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Shelby L. Borgers

Professor William Sewell

ENGL 310 Applied Grammar

21 March 2018

Effects of Technology on English Grammar

This essay is an examination of how technology, especially texting, has an effect on

students’ English grammar learning and application. I intend to share with you, information from

one perspective on this topic in regards to how texting language is becoming detrimental to

students’ application of correct grammar. I will also discuss the writing process and the six traits

of writing. I will then explore how writing has evolved over time, what texting language is, and

what role autocorrect plays in students’ lives. Grammar, sentence structure, and word choice are

also important factors to consider, as well as the social and academic uses of technology. Lastly,

I will explain why teachers should teach the writing process to students.

Over the years, the primary method of communication has been writing. Students went to

school, achieved an education, and learned the writing process. The writing process includes

prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. They also learned how to incorporate the

six traits of writing into their work. The six traits of writing are ideas, organization, word choice,

voice, conventions, and sentence fluency. The writing process was implemented across many

curriculums and worked well, allowing students to structure their writing in a coherent and

organized way. This learning experience required students to engage their thoughts in a purposeful

and effective manner of communication. Proper grammar usage was extremely important to

effectively communicate a person’s perspective.

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Writing has evolved and changed over time. However, its purpose and reason are still the

same, which is effective communication. According to Bronowicki, “At about the same time that

the writing process was evolving, the personal computer was created and introduced” (4). Along

with computers came programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint, which assist users

with various writing tasks, such as identifying and correcting errors in spelling, grammar, and

sentence structure. Today, most people own at least one technological device such as computers,

iPads, iPods, tablets, smartphones, and cell phones.

Cell phones and smartphones allowed for faster-written communication in the form of text

messages. As time progressed, a new language developed known as texting language. Texting

language conveys the same or similar meaning as standard English; it simply uses fewer letters

and words and replaces some words, or parts of words, with numbers. In the past, text messages

needed to be shortened to fit into the number of characters allowed due to the fact that the telephone

lines were only able to send small amounts of data from one device to another at a time. It became

easier and quicker to send a text as opposed to writing a letter or calling someone, partially thanks

to autocorrecting programs.

Autocorrect is a nifty tool in texting that predicts what the user may type next and gives

the user the option to choose that word, rather than typing the entire word out. Additionally,

autocorrect can correct errors in spelling and grammar in the text message. However, some

downsides of texting include a lack of personal interaction, tone, emotion, and connection. The

role of grammar was drastically minimized, as well. Furthermore, correct capitalization and

punctuation were completely thrown out of the window. In a way, students are becoming bilingual,

in that they learn texting language and standard English. Texting language has become more
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popular and common. Unfortunately, many students’ vocabulary, language, and grammar skills

have weakened.

Students have become so accustomed to texting language that the basic foundations of

grammar that they have learned are, as Maltais says, “eroding” and students are lacking, or failing

to obtain a “fundamental understanding of standard English grammar.” Many students have

trouble switching between using texting language and standard English. This is primarily due to

students learning the texting language at an early age rather than learning standard English as their

fundamental language. For example, the abbreviations in texting language have, in students’

minds, become actual words. As a result, students tend to have trouble when they are writing in

school.

The words that students would normally use in texting language, in most cases, are not

appropriate or grammatically correct for academic writing. For example, instead of writing “I will

talk to you later,” in texting language a person might write “ttyl,” which means “talk to you later.”

It is an abbreviation and is not a complete sentence. On the other hand, as stated in Maltais’s

article, “adults not raised on text-friendly abbreviations in their formative years are able to shift

between formal and informal language.” This is because these adults have a basic fundamental

understanding of standard English grammar ingrained into them. Whereas, many students do not

have this fundamental understanding and can, therefore, become confused, frustrated, and reliant

on technology.

Students have become dependent on technology in their everyday lives, both socially and

academically. Socially, students depend upon technology to interact with others. This is where

social media comes into play. Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are a few good

examples. When students post to these sites, they do not usually use correct grammar and
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punctuation. As a result, information can be misunderstood and taken the wrong way. For

example, the following is a Facebook post that I read and is a prime example of someone being

dependent upon technology to complete their thoughts and sentences. “Thanks to my family for

carrying about me.” This person meant to thank their family for caring about them, however, the

autocorrecting makes it appear as though their family was carrying this person somewhere.

Academically, students depend upon spell-check and grammar-check to correct any errors in their

writing and although these programs work well and save time, they lower the amount of mental

work that students must put forth. Less and easier do not always mean better. By taking these

shortcuts, like Bronowicki says, “they fail to see the purpose of writing, editing, revising, and re-

writing, let alone using grammatical precision and appropriate sentence structure” (6).

Unfortunately, students do not understand the writing process because of their dependency on

these helpful programs and therefore, do not learn or understand why certain corrections are made.

Why should educators teach their students to use and understand the writing process? The

writing process has the potential to play an important role in the lives of students. Students today

are mostly communicating in a texting genre, ergo they do not understand the importance that

proper grammar will play in their lives as they enter the adult business world. Teachers must

continue to educate students regarding the differences between formal and informal writing. By

doing so, students will be able to fully function, or survive and thrive as I like to say, in society.

In conclusion, students may be bilingual in the sense that they know two languages,

standard English and texting language. However, when it comes to being able to fluently and

accurately switch and differentiate between the two, their school work suffers. This is because the

students do not fully comprehend the writing process. Furthermore, students should not depend

entirely on programs or technology such as autocorrect because the context of what is written is
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very important and like Ryan from the University of Alabama at Birmingham says, “neither

autocorrect, a thesaurus nor any other kind of resource can be counted on to do the work for the

writer.” Finally, at the current growth rate of technological advancement, students’ writing and

grammar skills will likely continue to decline if a change is not made.

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Works Cited

Bronowicki, Kathleen A. “Technology’s Adverse Effects on Students’ Writing: An Emphasis on

Formal Writing is needed in an Academic Curriculum.” The College at Brockport, 17 May

2014,

digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&ht

tpsredir=1&article=1399&context=ehd_theses. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.

Maltais, Michelle. “OMG! Texting May Ruin Grammar Skills, Study Says.” The Seattle Times,

6 Aug. 2012, www.seattletimes.com/life/lifestyle/omg-texting-may-ruin-grammar-skills-

study-says/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.

McWhorter, John. “Is Texting Killing the English Language?” Time, 25 Apr. 2013,

ideas.time.com/2013/04/25/is-texting-killing-the-english-language/. Accessed 18 Mar.

2018.

Mittal, Reena. “Is texting really hurting our literary skills: How to overcome its effects.” IOSR

Journal of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), Oct. 2015,

www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol20-issue10/Version-6/A0201060105.pdf.

Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.

University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Could texting and autocorrect affect kids’ writing skills?”

Science Daily, 19 May 2014, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140519160531

.htm. Accessed 18 Mar. 2018.