Impact of Text Messaging on Students’ Writing Skills at University Level: A Corpus Based Analysis

Abstract

This study intends to investigate the impact of text messaging on the written aspect of student’s learning of second language. For this purpose, Concordance software Antconc is used. The results indicate that text messaging language has impacted their language usage in informal situation, like language usage in emails and informal note takings, but when students are brought to their formal register, they do not deviate from the normal pattern of writing. Apart from this text messaging also enhances the confidence level of students giving them chance to express themselves without any hesitation. Spelling and punctuation mistakes are seen in their note takings but they generally come back to their original pattern when writing formal assignments and projects. Text messages help students to impart knowledge and information with a touch of finger in no time.