Texting behavior and language skills in children and adults

This chapter provides an overview of the current research on the use of text messaging and its relation to specific academic abilities, including spelling, reading, phonology, grammar, and general literacy skills. It discusses adult and child cohorts separately because of the striking differences that have been found between the two groups, and some suggestions are provided as to why these differences might exist. “Textese” is a term used to describe the abbreviated or slang format that many people use while texting. In methodological terms, the researchers who have studied the use of texting and textisms have used a variety of task types. These include self-report, translation studies, scenario studies, and naturalistic studies. Given that textism use is related to spelling, and spelling contributes to general writing ability, future researchers could consider the links between texting and general writing skill in more detail. Publisher statement: © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The full book is available from http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118772024.html.