Textism use and language ability in children

Textism use (or textese) refers to the way in which individuals write in shorthand on mobile devices in order to save space or time. Thurlow (2003) devised one of the first coding schemes for textisms, and textism use has since been hotly debated by the media (Crystal, 2008). Plester et al. (2008; 2009) and Wood et al. (2011; 2014) have since investigated the relationship that texting has with children's language abilities, and found no evidence of negative effects. Further research has been conducted into the effects of texting on readers of differing abilities (Coe & Oakhill, 2011) and found that it is better readers who tend to use more textisms. Further research is discussed in relation to children with reading difficulties such as specific language impairments (Durkin et al, 2011) and dyslexia (Veater et al, 2011).