skills” (Wood 2011). 

Reflection/Application:

This study has some pretty big implications for education.  The results should encourage educators to seek out technology, such as laptops, tablets, or even mobile devices, and use it regularly in the classroom regardless of students’ age levels.   The findings of the study support the claim that utilizing such forms of technology regularly with a focus on reading and writing can have a positive effect on students’ literacy skills (Wood 2011).  If I were a teacher of anything related to literacy, I would strongly consider seeking out such tools and incorporating them into my curriculum.   

Personally, I found the results of this study very surprising.  As an educator, I have seen literacy skills, such as spelling and grammar, deteriorate dramatically over the past eight years.  I believe that is a direct result of things such as texting, autoword, autocorrect, and spellcheck.  People simply to not bother to review anything they type or write in order to catch and fix mistakes because they are used to the software or app they are using doing it automatically for them.  I have seen some absolutely atrocious spelling and grammar that I firmly believe would be much better if it was not for society’s reliance on the aforementioned “convenience” programs that automatically correct our mistakes.  I also think the study fell short by only exposing those studied to texting on the weekends.  I feel that a longer, more in-depth study which allows participants to text on the mobile phones daily for a much longer span of time, like over several years, would show that text messaging actually negatively impacts adolescents’ literacy skills.