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Text messaging may help childrens' development

Research from Coventry University, where 88 children aged between 10 and 12 were studied to understand the impact of text messaging and text speak on their language skills.
They found that the use of so-called "textisms" could be having a positive impact on reading development. The study is published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.
Use of textisms is not only positively associated with word reading ability, but it may be contributing to reading development and interpretation.
Children involved in the study were given 10 scenarios and asked to write about them using text messages. The textisms were split into categories, including shortenings, contractions, acronyms, symbols and non-conventional spellings, and analysed for their use of language alongside more traditional schoolwork.
Texting is likely to be an important part of a child's learning development, and we tend to get better at things that we do for fun. The study found no evidence of a detrimental effect of text speak on conventional spelling.
Other reports have produced similar results. Research from the University of Toronto into how teenagers use instant messaging found that instant messaging had a positive effect on their command of language.

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