IMPACT OF TEXT MESSAGING TO ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN SELECTED HEIS IN

ZAMBALES, AY: 2013 -2014
A Research Proposal
Submitted to Dr. Rodolfo C. Casupanan Jr.
Faculty, Graduate School
Ramon Masaysay !echnoloical "ni#ersity
$n Partial Fulfillment
of the Re%uirements for the Course
Methods of Research
by
ORELYN E MACABALES
June &'()
C!"#$%& 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BAC'GROUND
I($&)*+,$-)(
Mobile phones are considered by many as essential part of modern day life, from
the business person and professionals *ho uses the mobile phone as #ital lin+ *ith the
office, to the teenaer *ho has the phone for recreational use. Mobile or cellular phones
chaned dramatically o#er the past t*o or three years.
,o* technoloy has ta+en stae, life has become more comfortable and
communication is made easier. !he *orld becomes smaller throuh a better means of
e-chanin #ie*s and understandin current trends of life. !e-tin is actually coined to
mean te-t messain. $t is the process by *hich one sends a messae from one cellular
phone to another in form of *ords. !e-t messain has chaned ho* teenaers use their
mobile phones to communicate and co.ordinate their li#es. !e-t messain has pro#ided
a fun, and more con#enient *ay for today/s youth to communicate *ith one another.
!hey e#en use te-t messain to plan telephone calls.
SMS messain allo*ed youn people to become little information *or+ers at a
#ery youn ae, *hen they should be studyin, *or+in at a part.time 0obs, playin
outside, participatin in sports, or 0ust learnin about the *orld they *ould soon
command. 1Courssey, &''(2
!he research *ill e-amine on ho* students use te-t messain technoloy, its
effect on their *ritin s+ills and interest in traditional *ritin. Gi#en the ne*ness of this
technoloy, the educators ha#e started notice and e-plore the effects on student3s
beha#ior and performance.
!e-t messaes creates a ne* trend4 a ne* lifestyle. Surprisinly, instead of
brinin confusion because of all the abbre#iated *ord used, people *ho e-chane
messaes seem to establish a common understandin.
5nlish maybe a second lanuae, but it is certainly imperati#e that to learn it in
order to open the door of a ne* uni#erse. $t is in this conte-t that the researcher *as
encouraed to conduct this study to assess the 5nlish proficiency of students.
C)(,%#$+". F&"/%0)&1
!he *idespread acceptance and practice of messain caused a number of
academicians to probe this phenomenon. $n#estiations on the influences of messain
on the social, intellectual, mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of the youth *ill be
underta+en.
!here are already e-istin difficulties in *ritin *ords in their correct spellin.
!his problem is one of the concerns to many educators.
Students are e-posed to short messaes sendin 1SMS2 they used it to compose
messaes. !hey read it *hen they recei#e messaes, they understood it. !hese incidents
transpired daily and in multiple repetitions.
Amidst the interplay of the cited realities, comes this in#estiation. !his
in#estiation is rounded on the concepts that the students are fre%uently usin the
methods of *ord transcription6 Con#entional and short messain sendin 1SM2. !he
methods of *ord transcription are #ery different from each other and are in total opposite
of each other. 7efore Short Messain Sendin 1SMS2 numerous in#estiations pro#ed
that there e-isted a difficulty in the spellin competency of students.
!he paradim of the conceptual frame*or+ of this study contains the #ariables
ender and socio.economic status of the respondents representin their personal profile,
te-t and chat, representin their messaes connecti#ity, their spellin proficiency and
e-posure to short messae sendin in decodin and encodin in the input bo-.
I(*%#%(*%($ 2"&-"3.% D%#%(*%($ 2"&-"3.%
A. Profile of the Respondents
(.( ae
(.& ender
(.) income
(.8 no. of Cell phone
(.9 no. of hours used
(.: type of sim card
(.; brand of cellphone
(.< Readin materials
(.= Dialect used at home
7. !e-t Messain Practices
Spellin Proficiency of Collee
Students in >iher 5ducational
$nstitutions.
F-4+&% 1 C)(,%#$+". P"&"*-4/ )5 $!% S$+*6
S$"$%/%($ )5 $!% P&)3.%/
!his study *ill aim to determine the impact of te-t messain to Spellin
Proficiency of Collee Students in Selected >5$/s in ?ambales, Academic @ear &'().
&'(8
Specifically, the study see+s to ans*er the follo*in %uestions6
(. Ahat is the profile of the respondents in terms of6
(.( ae4
(.& ender4
(.) income4
(.8 no. of cell phone4
(.9 no. of hours use4
(.: type of simcard
(.; brand of cellphone
(.< Readin Materials
(.= Dialect used at home.
&. Ahat is the spellin proficiency of the respondents in the 5nlish lanuaeB
). >o* may the le#el of !e-t messain be described as percei#ed by the respondentsB
8. $s there a sinificant difference on the practices of te-t messain *hen rouped
accordin to mentioned #ariables in number (B
9. $s there a sinificant relationship bet*een te-t messain and spellin proficiencyB
H6#)$!%7-7
(. !here is no sinificant difference on the practices of te-t messain *hen
rouped accordin to profile #ariables.
&. !here is no sinificant relationship bet*een the spellin proficiency of the
respondents and their le#el of e-posure to short messaes practices.
S-4(-5-,"(,% )5 $!% S$+*6
Generally, te-t messaes had been *idely used and has satisfied our
communication needs4 more and more people *ere #oluntarily e-posin themsel#es to
the ne* trend. $ts role had become pi#otal that this trend *as commonly used in
e-pressin oursel#es the entire duration of the day *here#er possible. $t has become our
tool of e-pression.
I( $!% 5-%.* )5 %*+,"$-)(, the findins of the study may ser#e as a sprin into a
pool of in#estiations pertainin the use of te-t spea+ and the influence it may brin not
only on the spellin proficiency of the students but in the other aspects of their li#es as
*ell. the campus, the findins of the study may enlihten the institutions to6 enhance and
re#ie* their uidelines and policies o#er the matter4 and create a chat room that
automatically re#eals the correct spellin form of te-t spea+ *hen used in instant
messain.
$n e#ery home, the findins of the study may ser#e to bride the eneration ap
bet*een #"&%($7 "(* $!%-& ,!-.*&%(. Parents may be pro#ided *ith a better
understandin of their children as members of the mobile phone eneration. 7eyond *hat
is #isibly seen on te-t spea+, may the parents/ instinct be sharpened as to the e-tent of
messaes carried by te-t spea+.
!he researcher found professional sinificance to the study.
Professionally, the researcher *as also a *riter, in the absence of +no*lede
about the shorthand system, te-t spea+ substituted as a tool in *ritin drafts for
compositions *hene#er restricted by time. $n fact, some of the *ords in draft form of this
study *ere on te-t spea+. As a future 5nlish lanuae teacher, the study throuh its
findins *as e-pected to pro#ide the researcher *ith insihtful +no*lede to aid his
future classroom endea#ors.
O8%&".., the study, throuh its findins, hoped to brin forth disco#eries
pertainin te-t spea+ and its influence in our li#es. $t also hoped to deli#er sinificant
data that *ill propel other indi#iduals to ma+e their o*n in#estiations on other aspects
and phases *here te-t spea+ may influence our li#es.
S,)#% "(* L-/-$"$-)(7
!he study has limitations in its desin and %uery.
!he study *as limited to ha#e the first year collee students enrolled durin the academic
year &'().&'(8 at Selected >iher 5ducational $nstitutions respondents. !his *as further
limited to the first year collee students representin homoenous roup. From amon
the students of the first year collee, only those *ho *ere e-posed to te-t spea+ *ere
considered.
!he le-icon of commonly used te-t accordin to internet domains *as short.
listed. !he most probable short messaes practice commonly used in our culture *ere the
items included in this study. Short messaes practice *as treated as is4 no further %uery
*as done as to the semantic and syntactic #alues it carried. More so, no in#estiation *as
done as to the *hat, *hy, *hen, *here, and *hy aspects of the messaes formed throuh
short messaes practice. ,eations *ere applied on the de#ices used *here short
messaes practices *ere transcribed and read. Cueries on mobile phone features as to
capability of recei#in and sendin te-t messaes, predicti#e te-t feature, and user
interface, amon others *ere not pursued. Also, if %uery +eyboards *ere a#ailable to the
users *as no loner in%uired. ,o in#estiation *as also conducted on the ser#ice
pro#ided and the respondents/ preference o#er them.
Further neations *ere made on chattin in the aspects of *eb pae desin,
condition of computer unit especially of the +eyboard and the internet cafD, internet
ser#ice pro#ider, internet speed, technical difficulties e-perienced and chat room
preference.
,o further in#estiation *as done on the person the respondents e-chane
messaes *ith, their relationship, the intention and fre%uency in e-chanin messaes.
!he researcher also found limitations in the ac%uisition of related local literature
and studies. Ahile there are numerous resources a#ailable for forein literature and
studies, local materials are scarce4 probably due to the fact that the study in pursuit is still
not much #entured into. !he fact that messain craEe has only reached our culture a fe*
years bac+, it only brouht about a fe* number of studies done on this aspect as of
research time. >o*e#er, insihts on the study sub0ect as to anthropoloy, socioloy and
linuistics aspects *ere enouh to merit its pursuit.
D%5-(-$-)( )5 T%&/7
$n this study, the follo*in terms are defined operationally6
B.)4 $t refers to an $nternet site readily a#ailable for indi#idual users to enter anecdotes
and pictures. !he indi#idual blo sites can be access.ed by other people but only to #ie*.
C!"$$%& $t refers to a person *ho communicates usin chatFinstant messener.
C)((%,$-8-$6 $t refers to the feature of short messae ser#ice and instant messae as to
accessibility in real time.
E/)$-,)(7 $t refers to the raphical depiction to faces sho*in different emotions. !hey
appear as icons ready to be applied on a *ebpae in a sinle clic+ of a button.
E(4.-7! S#%..-(4 P&)5-,-%(,6. $t refers to the ability of the respondents to pro#ide the
correct spellin of the *ords specifically indentified under this study.
G&)+# M%77"4%. $t refers to a messae purposely created for multiple distribution, such
as reetins, 0o+es, %uotations and the li+e.
I(7$"($ M%77"4%. $t refers to the feature offered in internet portals *here of messaes is
possible amon users throuh a chat room. A medium for te-t messae.
I(7$&+/%($ $t refers collecti#ely to the data atherin tools used in this study.
I($%&(%$ $t refers to the cyberspace *here people et online connection to different
portals *orld*ide.
I($%&(%$ C"59 $t refers to establishments offerin internet ser#ices *ithout necessary
implyin a combination of a cafD and a computer ser#ice shop in one.
I($%&(%$ D)/"-(. $t refers to a site in the Aorld Aide Aeb. Also, portals.
M%77"4-(4 $t refers to the sendin and recei#in of messaes, in te-t spea+, throuh
te-tin and chattin.
M%77"4-(4 C)((%,$-8-$6. $t refers to the intellectual, emotional and social capabilities of
the respondents as to accessibility in messain.
P&)8-*%& $t refers to a telecommunication company that pro#ides ser#ice to either a
mobile phone or internet subscriber.
:+%&$6 '%63)"&*. $t refers to a +eyboard.li+e mobile phone feature to transcribe te-t
messaes.
R%#.6 $t refers to the te-t.massae.response of the recipient to a te-t messae recei#ed.
S,!)).-(4 $t refers to the process of formal education particularly that of ac%uirin
+no*lede and de#elopin competencies on the 5nlish lanuae4 especially spellin.
S!)&$ M%77"4% S%&8-,%;SMS. $t refers to a mobile phone feature capable of creatin,
sendin and recei#in te-t messaes dependent on the type of mobile phone and the
ser#ice pro#ided. A medium for te-t spea+.
T%<$ $t refers to a messae sent and recei#ed throuh a mobile phone. Also, the act of
creatin, sendin and recei#in messaes throuh a mobile phone.
T%<$ B",1 $t refers to the te-t.massae.response of the te-t messae recipient to a roup
te-t messae recei#ed.
T%<$%& $t refers to a person a#ailin the short messae ser#ice of mobile pro#iders.
T%<$ M%77"4%. $t refers to an idea or thouht composed *ith te-t spea+ and e-chaned
throuh the short messae ser#ice of a mobile phone pro#ider.
U7%& I($%&5",%. $t refers to the screen of a mobile de#ice andF or the display monitor of a
computer unit *here te-t are read.
C!"#$%& 2
R%8-%0 )5 R%."$%* L-$%&"$+&% "(* S$+*-%7
!his chapter includes a re#ie* or related literature and studies here and abroad
*hich are found to ha#e bearin on the present study. !he literature and studies of
rele#ance to this underta+in *ere presented in this chapter. !he presentation *as
desined by topics rather than by authors to focus the entire re#ie* 1Campbell, (=='2.
Generally, discussions *ere on the topics about the status of 5nlish literacy includin
spellin, the a#ailability of technoloy, and the effects of technoloy on the academic life
of the youth in particular, spellin.
!his chapter also made e-tensi#e use of the $nternet in search for related literature
as *ell as studies. As of *ritin, there *ere only a fe* local materials a#ailable4 the
$nternet, ho*e#er, pro#ided a rich resource for forein literature and studies.
R%8-%0 )5 R%."$%* L-$%&"$+&%
!he literature contained herein affirmed the #ery concept of the study. ,umerous
*or+s *ere collected and interated to present a coherent illustration of the opportunity
created by the te-t spea+ phenomenon to pursue this study *ith reference to its necessity
and timeliness.
L),". L-$%&"$+&%
!he Philippines boasted of the ability of its 5nlish lanuae.competent
*or+force. Forein in#estments poured.in because in#estors also belie#ed in the
capabilities of the *or+in force. Recently, the Philippines *as chosen as the site of Dells
contact center because of the *ell.trained, *ell.educated and 5nlish spea+in
*or+force. 1Samar, &'':2
!he number of multinationals out.sourcin their customer ser#ices to the country
attested to the Filipino/s comparati#e ad#antae in 5nlish proficiency and the local
culture/s affinity *ith all thins Americans.
>o*e#er, the share of the Philippines/ in#estment in education to economic
output *as far from encourain. Geislators should +eep this in mind as they deliberate
on ne-t year/s national budet. !hat is, pro#ided they et past the intense politic+in
boin do*n Conress and pass the budet bill on time 1Manilatimes.net, &''92.
Filipinos, follo*in *orld*ide trends, sho*ed an increasin preference for
*ireless communication. Gast year, cellular phone companies reistered a combined
subscriber base of 9.88 million accordin to Go+on*ei.
!his preference for mobile phones *as partly attributed to the a#ailability of the
short messae ser#ice, more popularly +no*n as te-tin. A fe* years after its
introduction, SMS had transformed the Philippines into the te-tin capital of the *orld,
*ith enthusiastic cell phone subscribers sendin an estimated )' million te-t messae a
day.
>e also noted that more and more Filipinos *ere ettin connected lobally
throuh the $nternet. Gast year, the Philippines reistered a total of :<',''' $nternet
subscribers, or more than double the (=== fiure of )&',''' subscribers 1Reyes4 &''(2.
!he battle of the Philippine cellular net*or+ pro#iders heated up accordin to the
information technoloy article *ritten by Halencia 1&'':2. Ma0or players in the telecoms
industry *ere courtin the leal system to be on their side as they complained
competitors on ser#ice pro#ision.
!he real competition *as for the hearts and minds of subscribers . it *as not in
the leal arena. !hey should come up *ith ser#ices that offer real #alue to subscribers. $n
short, compete, don/t complain, accordin to Ramon $sbero of Smart.
$n its rulin on Sun Cellular/s &8F; proram, the ,!C had said that the popularity
of unlimited call and te-t proram reflected the appreciation that consumers had for our
customers and business more buoyant for our companies, $sberto added.
!he technoloy ho*e#er, brouht us pros and cons. !a+in a loo+ at *hat it offer,
there *ere many uses in *hich media of te-t spea+ *ere utiliEed. 7y loo+in closely into
the computer/s potential in facilitatin children/s learnin, one many realiEe that there
*as no reason for such apprehension. Ahile the computer *as not a perfect teacher, it
had the capacity to impart +no*lede and enhance #arious s+ills in a no#el *ay. Children
*ere able to sustain their interest and continue performin tas+s because of its attracti#e
raphics, sounds and instant feedbac+. Furthermore, computers could be customiEed.
1Frias4 &''&2
As *e proressed into the future, inno#ations and enhancements *ere e-ecuted to
ma+e these media friendly to user. $nstant messener de#elopers set out to create an
instant messener that *as easy enouh for anyone to use, but po*erful enouh to meet
almost any instant messain demand 1Aon4 &''82.
Generally, communication *as a process by *hich information *as e-chaned
bet*een indi#iduals throuh a common system of symbols, sins or beha#ior. $t *as
techni%ue for e-pressin ideas effecti#ely, to share information or feelins, to influence
other, and to manae conflicts. For proper communication flo*, correct rammar and
proper use of lanuae did not uarantee us to ma+e it effecti#e 1Castro4 &'':2.
!he %uality of our ability to use the 5nlish lanuae *as diminishin. 5#en the
academe sector had been noticin this not only on the aptitude of the raduates they
produces but also of the teachers they hired to teach.
!*enty.t*o years after the policy of de#elopin a bilinual nation *as announced
and t*enty years after its implementation in the schools, the problem of de#elopin
Filipinos competent in both 5nlish and Filipino *as still the sub0ect of many
contro#ersies. Ahile Filipino had been ainin head*ay, 5nlish had been lain
behind. !he consensus *as that 5nlish, or to be more precise, the 5nlish used by
Filipino had deteriorated 1Paloma4 &''92.
F)&%-4( L-$%&"$+&%
SMS, *hich stood for Ishort messae ser#ice,J *as a means of sendin instant
messae from one cellular telephone to another. Gimited to (:' characters, the messaes.
often sent as a series of abbre#iations that *ould ha#e classified as *riter proud.*ere
bein used by 5uropean teenaers to maintain their social circle and cli%ues reardless of
time or distance.
SMS messain allo*ed youn people to become little information *or+ers at a #ery
youn ae, *hen they should be studyin, *or+in at a part.time 0obs, playin outside,
participatin in sports, or 0ust learnin about the *orld they *ould soon command.
Someho* a life sinificantly defined by sendin SMS messaeKthe li#es that some
5uro.+ids seemed to ha#eKseemed a terrible *aste of a youth they *ould ne#er
e-perience, or en0oy, aain. 1Courssey4 &''(2
Arnold 1&'''2, had this to say in his article Ite-tinJB @es, te-tinKas in
chanin short typed messaes o#er a cell phone6
!he craEe for sendin messaes by phone started last year, *hen Globe introduced
prepaid cards that enabled students too poor for a lon.term subscription to start sellin
cellular phones, *hich could be bouht cheaply. Since tal+in on mobile phones cost <
1eiht2 pesos a minute, about &' cents and sendin te-t messaes from them *as free,
people %uic+ly fiured out ho* to e-press themsel#es on a phone/s alphanumeric +eypad.
Sendin te-t messaes did not re%uire ma+in a call. People merely typed in a
messae and the recipient/s phone number, hit the phone/s send +ey and off it *ent to the
operator/s messae center, *hich for*arded it to the recipient. 7ecause messaes *ere
sent o#er the fre%uency the net*or+ used to identify phones rather than the fre%uencies
their o*ners tal+ on, messaes could be sent and recei#ed the instant a phone *as turned
on and e#en be recei#ed *hen a phone call *as in proress.
Sendin a te-t messaes by phone *as an irritatin s+ill to master, larely
because &: letters, plus punctuation, had to be created *ith only (' 1ten2 buttons. !ypin
the letter C, for e-ample, re%uired pressin the ,o.& button three times. After the
messae *as composed, it could be sent immediately to the phone number of the
recipient, *ho could respond immediately by the same process.
People usin phones for te-t messaes had de#eloped shorthand similar to that
found in $nternet chat rooms. 5ach had his o*n style of +eyin messaes. Some used
their inde- finers, some thumb, some both.
Pesce 1&'':2 described the members of today/s youner eneration as
multitas+ers, usin their phones as personal oraniEers, *atches and cameras. !e-t
messaes pro#ided directions and home*or+ assinments.
!e-tin *as reportedly more popular in the Philippines than any*here else in the
*orld, *ith Filipinos s*appin an a#erae of 9' million messaes on their mobiles e#ery
day.
!e-tin came *ith its o*n #ocabulary and eti%uette, 0ust li+e e.mails.
"sers loo+ed to shortenin *ords. For e-ample, ISee you tonihtJ became
IC"L,@!J.
Part of the reason *hy the country/s 8.9 million mobile phone users had ta+en to
it so *ell *as because of economicsKte-tin *as cheap 177C ,e*s, &'''2.
Accordin to $mpirical.com 1&'':2, short messae ser#ice *as introduced in the
first phase of GSM durin (==( as a simple store and for*ard te-t messain system.
5#en thouh nearly all GSM mobile phones *ere capable of supportin SMS, the ta+e up
*as #ery limited as net*or+ operators or carries failed to mar+et the system. >o*e#er,
this had all chaned *ith in e-cess of &8 billion te-t messaes bein sent each month. A
sinificant proportion of this rapid ro*th could be attributed to the inclusion of SMS
into youth culture. $n fact it had introduced a ne* Mte-t/ lanuae to bypass the often
a*+*ard te-t entry or man machine interface. SMS messaes *ere limited to (:'
characters in lenth althouh it *as impossible to concatenate se#eral messaes to
produce a much reater macro messae.
!e-tually.or 1&''&2 cited Chon Sec+ Chim ponderin on *hy te-t messain *as so
appealin to youn people and if there really *as cause for academic concern.
SMS had the ede on e.mail for small tal+. Many younsters *ere hoo+ed, and
had become e-pert at choppin up the *ords and phrases to sa#e time and money for
their ossip.
$t too+ a nimble mind and a deft thumb, to +ey in the SMS te-t. @ounsters *ere
ready to try anythin. 7ut *hat about the concerns that SMS *as lo*erin standards all
aroundB !here seemed to be some leitimate cause to *orry.
Acer 1&'':2 in its *eb site posted that today/s children *ere illiterate and it *as
all because of te-t messain. $t *as the catch.cry of disruntled education commentators
and 5nlish teachers, the First Aorld o#er, but ho* true *as itB Any anecdotal e#idence
of a disaster had yet to be bac+ed up *ith conclusi#e research. $n fact, a recent lare.scale
study comparin the *ritten e-am papers of 7ritish teenaers o#er the last t*enty.fi#e
years found that students today had a hiher standard of *ritin than Goin *as %uoted
as he stated that there *as a role for mobiles in the classrooms and educators had been
testin that o#er the last fe* years, but the potential to teach student critical s+ills about
SMS hadn/t ot the same airplay as the perception that the mobile eneration *as
illiterate and te-tin *as leadin to the decline of Aestern ci#iliEation. !e-t messain
may be a ne* technoloy, but the use of abbre#iations and pictoraphs *as almost as old
as the *ritten *ord itself. 5-perts cited e-amples such telerams, *ord puEEles and rebus
as similar to te-t messain.
Accordin to 5liEabeth @oun, SMS did not pose a threat to traditional literacy.
!he fact that youn people had created their o*n spellin or lanuae *as a creati#e *ay
of meetin the character limits on most phones. SMS *as 0ust one form of
communication, but if there *ere a conflict bet*een SMS lino and standard 5nlish,
traditional literacy *ould *in out.
>ulme 1(==<2 stated that *hen children learn to read, at the same time they also
learn to spell. Spellin *as more difficult than readin4 it de#eloped more slo*ly, and
difficulties in spellin *ere usually rearded as less serious than difficulties in readin.
Perhaps because of this, less research had been de#oted to spellin than readin.
Some 9' percent of the teachers sur#eyed on the effect of at in schools, said that
the use of abbre#iations, 5nlish and slan in te-t messain *as affectin pupil/s
*ritten *or+, accordin to Gamba 1&''82.
Pormentilla 1&''&2 *rote an article on te-tin4 and doin it the Filipino *ay, as he
called it. Fi#e years ao, the a#erae Filipino students *ould had said, Iyou/re nothin
but a rich little spoiled bratJ had you secured yourself an e-tremely e-pensi#e diital
cellular phone. !oday, ho*e#er, 0ust fi#e years thereafter, e#en rade schoolers couldn/t
o on *ith their li#es *ithout cellfones to race their daily routines. $ndeed, much
transpired *ithin those seeminly short fi#e years. From a nation of analo phones, the
Philippines had fascinatinly transformed into a te-tin one. 5#ery sinle student, e#en
those in the lo*er middle class, had been cauht up *ith this seeminly ine#itable
plaue.
!e-tin *as actually coined to mean te-t messain. $t *as the process by *hich
one sends a messae from one cellular telephone to another in form of *ords N or te-ts N
instead of spea+in directly o#er the telephone. $n t he Philippines, it actually
re#olutioniEed the perception of a cellphones but ne#er really ot to use them because
calls *ere not that affordable and student.friendly. 7ut no*, assumin a Filipino
perspecti#e, one could be anythin but amaEed and surprised as to ho* this economically
disad#antaed country embraced cordially this ne* and %uite lu-urious technoloy.
$n an inter#ie* *ith three students from one of the best uni#ersities in the
Philippines, it had been unanimously areed upon that one of the main causes of this
te-tin fe#er *as its sense of connectedness, its sense of ma+in people feel *ithin reach
anytime, any*here, its sense of #alue manifested in its affordable price.
$t *as belie#ed that this tactful combination of connection and affordability *as
the perfect formula that Filipinos could not resist. People could communicate *ith
anyone and they *ouldn/t spend as much as they *ould #is.O.#is a call. $ndeed, it *as
this side of the story that the Filipino focused on *hen they *ere *eihin and
e#aluatin their options. $t *as this luster that enticed them to use the cellular telephone.
!e-tin *as enerally a sinificant manifestation of ho* a Filipino #ie*ed true
*orld and its technoloy. $t conse%uently e-posed desires uni%uely their o*n. $t elicited
their innate sense of fruality and *astefulness combined to e-hibit their o*n true
identity, their o*n true form, their o*n true style.
!orres 1&''(2 featured in her article the beinnin of SMS in the Philippines and
ho* it e#ol#ed *ithin the Filipino culture. $t depicted a scenario *here the youth sector
*as #ery much into te-tin. She also cited the alarm caused by te-tin amon schools
officials.
!he first tele#ision commercial for SMS appeared in the Philippines in (==9. $t
*as meant to introduce a neat ne* ser#ice offered by the cellular phone company N a
trin+et, an innocent little feature.
Gittle did anyone +no* that fi#e years later, te-tin *ould become as
commonplace on Philippines streets as the 0eepney. ,o*adays, for e#eryone from the
street peddler *ho earned about P<' "SD a month to the professional *ho earned many
times more, te-tin had become a part of the urban Filipino/s daily routine.
!e-t messain *as most popular amon teens and those in their early t*enties.
7ecause of its popularity in this ae roup, it had spa*ned a ne* term the IGent-tJ or
te-t eneration.
!e-tin *as used by this roup to send 0o+es and riddles, to pass out in#itations to
parties, or to merely say ood mornin to friends *ith accompanyin raphics. $t *as
used much li+e a reetin card sent out to friends/ mornin, noon and niht.
Compilations of te-t messaes *ere e#en a#ailable in boo+stores and on the Aeb for
those *ho *ere not up to creatin their o*n messaes.
A7C,e*s.au 1&'')2 reported 5ducation Cueensland district director for ,ambour 1on
Cueensland/s Sunshine Coast2 Rob McAlpine to had recently been included in the latest
edition of !he Concise Q-ford Dictionary, such as 78 1before2, 77G 1be bac+ later2,
7C," 1be seein you2. C"G<R 1see you later2 and >A,D 1ha#e a nice day2R
Q-ford Ad#anced Gearner/s Dictionary *ent SMS sa##y. !he dictionary in fact
e-plained that te-t messaes, chat room messaes and sometimes emails could be *ritten
usin the smallest number of letters possible 1!e-tually, &''92.
!he Star, Malaysia 1&''82 in its report said that SMS resultin in poor 5nlish
radesB !hat/s *hat Malaysian academic authorities thouht, at least. !he Malaysian
directory of education *as pretty sure on thatRhe attributed students/ fallin rades in
5nlish to SMS.
"ni#ersity Malaya 5nlish lanuae lecturer associate professor Dr. Saren Sno*
@ip Chen e#en proposed that the 5ducation Ministry conduct a %uantitati#e study on the
impact of SMS on lanuaes to understand the matter deeper so that correcti#e measures
could be employed to stop the drop in the standard of 5nlish.
Ahen a ().year.old Scottish irl handed in an essay *ritten in te-t messae
shorthand, she e-plained to her flabberasted teacher that it *as easier than standard
5nlish.
She *rote6 IMy smmr hols *r CAQ!. 78, *e used &o& ,@ &C my bro, his GF
T thr ) 6. +ids F!F.$G,@, it/s a r< plc.J 1$n translation6 IM@ summer holidays *ere a
complete *aste of time. 7efore, *e used to o to ,e* @or+ to see my brother, his
irlfriend and their three screamin +ids face to face. $ lo#e ,e* @or+. $t/s a reat
place.J2
!he irl/s teacher N *ho as+ed not to be named N *as not impressed, sayin6 I$
could not belie#e *hat $ *as seein. !he pae *as riddled *ith hierolyphics, many of
*hich $ simply could not translate.J
!e-t messain, e.mail and computer spell.chec+s had lon been blamed for
declinin standards of spellin and rammar. A publisher of a ne* dictionary *arned last
Friday of a deree of crisisJ in uni#ersity students/ *ritten 5nlish 177C ,e*s, &'')2.
!e-t messaes, e.mail and the push for later and more efficient communications
*ere ta+in their toll on rammar, lanuae e-perts belie#ed.
Cueensland "ni#ersity of !echnoloy sociolinuistics lecturer Jo Carr said
people usin email and SMS te-t messain *ere unconcerned about rammar and
punctuation. Grammar rules used to be an indication of social class and literacy in the
past but today/s society *ere doin thins differently because lanuae today ser#ed the
purpose of speed and social interaction 1Smh.com,&''82.
SMS *as the best communication tools a#ailable for the youth no*. !hey li+ed
SMS because it *as more con#enient and faster. Moreo#er, you also had the option of
not respondin 1Allira0an, &''82.
!he leap in popularity of mobiles and te-t messain amon children and
teenaers o#er the past fi#e years had prompted concern that pupils/ literacy s+ills could
suffer.
!e-tin placed a premium of speed and concision, leadin to the creation of a
host of abbre#iations and acronyms incomprehensible to the untrained reader, toether
*ith symbols or emoticons, such as smiley faces, to e-press emotions.
$t *as important that children could communicate in a rane of *ays dependin
on the communication channel they *ere usin 1Aard, &''82
Many of the millions of messaes e-chanes bet*een these hih.tech de#ices
*ere, not in the form of speech, but in the form of the *ritten *ord. $nstead of spea+in
into the handset, a ro*in number of mobile.phone users N especially youths N *ere
usin a facility called the Short Messae Ser#ice 1SMS. !his ser#ice allo*ed them, at
relati#ely little e-penses, to type and send brief messaes to each other. 7ecause
communicatin in this *ay re%uired typin a messae on the phone/s tiny +eypad, SMS
de#otees used an abbre#iated form of lanuae that combined letters and numbers to
ma+e *ord sounds. Despite the incon#enience of composin and typin a massae as
opposed to spea+in *ith the recipient, each month about )' billion messaes *ere
e-chanes *orld*ide.
!he aim of te-t *as to reduce the number of characters needed to put across a meanin.
Qne casualty of this principle *as that punctuation *as *idely disrearded.
Sinle letters could be used to replace *ords. 5-ample6
be became b, see became c, are became r, you became u, *hy became y,
5%ually, sinle diits could be used to replace *ords. 5-amples6
ate became <, for became 8, to too became &, $ndi#idual syllables could be replaced *ith
a sinle diits or letter.
5-amples6
ate became <, so6 acti#ate became acti#<, reat became r<, mate became m<, be
became b, For or fore became 8, before became b8, therefore became there8, More
miscellaneous adaptations of characters include6
ss became, oo became U, Combinations of the abo#e could be used to shorten
sinle or multiple *ords. 5-amples6 @our and you *ere both became ur, Qther
transcriptions of slan or dialect terms could be used if they *ere shorter than the
oriinal. A ood e-ample of this *as the *ay in *hich because, often pronounced as cos
in 5nlish, *as *ritten li+e so, sa#in four characters.
Another de#ices used in te-t lanuae *as the remo#al of #o*els from #erb, such
that a set of consonants remain, *hich should still be reconiEable as a *ord. So, bet*een
could become bt*n. 5%ually, *ords may be omitted, especially articles. Another de#ice
used *as the replacement of an Morr/ *ith MoE/. >ence, sorry *ould become soE and
tomorro* *ould become tomoE. !his could be further abbre#iated into &moE.
!here *ere number of te-t abbre#iations *hich *ere commonly reconiEed6
atm for at the moment, asap for as soon as possible, bbl for be bac+ later, bc for busy, brb
for be riht bac+, ch+ for chec+, cp for cellular phone, dc for disconnected, elo* for
hello, ms for messae, nasl for name, ae, se-, and location, op for out of place, pc for
personal computer, peeps for people, pa* for parents are *atchin, pic for picture, s+ed
for schedule, rc# for recei#e, + for o+ay, *b for *elcome bac+, ym for yahoo messener
Aruably *e *ere *itnessin a se#ere decline in people bein able to correctly
*rite rammatically correct. Some people had blamed this trend on te-tin lanuae. For
e-ample, in a te-t messae Myour/ and Myou/re/ *ere both *ritten as Mur/ N resultin in
children not +no*in the difference bet*een the t*o *ords, and confusin the t*o
1Ans*ers.com, &'':2.
C!"#$%& 3
R%7%"&,! M%$!)*).)46
!he desin of the study includin the research method applied, the respondents,
the instrument and its #alidation, data atherin procedure and treatment of data *ere all
presented in this chapter.
R%7%"&,! D%7-4(
!he study is an e-ploration in nature. $t *as a maiden attempt probe on te-t
messaes, and the spellin proficiency of the mobile eneration respondents, and the
possible relationships bet*een the t*o.
$t utiliEed the descripti#e method of research to focus at the present condition. !he
purpose is to find ne* truths. !he truths may ha#e different forms such as increased
%uantity of +no*lede, a ne* eneraliEation or a ne* la*, an increase insiht into
factors in *hich are operatin, the disco#ery of a ne* causal relationships, a more
accurate formulation of the problem to be sol#ed and many others.
Descripti#e studies *ere #aluable in pro#idin facts on *hich scientific
0udments may be based 1Calmorin4 (==92.
Descripti#e research *ere non.e-perimental because they deal *ith relationship amon
non.manipulati#e #ariables because the e#ents or conditions had already occurred, the
researcher merely selected the rele#ant #ariables for an analysis of their relationship.
Descripti#e research souht to find ans*er to the %uestions throuh the analysis of
#ariable relationship 17est, (==<2.
R%7%"&,! L),".%
Selected Higher Educational
Institutions District of
Castillejos
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Cluster 5
Selected Higher Educational
Institutions District of
Castillejos
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Cluster 5
Fiure (6 Map Sho*in the Gocation of the Study
R%7#)(*%($7
!he main problem of the study re%uired a non.probability or non.scientific
samplin desin and techni%ue in its in#estiation. $t suested the sub0ecti#e selection of
respondents based on a particular characteristic. From amon the population, only those
*ho possess the particular characteristic *ere purposely selected and considered for the
study. !he purposi#e samplin techni%ue of the non.probability samplin desins *as
applied.
!he sub0ects of the study *ere the first year collee students of >iher
5ducational $nstitutions District of Castille0os. !hese *ere the students *ho *ere
purposely selected because of their e-posure to te-t messae. !he students of >5$/s
representin a homoeneous roup in terms of their eneral academic performance and
their a#erae ae, *ere particularly considered for this study.
From amon all the members of the class, only those *ho admittedly *ere
e-posed to te-t messae, as identified throuh the sur#ey, made up the final list of the
respondents. !here *ere a total of 9' respondents out of the 9' students enrolled in the
class.
2".-*"$-)( )5 $!% I(7$&+/%($
!he instrument *ill initially submitted to the ad#iser for criticism and possible
impro#ements. $t *as also presented to the statistician to test its desin.
!he researcher *ill be thorouh in the preparation of the instrument4 professional
and personal resources *ill be consulted. $nternal #alidity *ill be constantly tested. 5#ery
item *ill be desined to pro#ide a complete response. All items *ill be psycholoically
arraned. 5#ery *ord andFor statement *ill uarantee the neutral form.
$n consideration of the fact that the respondents are youths, the researcher *ill
ma+e sure that the %uestionnaire *ill loo+ appealin to them. !he researcher *ill ma+e
use of font siEe (& *hich is easily readable to the respondents, paes *ill be neatly
arraned, and e#ery pae *ill be clearly duplicated on a ;' sm paper.
Finally, the instrument *ill be administered t*enty 1&'2 first year collee students
to ascertain if the items are *ithin the le#el of their comprehension to find out all the
necessary re#ision and impro#ements that must be done to ensure #alidity of response.
D"$" G"$!%&-(4 P&),%*+&%
!he researcher *ill see+ permission to conduct the study in Selected >5$/s
Castille0os District. A permission re%uest *ill be for*arded to and see+ from the office of
the Administrator.
!he researcher *ill personally administer the distribution and retrie#al of the
%uestionnaire. Prior to distribution, a briefin *ill be made as to be the purpose of the
acti#ity and o#er#ie* of the %uestionnaire and the instructions contained therein.
!he obser#ation phase *ill immediately follo*. 5#ery respondent *ill be
pro#ided *ith a #isual material. Generally, the respondents *ill be as+ed to compose a
messae4 +ey.in their ae and ender, transcribe the sentences in the material in te-t
spea+ form and send the messae to the researcher/s mobile numbers.
S$"$-7$-,". T&%"$/%($ )5 D"$"
After ha#in retrie#ed the %uestionnaires the researcher *ill tally, tabulate and
statistically treat the data usin the follo*in tools6
(. Fre%uency Counts and Percentae *ill be applied in order to ain information in
the fre%uency of respondents cateoriEed in the different profile #ariables considered in
this study. !he formula is as follo*s6
*here6 P . percentae
F . fre%uency
,. total number of respondents
&. Aeihted Mean. $t is a mean *here there is some #ariation in the relati#e contribution
of indi#idual data #alues to the mean. 5ach data #alue has a *eiht assined to it. Data
#alues *ith larer *eihts contribute more to the *eihted mean and data #alues *ith
smaller *eihts contribute less to the *eihted mean. Aeihted mean *ill be used in this
study because each indi#idual data #alue miht actually represent a #alue that is used by
multiple people in the sample. !he *eiht, then, is the number of people associated *ith
that particular #alue. !he follo*in formula is used6
*here6 V N *eihted mean
5 N summation of
f . fre%uency
- . *eiht of each score
, N total number of respondents
). Analysis of Hariance 1A,QHA2. $t *ill be used to measure the sinificant difference
on the le#el of perceptions *hen rouped accordin to the profile of the respondents.
Ahene#er the t.test is not the appropriate tool to use, as in cases *here there *ere three
1)2 or more roups of #ariables to be tested, the A,QHA or F *ill be resorted to. !his
tool is considered appropriate because Analysis of Hariance or F is one of the most
*idely used and hihly de#eloped statistical method in modern research.
Steps in the Computation of A,QHA
(. Compute the total sum of the s%uares
!SS W 1X-2 & . 1X-2 & F ,
*here6 !SS W Sum of the S%uares
X- & W sum of the s%uares of each entry
X- W sum of all columns
, W total number of entries
&. Compute the s%uares bet*een columns
SS b W ( F no. of ro*s - X 1Sum of each column2 &N 1X-2 &F,
*here6 SS b W sum of s%uares bet*een column
X- W sum of all columns
, W total number of entries
). Compute the sum of s%uares *ithin column
SSA W !SS N SSb
*here6 SSb W sum s%uares *ithin.column
!SS W total sum of s%uares
SSb W sum of s%uares bet*een.column
8. !o complete the A,QHA table, calculate the mean of sum of s%uares.
MSS W SS F df
SS W sum of s%uares 1bet*een N column and *ithin.column2
Df W derees of freedom
F W test formula *ill be applied after completin the A,QHA table.
*here6 SSb W mean of s%uares bet*een.column
SSA W mean sum of s%uares *ithin.column
9. A,QHA *ill be used to test the hypothesis
F W MSSb F MSSA
*here6 !SS W Sum of s%uare total
SSb W sum of s%uare bet*een
SS* W sum of s%uares *ithin
:. Decision Criteria6 !he computed #alue *as compared aainst the tabular #alue at '.'9
le#el of sinificance and the decision on *hether to accept of re0ect the null hypothesis
*as based on the follo*in criteria6
a. Re0ect the null hypothesis 1>o2 if computed #alue is e%ual or reater than the
absolute tabular #alue.
b. Accept the null hypothesis 1>o2 if computed #alue is less than the absolute
tabular #alue.
;. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient1r2 . *ill be used to determine the
sinificant relationship bet*een the factors encountered and the 5nlish communication
s+ills of pupils.
r W , - X 1V@2 . Y1ZV2 - 1X@2[
\]1n - 1ZV&2 N 1ZV2&[ - ]1n - 1Z@&2 N1Z@2&[
Ahere6 n W ,umber of pair of obser#ation
\ W S%uare root
X W Summation of #ariables
V& W S%uared of the #alue of $ndependent #ariable
@& W S%uared of the #alue of dependent #ariable
$nterpretation of Correlation Halue
Accordin to Calmorin 1&''82, to interpret correlation #alue obtained, the
follo*in classification may be applied6
(. An r from '.'' to ^ '.&' denotes neliible correlation.
&. An r from ^'.&( to ^ '.8' denotes lo* or sliht correlation.
). An r from ^'.8( to ^ '.;' denotes mar+ed or moderate relationship
8. An r from ^'.;( to ^ '.=' denotes hih relationship
9. An r from ^'.=( to ^ '.== denotes #ery hih relationship
$t can be leaned that ma-imum coefficient correlation #alue is (.''. $f the coefficient
correlation #alue is reater (.'', there is somethin *ron on the computation.
Gi+ert Scale. $n interpretin the a#eraes of the ratin for the %uestions, the follo*in
scale *as adopted6
8.&' N 9.'' Hery Great 5-tent 1HG52
).8' N 8.(= Great 5-tent 1G52
&.:' N ).)= Moderate 5-tent 1M52
(.<' N &.9= Gess 5-tent 1G52
(.'' N (.;= ,o 5-tent at all 1,52