исследовательская работа учащихся
проект

Municipal Budget Establishment

Elementary school № 4

Section Philology (Foreign Languages)

The Research Work

The research issue:

SMS LANGUAGE AS A WAY OF STUDYING ENGLISH

Carried out by: Form 7

Chiglintsev Ilya Ivanovich

The supervisor of the research work:

Zulfiya Damirovna Abdullina,

the teacher of the English language

Meleuz

2018

Content

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….......3The basic part

I stage. Studying the theoretical material……………………………………..……5

II stage.  The analysis of using SMS language……………………………………..6

III stage. The sociological survey of  Russian-speaking schoolchildren on the topic «Use of SMS language while studying English»…………………………………10

IV stage. Linguistic features of SMS texts…………………………………...…...11

V stage.  Definition of advantages and lacks of using SMS reductions during studying the English language…………………………………………………….13

VI stage. Making  a brief dictionary of SMS language for studying by schoolchildren……………………………………………………………………..14

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...15Reference………………………………………………………………………….16

Appendix………………………………………………………………………….17

Introduction

The development of modern technologies such as mobile phones and Internet has a great influence on the language, in particular on its spelling. The whole information is shortened to its minimum to save time and money. Experts say the growing trend of SMS language among teenagers has paved the way for a new type of language [Lutskevich, 2014, p.482].

Now, it seems to be gaining a lot of popularity among all class of people. Language experts are of the opinion that SMS has led to a creation of a new form of language and way of communication.

Over the past ten years, the short message service (SMS) has become a popular tool of communication. For many people the opportunity to send short messages is preferable to phone calls.

SMS language has become so popular that mass-media arrange SMS poems competitions; in Great Britain there is a book, devoted to art of reductions; philologists from the Oxford university include lexicon used for drawing up SMS messages in the brief Oxford dictionary; the firm Genie is publishing the first-ever dictionary of the most used SMS reductions [http://living.oneindia.in].

In this connection researching the phenomenon of SMS language as a way of studying a foreign language is represented actual and noteworthy.

That is why the aim of the study is to find out if using SMS language is a convenience or a corruption for studying English, to reveal positive factors, and also to create a brief dictionary of SMS reductions for studying by schoolchildren [Goldenkov, 2015, p.107].

Therefore, we have formulated such problems:

1. to study the theoretical material: history of SMS language; SMS devices; key rules for drawing up SMS language.
2. to analyze using SMS language: the pros and cons.
3. to conduct a sociological survey of  Russian-speaking schoolchildren on the theme «Use of SMS language while studying English».
4. to make a brief dictionary of SMS language for studying by schoolchildren.

The problems were solved using various methods of scientific research, the main ones being the following:

1. Methods of theoretical research - the study and analysis of linguistic, methodological literature, SMS-messages;

2. choice of material;

3. comparative;

4. descriptive;

5. analysis of SMS-messages on English, taken from the Internet.

The object of the research is SMS language as a modern way of communication.

The subject of the investigation is influence of SMS language on studying English.

          Research Hypothesis.

     Studying English SMS language helps schoolchildren to learn better features and an originality of the foreign language, promotes development of certain linguistic skills.

The research consists of theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part represents studying the phenomenon of SMS language. We conducted the classification of SMS reductions and devices. The practical part brings forward the results of sociological survey and the dictionary of SMS language for studying by schoolchildren.

The basic part

I stage. Studying the theoretical material

History of SMS language

SMS language or Textese (also known as txtese, chatspeak, txt, textspeak, txtspk, txtk, texting language, or txt talk) is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, though its use is common on the Internet, including e-mail and instant messaging. It can be likened to a rebus, which uses pictures and single letters, or numbers to represent whole words.

The first message was sent in 1992 on channels of  European network GSM. The engineer of the firm Vodafon sent the first SMS message: «Merry Christmas – 92 » [ Watt, Helen J. (2010). ICQ & SMS language – convenience or corruption?]

          However, this new technology was forgotten for as long as 8 years. And only in 2000 the cellular companies introduced the service of short messages.
  Approximately at the end of the last century, the phone gradually began to evolve from a way of communication between managers and professionals into a device used massively. At that moment, the second birth of SMS began. The "mobilized" youth saw in the new service the opportunity to save money, as well as a new means of expression.

        The text of the SMS message can consist of alphanumeric characters. The maximum SMS size in the GSM standard is 140 bytes. An SMS message written in Russian letters can not exceed 70 characters.

       Also SMS to phones can be sent from the Internet and from other networks using special programs. In English-speaking countries, abbreviations, omissions of vowels, and also designate words and syllables similar in sound to numbers and letters are often used to save characters in SMS.

II stage.  The analysis of using SMS language

Spheres of use SMS reductions

Despite of using SMS in a number of some European companies, according to all available information in business sphere, SMS language didn’t get accustomed. Experts consider, that SMS language is a way of informal dialogue which does not promote a successful establishment of business contacts (it would be not correct to use it, for example, for official invitations).

Nevertheless, popularity of SMS-slang is so great, that it began to make a serious influence on the modern English language. Even more there is a substitution of alive language by language of abbreviations and symbols. There are translations on SMS language of Shakespeare works, which are called to draw attention of the British students and schoolchildren to help them to understand better the classical literature and more effectively to prepare for examinations [Lily, Huang (2008) « SMS language»].

The pros and cons

Thus, mobile communication and original SMS language get into the most different areas of our life, influencing on culture as a whole. It is possible to consider some aspects of this influence positive, and other aspects cause alarm in the public.

Opinions of people were divided: experts of education, scientists-philologists, sociologists, psychologists, even doctors enter polemic.

Popularity of SMS language causes fear among linguists considering, that the slang is widely used among schoolchildren whose language culture is not finally generated. “Pupils write the same way as they think” (Goldenkov, 2015, p.272). From the linguistic point of view SMS language is full of reductions, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored.

Welsh journalist and television reporter John Humphrys has criticized textese as "wrecking our language". The author cites ambiguous examples such as "lol" which may mean "laughing out loud" or "lots of love", depending on the context in which it is used. Humphrys describes emoticons and textese as "irritating" and essentially lazy behaviors, and surmises that "sloppy" habits gained while using textese will result in students' growing ignorance of proper grammar and punctuation. [Berman, Isabel. (2006) Словарь перевода текста на SMS язык]

David Crystal has countered the claims that SMS has a deleterious effect on language with numerous scholarly studies. Despite scholarly research to the contrary, the popular notion that text messaging is damaging to the linguistic development of young people and to the English language itself persists. [Ling, Richard. (2005). http://transl8it.com]

Hence, present young generation practicing a new way of self-expression through SMS language, in the future become illiterate experts.

Teachers are anxious by the developed position and insist on eradication of text messages in favour of preservation of classical language.

The experts concerned on the future of literary English language, consider, that similar experiments can render destructive influence, both on formation of the young person, and on educational process as a whole.

According to researches of the American psychologists studying for a long time "SMS-psychology", there is a formation of conditional "SMS-dependence" which starts to appear if the person who sends more than five messages for one day. In experts opinion, it means fear of contacts “eyes - in eyes” and attempt of flight from a reality [Journal “Speak Out”, 2009, p.63].

At the same time there is the other point of view on that problem. The group of scientists in Britain accepts this phenomenon, believing that “the new kind of language has already settled, and they include the list of reductions in the new Oxford dictionary [http://library.thinkquest.org].

The most suitable way of solving that problem was found in Scotland. At Glasgow University there is an experiment – texting courses.

With help of scientists the program and rules of telephone slang is developed. In the future they plan to draw up the standard of a writing to make messages more universal and clear for all [Mike, Houlahan (2006) "Text language risky move in NCEA examinations"].

Moreover, the online dictionary of acronyms, confirms, that reductions is one of productive ways of word-formation in the modern English language. The dictionary exists for 10 years and is the greatest and the most authoritative web site.

The broad audience of users comes on this site in searches of interpretation of the reductions used in different spheres. Monthly about 1 million visitors from 180 countries receive the competent information on more than 3 million inquiries about acronyms and abbreviations.

Acronym Finder contains over 550000 terms, and their quantity increases, on the average, 200 new units a day. Students and teachers, government officials, pharmacists, translators and any person who had problems with decoding abbreviations use the dictionary [Renard, Erika (2016) "SMS Text Dictionary". p163].

There is one more opinion of psychologists on that kind of hobby. They consider it as a new way of the self-expression, convenient means for realization of needs in the world of new technologies.

From the linguistic and psychological point of view SMS texts is the phenomenon more likely positive.

The person writing SMS message solves a little bit important problems, besides simple transfer of the maintenance [Journal “Speak Out”, 2009, p.63].

K. Thurlow assesses the situation around disputes in scientific and scientific circles about the harmful influence of  SMS correspondence and other methods of electronic communication on the overall level of literacy, knowledge and observance norms of the standard language, especially among young people. The linguist argues quite reasonably that most of the concerns expressed, including in the press, are not just unjustified, but sometimes even fabricated, and the support for the rush around this topic is often stimulated by commercially interested companies. It should be noted that there are a number of works, whose authors point to the clearly positive impact of SMS-correspondence and its role in raising the literacy level of children. Many specialists in the field of education highly appreciate the pedagogical potential of short text messages.

So, for some time now in Australia (in the state of Victoria) students attend the lessons of writing techniques for SMS messages, during which they develop writing skills in CMC format, compose their own dictionaries of abbreviations and at the same time compare the language and syntax of SMS-sublanguage with the normative English language. Advanced teaching technologies are actively explored in Russia.

Studying "the possibility of using student SMS messages to form the linguistic and communicative competence of schoolchildren" [Zemzereva, 2008, p. 2] was devoted to the thesis research V.I. Zemzereva "Content and methods of working with SMS messages in Russian language lessons" [2008].

The survey conducted by V.I. Zemzereva among Russian schoolchildren, showed that of the main modern ways of communicating with peers "(conversation in the company, communication at home, on the street, using ICQ, chat rooms, SMS messages, e-mail)" 78% of teens prefer correspondence through short text [Zemzereva, 2008, p. 78-79]. Work VI. Zemzereva is of real practical interest in that, after analyzing the SMS texts of schoolchildren, the author was able to classify the mistakes of children in different types and to offer her own set of pedagogical tools and methodological materials, the purpose of which is to encourage students to observe the norms of their native language.

The huge role played by SMS communication in our life is evidenced by the fact that the language of short text messages goes beyond the limits of telephone displays. The beginning of the XXI century was marked by the birth of a new literary genre - SMS-books.

III stage. The sociological survey of Russian-speaking schoolchildren on the topic «Use of SMS language while studying English».

With the view of definition of a place of SMS-language in teenagers’ lives and its importance for studying English we conducted a survey among 50 schoolchildren at the age of 13-15 years old. The questionnaire consisted of following questions:

1. Do you use SMS languages in English?
2. Do you use SMS languages in Russian?
3. Does English SMS language cause problems with spelling?
4. Do you use smiles, letters or numbers instead of words, combinations of letters and numbers in the words, abbreviations in English?

As a result of the questioning it was found out, that 76 % students use Russian SMS messages, and in English - about 50 % of children.

Some students don’t use English SMS language because it is impossible precisely express ideas, not all interlocutors use English SMS language.

The overwhelming part of schoolchildren uses Russian SMS language for convenience and time saving, and English is used because of fashion and entertainment.

The most part of students prefer such kinds of reductions as emoticons, use of letters or digits instead of words, combinations of letters and digits in words, abbreviations in English.

But 40 % of students believe SMS language causes spelling problems.

Based on the reason for using SMS reduction in two languages, it is evident that basically 13-15 year old children use them for convenience and time saving. Most students do not use the English language of SMS messages because of the complexity of this language, the inability to express an exact idea, while not all people use it. The least popular ways to reduce SMS for all students are apocap and "removing vowels from words," and the most popular are smilies.

IV stage.  Linguistic features of SMS texts.

Consider the lexical and spelling features of SMS text.

Compression (from the Latin compressio - compression) text to the limits of minimal redundancy, sufficient for understanding. In other words, it is the process of collapsing speech.

Compression of the text can occur at the expense of different language levels:

a) graphic, for example: 2U - to you. Here, most often, words are replaced by numbers. After analyzing all the examples of such abbreviations on the websites, we came to the conclusion that only four digits are used for this purpose: 1, 2, 4, 8. This allows, first, to speed up the set of messages, and secondly, to accommodate more information in limited amount of SMS. For example, instead of the preposition to, the digit 2 is used, instead of the prefix for, the figure 4, and the word great is shortened to gr8.

Examples of graphic compression we see in the SMS text : B4 - before, 2go2 - to go to, 2C - to see, gr8 - great.

b) morphological: bye is shorter than good-bye; hi is shorter than hello, so in all cases where these forms are more or less synonymous, the one with fewer characters is preferable;

c) word-building: truncation - thx (thanks), pls (please), mdnt (midnight).

We see here truncations of  both syllables at the beginning and end of the word. At present, this method of abbreviations is called in the word formation "the fluency of the vowels." The truncation or "fluency of vowels" we see in the following examples: plc - place, smmr - summer, wr - were, thr - their.

d) lexical, for example, net is shorter than Internet, ok is shorter than okay. That is, we see here a reduction of the foundations in the form of truncation of the final part of the original word (doc-doctor, vac-vacation) or truncation of the first syllable of the original word (telephone-phone, good-bye-bye).

In English-speaking countries, abbreviations are often used to save characters in SMS [Lily, Huang (2008) « SMS language»].

Abbreviation (abbreviatura - abbrevio) is a word formed by the abbreviation of the word combination and read by the alphabetical title of the initial letters (BBC) or by the initial sounds (UN, HIGH SCHOOL) of the words included in it. For example, the word SOS in English means "Save our souls". It consists of the initial letters of these three words [John, Humphrys. (2007) http://www.independent.com].

In SMS, the most commonly used option is when users write words consisting of alphabetic names of initial letters. For example: BRB - be right back, PCM - please call me, HAND - have a nice day, ATB - all the best.

The orthographic feature of SMS text is also a violation of spelling rules. As a rule, there are many people who observe spelling in the design of SMS messages, but sometimes there is an incorrect spelling of words. Spelling is often violated due to the high typing speed, unwillingness to edit the text (especially in schoolchildren), conscious search for compression paths, and sometimes simply because of ignorance of the spelling rules. English-speaking users, as well as Russian users, write as they hear. Thus, there is a phonetic principle of spelling. For example, love-luv, come-cum, some-sum, when-wen, you-u, what-wot, been-bin, good-gud, usd-used.

V stage. Definition of advantages and lacks of using SMS reductions during studying the English language.

For conclusion about use of SMS language while studying English we familiarized with opinions of different experts and we used results of questioning.

John Levis considers that in connection with a lot of exceptions in rules of reading in the English language, new ways of the image of words facilitate storing a pronunciation of words [Berman, Isabel. (2006) Словарь перевода текста на SMS язык].

The writer Georges Bernard Show suggested entering the graphic representation for each sound, so to increase quantity of letters in the alphabet [Ling, Richard. (2005). http://transl8it.com].

In the USA simplification in spelling already occurs. Linguist Noj Vebster, considers, that unpronounceable letters in words should be withdrawn [http://transl8it.com].

Teachers from Kampala faced cases of using SMS language by schoolchildren at examinations that was reflected in low results [John,  Humphrys. (2007) http://www.independent.com].

According to Andy Karvin some universities start studying an opportunity of using SMS for delivery of lectures as remote training [Vranica, Suzanne (2008) «Should Schools Teach SMS Text Messaging?» http://www.pbs.org].

Кobus van Wyk informs that the question of using  mobile devices in training is considered. As, if the pupil with impatience reads or writes by means of SMS, it would be possible to take advantage also precisely of this opportunity for the good education [Vranica, Suzanne (2008) «Should Schools Teach SMS Text Messaging?» http://www.pbs.org].

However some teachers of Science consider that SMS-language is convenient in the technological world [John, Humphrys. (2007) http://www.independent.com].

Some psychologists and teachers are sure that SMS reductions develop creativity, imagination, skills to analyze [Dennis, Paguio (2013) «SMS Language – Improving Lives Or Infecting Our English? » http://www.eslteachersboard.com].

On the basis of the revealed negative and positive factors of influence of SMS language on educational process and results of the questioning I have come to the following conclusions:

- English SMS language is better to study for schoolchildren who have learned English for some years;

- It is better to use selective SMS reductions which will not lead to language contradictions;

- It is convenient to use SMS language during mastering pronunciation of new words;

-It is useful to use SMS language while developing   informal speech.

VI stage. Making a brief dictionary of SMS language for studying by schoolchildren.

While researching the phenomenon of SMS language we studied certain quantity of SMS reductions and we made a brief dictionary of SMS reductions for studying English language. For convenience of use words and expressions are distributed on lexical sets:  

- Expression of opinions; - expression of emotions; - virtual kisses; - greetings;  - farewell; - the instruction of time; - expression of discontent; - people; - polite words; - questions; - conjunctions and prepositions; - verbs; - wishes; - estimation; - emoticons.  

Using this dictionary students can improve learning new words and phrases, their meaning and pronunciation. Besides, the unusual way of studying and an opportunity of drawing up own reductions will cause interest to training.

Conclusion

As a result of researching SMS language I have come to the conclusion that SMS messages, despite of singularity, serve as means of communication. This phenomenon is natural, as the language is «an alive organism», constantly developing and changeable. It is difficult to say if SMS a positive or a negative phenomenon, but it is necessary to recognize the fact of existence of a kind of modern language.

SMS language should be considered not only as an element of youth subculture. Being a popular tool of dialogue, it allows removing a problem of existence in language space and it is an original source of updating vocabulary.

Therefore, despite of discrepancy of points of view, SMS language is the part of culture. It also demands theoretical judgment of philologists and psychologists to reduce its negative influence on traditional language and education.

The results of the work have confirmed the hypothesis about SMS language as a way of learning originality of a foreign language.

The sociological survey has confirmed, that use of certain SMS reductions promotes development of special linguistic skills: pronunciation skills, grammatical structures, development of informal conversation, expansion of vocabulary.

Use of SMS language at lessons recovers training; it causes interest to the language. Process of drawing up and decoding SMS reductions promotes not only fastening new material, but also develops creative abilities and skills to analyze.

Reference

1. Berman, Isabel. (2006) Словарь перевода текста на SMS язык http://transl8it.com/cgi-win/index.pl
2. Crystal, David (2009). New York: Oxford University Press. "Globalization and the de-Anglicization of  English" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_language
3. Dennis, Paguio (2013) «SMS Language – Improving Lives Or Infecting Our English? » http://www.eslteachersboard.com
4. Goldenkov M. “Hot Dog! Modern Active English”., М., 2015, 272 p.
5. Journal “Speak Out” 1/2002, М.: GLOSSA-PRESS,  2009, 63 p.
6. John, Humphrys. (2007) http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php /society/37-society/231-sms-spells-end-of-gd-grammar
7. Lily, Huang (2008) « SMS language» http://y2u.co.uk/knowledge_information/technology/rn_mobile_sms_texting_slang.htm  
8. Ling, Richard. (2005). http://transl8it.com/?Why-SMS-Language-Isnt-So-Bad-After-All
9. Lutskevich V.A. “English-Russian Dictionary of Modern Reductions”., М., 2002, 571 p.
10. Mike, Houlahan (2006) "Text language risky move in NCEA examinations" http://coolsms.by.ru/sokr.html
11. Renard, Erika (2016) p. 168."SMS Text Dictionary" www.acronymfinder.com
12. Vranica, Suzanne (2008) «Should Schools Teach SMS Text Messaging?» http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now
13. Watt, Helen J. (2010).ICQ & SMS language – convenience or corruption? http://library.thinkquest.org
14. Zemzereva V.I. The thesis research " Content and methods of working with SMS messages in Russian language lessons ", M. , 2008, 156 p.

Appendix № 1.

1. Do you use SMS languages in English?

2. Do you use SMS languages in Russian?

3. Does English SMS language cause problems with spelling?

4. Do you use smiles, letters or numbers instead of words, combinations of letters and numbers in the words, abbreviations in English?

Appendix № 2.