Blakeley 1

Declining Writing Skills in Todays Digital Society

By

Lisa Blakeley

English 1302

Professor Esther Otwell

17 April 2015
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Abstract

This research paper centers on the decline of writing skills due to todays digital society.

Although technology continues to increase in life today, this increase does not necessarily have

to come at the cost of students writing abilities. Beginning by offering background information

as to how this decline has come about such as the technological imperative society faces, the

steady increase in use of technology, and the denial of said problem by those most affected by it,

the paper then discusses the excessive use of tech speak, the blind reliance on word processors

and spell check, grade inflation, and changes in academic testing that has caused writing skills to

deteriorate to the levels they have reached today. Increasing freshmen writing course intensity,

decreasing class size, changing how technology is utilized in the class room, and increasing

awareness are offered as possible methods to slow this decline as well as the best method

defended and the other methods weaknesses exposed and disputed.

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Outline

Thesis statement: The decline in writing skill could be significantly reduced by simply raising

awareness of this issue in an attempt to convince more people to spend time away from

technologies influences.

I. Decline of writing skills in todays digital society

A. Technology imperative
B. Increase in technology use
C. Denial of problem by students
II. Causes of declining writing skills in todays digital society
A. The use of tech speak
B. Reliance on word processors and spell check
C. Grade inflation
D. Changes in testing
III. Solutions to declining writing skills in todays digital society
A. Increase writing course intensity
B. Decrease class size
C. Change how technology is used in the classroom
D. Increase awareness
IV. Best solution for reduction of declining writing skills - awareness
A. Reasons for superiority of this method
B. Drawback of other methods

Todays world is driven by technology. Evolving from enormous, stationary desktop

computers, to laptops and tablets thinner than a standard book, to devices such as smartphones,

and iPods small enough to fit in your pocket, technology continues to change and mold the way

society functions. However, it is not the only thing changing. Writing skills observed in students

of all ages have been declining as todays society is increasingly influenced by technology. The

decline in writing skill could be significantly reduced by simply raising awareness of this issue in

an attempt to convince more people to spend time away from technologies influences.

Background of the decline in writing skills in todays digital society

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Perhaps nothing has been accepted as widely as technology has. It has touched everything

today ranging from ordering food, communicating across the seven seas, and teaching the future

generations. With todays technological advances has come what Michael Neal, author of the

book Writing Assessment and the Revolution in Digital Texts and Technologies, calls the

technological imperative. The idea that because technology has become unavoidable in our

daily lives, it must be accepted, and because it must be accepted, it must be utilized in everything

that we do (24). However, director of research for Pew Research Center Kristin Purcell, warns

that simply being able to connect to a broader range of people over a variety of tools does not

mean that it increases the writers ability to communicate effectively (30). This warning has

fallen on deaf ears, however, as technologys use has only continued to increase, especially

among teens.

Because technology is no longer limited to stationary desktop computers, but instead has

expanded to include mobile devices for on-the-go connections, its no surprise that the overall

use of these devices has skyrocketed. With half of activities for teens today powered by

technology, the average adolescent will spend four hours a day utilizing some form of it and

considers it essential to their social and mental well-being writes magazine journalist Patrick

Tucker (16). Supporting this, is the table below illustrating the results of a 2013 report conducted

by senior researcher Mary Madden with Pew Research Center stating that 95 percent of teens

between the ages of 12 through 17 are online, a number that has been consistent since 2006. Of

the 95 percent, eight out of every ten teens own their own computer, and two-thirds of the teens

who do not own their own device have at least daily access to one. Outside of computers, 74

percent use smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices to get the full extent of 24/7

connectivity to the internet (3-5).

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Table 1

Teens Access to and Ownership of Technological Devices Demographics1

Teens Access to Mobile Own a Own a Own a Own a

Gender and Internet Access to Computer Tablet Cell Smartpho

Age Internet Phone ne

Boys, 12-13 96% 70% 66% 23% 65% 20%
Boys, 14-17 97% 73% 82% 18% 83% 43%
Girls, 12-13 91% 72% 79% 28% 71% 26%
Girls, 14-17 95% 78% 84% 27% 82% 44%
Source: Madden 4-9

As if these statistics were not alarming enough on their own, the excessive desire for

technology has caused many students to turn away from their homework as time spent on

academic work has decreased by 42 percent and is instead spent on entertainment according to a

2010 study of time use reports assistant professor of sociology Michael Carter and adjunct

professor of sociology Heather Harper (290). Although adults and a select few adolescents

recognize the problems this increased use of technology can cause, students often prefer to turn a

blind eye.

As with most things, those most affected by something are often the ones most blind to it

occurrences. Technologys effect on writing skills is no exception to this as the majority of

students only recognize the positive benefits it has. According to Purcell, students define writing

as only the writing done for school assignments, excluding the writing they engage in through

text messaging, emails or social media, despite the fact that it is these technology controlled

writings that they use most frequently (14). Adding to this is the finding that not only do teens

exclude these activities as writings, but that they believe these writings impact their overall

writing ability by allowing them to simply write more rather than making their writing less
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advanced as stated in another study by Pew Research Center led by senior research specialist

Amanda Lenhart (31). While many students follow this belief, they fail to realize that they are

fooling themselves along the way as Carter and Harper explains that compared to an average

high school senior, graduate students taking the SAT score only slightly higher in writing skills

despite the fact that they consider themselves above standard, especially in writing (286).

This overall acceptance of technologys advances and refusal to recognize the negative

effects it brings has only made it easier for the roots of the decline to slip by unnoticed and

further deteriorate writing dexterity.

Cause of declining writing skills

Perhaps the most debated reason for this decline in writing skills is through the use of

text, or tech, speak. Texting has become the most widely used mobile service with 2.4 billion

people already utilizing it by the end of 2007 and the excessive use of this new language has

grown along with it, according to Solomon Ali Dansieh who explains its structure as:

Text messaging mostly involves the use of pictograms and

logograms. Words are either shortened through the use of

symbols to represent the word, or using symbols whose names

sound like a syllable of the word. A text may consist of words or

an alphanumeric combination . . . The SMS technology allows up

to 160 characters in length for each short message composed

with Latin alphabets, and 70 characters in length for those

composed with non-Latin alphabets like

Arabic and Chinese. (224)

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Although some argue that its excessive use is beneficial because it at least exposes and

encourages students and teens to more writing, the majority of parents and teachers agree that its

acceptance of informal writing styles such as fragments, spelling errors, informal tones and use

of abbreviations is ultimately undermining students formal writing ability as it ignores formal

writing conventions and is increasingly cropping up in formal and academic writing assignments

(Purcell 35)2.

Much as the use of calculators in math lessens the students ability to perform such

functions on their own, another cause for the decline is the reliance on word processors and spell

check that allows students to take shortcuts through the conventional rules for spelling and

grammar in writing assignments (Carter and Harper 290). As with calculators in math, students

willingly and heavily rely on these tools so that they do not have to work as hard at concepts that

they have a difficult time understanding. If given a shortcut rather than the hard way, the shortcut

will be chosen every time, its just human nature. It is in this nature that we are losing our writing

ability because it is undermining students attention and understanding of the basic writing

principles (Purcell 36). These students are especially at harm by the use of these programs,

believes Neal, because it farther takes away their capacity of being able to pinpoint errors the

program has made such as false positives and unmarked negatives (65-66). No technology

is perfect, it makes mistakes as well. However, because students lack the foundation taken away

from them by their reliance on word processors and spell check, they blindly rely on these

programs to tell them what is or what is not correct never realizing the mistakes it has made.

However, the reasons for this decline does not rest on students

shoulders alone, but also within the teachers. The overall inflation of grades
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has many students falsely believing that their writing is acceptable rather

than needing improvement. Although grade inflation itself has many causes

to it such as time constrictions, too many students, and decline in overall

grading standards, it has nonetheless been a factor in the decline that

cannot be ignored. Not only does grade inflation happen across all levels of

schooling, but at the national level as well. The decision to recenter the SAT

scoring scale in 1994 gave an average inflation of 80 points per test in an

effort to mask the increasing number of scores below average (Carter and

Harper 288). Although the attempt was made, its effect was not supported as

the verbal SAT scores have fallen to the lowest on record in 2001 according

to journalist Sam Blumenfeld.

Another cause resting with teachers is the overall change in testing

style. Increasingly today, teachers use the faster, easier method of multiple

choice tests over the slower grading process of short-answer or essay

questions. This shift of moving from questions that required students to give

written answers to prove their understanding to standardized tests has

ultimately resulted in less grading on the students ability to write effective

responses and instead places emphasis in their ability to recall short bits of

information (Carter and Harper 287). Teachers who do continue to use

written tests, as well as state mandated tests such as the S.T.A.R, often use a

machine grading system for the essay portion instead of taking the time to

evaluate and provide feedback. Neal believes that this has resulted in

students focusing more on satisfying what specific indicators and key words
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the machine picks up on, rather than writing to convey a message or

meaning (71-73).

Although there are many causes to share the blame, it would be

illogical to think this problem could simply be eradicated with an easy

solution as technology continues to grow in our daily lives with no signs of

slowing down. In fact, some even believe that there is no solution, but rather

only ways to slow the decline.

Methods to reduce the decline in writing skills

One such way would be to increase the intensity of freshman writing

courses. All freshmen are required to take the standard composition class,

however, because this is true, it may be defeating its purpose. With students

of all ability levels placed in a catch-all class, the instructors are often forced

to choose curriculum that would be manageable by the weakest of students

leaving the more skilled individuals rusting in their abilities that are not being

challenged. Increasing the overall intensity not only would challenge the

weaker students to sharpen their skills, but also engage students of higher

writing ability.

Another potential method is to reduce the size of freshmen

composition classes. In fact, according to the Conference of College

Composition and Communication (CCCC), freshmen writing classes should be

restricted to only 15 to 20 students per class with instructors only

maintaining an overall number of 45 to 60 students throughout all their

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classes (qtd. in Carter and Harper 292). When instructors are tasked with

grading thirty or more papers for a single class, the feedback is significantly

reduced or eliminated completely by the use of machine grading. This results

in the overall inflation of grades because the instructors simply do not have

the time to go over each paper individually. Reducing class size would not

only benefit the students in terms of writing ability but also benefit the

professors. If class size were reduced, professors would have more time and

willingness to go over students essays individually and provide crucial

feedback in areas students need to improve in.

Yet another technique would be to change the way technology is used

in schools by increasing the training teachers receive in regards to

incorporating technology in the classroom. A study performed by Purcell

found that teachers personally believe that a more structured and

comprehensive approach for using technology in schools would benefit them

as well as the students (63). Many of todays teachers did not grow up

surrounded by technology as their students did and although they may have

a better understanding of how it can negatively affect writing, have a difficult

time using it appropriately in the classroom without it fully taking over much

to the joy of students.

A final strategy to be offered is to raise awareness of the issue at hand.

As stated previously those most affected by something are often the most

blind to its occurrences and no exception was made in terms of students and

their writing abilities. Many students today simply do not recognize the
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negative effects technology has had, but only the positive benefits it has

provided. By raising awareness of the problem at hand, it will show students

that not only is it a useful tool when used correctly, but the many ways its

use has been abused and unknowingly tarnishing their writing capabilities.

Best method to reduce the decline in writing skills

The simplest method to implement towards reducing the decline in

writing skills would be to simply raise awareness of the decline. A survey I

conducted at Tarleton State University (see appendix) found that ninety

percent of students surveyed believed that technology has had only positive

benefits in the academic community, overall writing ability, and in helping

students recognize mistakes made with the help of word processors, while

only seventeen percent responded with the belief that the use of tech speak

has negatively impacted writing skills and that the academic environment

has become too dependent on technology (Blakeley). Increasing awareness

to these students and others is the easiest and least costly method available,

as there are a wide variety of ways this could be accomplished such as

posters, information sessions, and even using the technology itself so that

the information too becomes unavoidable.

Other methods previously stated each has a serious drawback keeping

them from being easily implemented. To start, increasing the intensity of

freshman composition courses and reducing class size, while a good idea,

would impede more on instructors time that they already lack to grade
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additional and more difficult assignments. Another drawback to reducing

class size is the decrease in the amount of students the university could

administer per semester as a decrease in class size would mean an increase

in the amount of classes needed in an already busy schedule. Although

greatly needed, changing the way instructors are trained for technology in

the classroom would be a tireless effort as technology is constantly

changing. By the time the instructors are well versed on a new program, it

will have been replaced by another in an never-ending cycle.

The overall decline of writing skills in todays digital society is a hidden

problem society has been faced with for several years. Although many

methods could be used to slow this decline, the easiest method would be to

increase awareness of the decline. Without an active effort in this, writing

ability will continue to deteriorate as technology becomes more and more

involved in daily life.

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Notes

1
This table is a combination of three separate tables on pages four, six, and nine from

Madden.

2
Although the quoted material is specifically stated in Purcells report, the idea of the

acceptance of informal styles hurting writing skills is also stated in Lenhart and Carter.
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Appendix

1. What is your grade classification?

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Graduate Student
2. How old are you?
17-19 20-25 26-30 31+
3. Are you a part time (less than 15 credit hours per semester) or full time student living on

or off campus?
Part time; on Full time; on Part time; off Full time;

off
4. What is your gender?
Male Female
5. Which of the following devices do you have daily access to? (Check all that apply)
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Computer Smartphone Tablet

Television
6. How many hours do you spend on the computer per week?
0-2 hours 3-5 hours 6-8 hours

9+ hours
7. Which of the following activities do you use the computer for? (check all that apply)
School assignments Work Social Media Internet access
8. How many hours do you spend using a cell phone per week?
0-2 hours 3-5 hours 6-8 hours

9+ hours
9. Which of the following activities do you use a cell phone for? (Check all that apply)

Calling Messaging Social Media Internet

access

10. How many hours do you spend on social media per week?

0-2 hours 3-5 hours 6-8 hours

9+ hours

11. How often do you participate in the use of tech-speak while using technology? (The use

of abbreviations such as Lol, omg, h8, l8r etc.)

Always Often Sometimes Never
12. Have you ever used tech-speak in a formal writing assignment?
Yes No Unsure
13. Which of the following do you use most often to complete writing assignments?

Computer Writing by hand Both

14. How often do you complete writing assignments longer than a paragraph by hand?
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Always Often Sometimes

Never
15. How do you believe technology has affected the academic environment overall?
Positively Negatively Mixed views

Unsure
16. How do you believe technology has affected the academic environment in terms of

overall writing capability (correct use of spelling and grammatical conventions etc.)?
Positively Negatively Mixed view

Unsure
17. How do you believe the use of word processors and spell check has affected students

ability to recognize writing mistakes on their own?

Positively Negatively Mixed View

Unsure
18. How do you believe the use of tech-speak has affected students overall writing?
Positively Negatively Mixed View

Unsure
19. Do you believe the academic environment has become too dependent on technology?
Yes No Unsure
20. Do you believe technology should be used in the classroom?
Yes No Unsure

Works cited

Blakeley, Lisa. Technology Use Survey. Unpuplished Survey. 4 April 2015.

Blumenfeld, Sam. SAT Scores HIT Rock Bottom. New American Magazine. New American

Mag., 16 Sep. 2011. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Carter, Michael J., and Heather Harper. Student Writing: Startegies to Reverse Ongoing

Decline. Academic Questions 26.3 (2013): 285-95. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

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Dansieh, Solomon Ali. SMS Texting and its Potential Impacts on Students Written

Communication Skills. International Journal of English Linguistics 1.2 (2011): 222-29.

Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Lenhart, Amanda, Sousan Arafeh, Aaron Smith, and Alexandra Rankin Macgill. Writing,

Technology and Teens. Pew Research Center. 24 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Mar. 2015.

Madden, Mary, Amanda Lenhart, Maeve Duggan, Sandra Cortesi, and Urs Gasser. Teens and

Technology 2013. Pew Research Center. 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

Neal, Michael R. Writing Assessment and the Revolution in Digital Texts. New York: Teachers

College. Print.

Purcell, Kirsiten, Judy Buchanan and Linda Friedrich. The Impact of Digital Tools on Student

Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools. Pew Research Center. 16 July 2013.

Web. 22 Mar. 2015.

Tucker, Patrick. Hooked Up or Just Hooked. Futurist. Mar.-Apr. 2009: 16-17. Web.