Comment and Response to Texting and Writing by Michaela Cullington
Comment and Response to Texting and Writing by Michaela Cullington After reading Texting and Writing, by Michaela Cullington, I do not agree with many of her viewpoints. Cullington argues that texting does not affect a students writing. Textspeak, the abbreviation and shortening of words like used when writing a text message, does affect the way a student writes because they use the abbreviations, and their writings tend to lack punctuation. When a writer uses excessive abbreviations on a regular basis they can get stuck in the writer’s head causing them to use them in all of their writings. Cullington did make good points of her own opinion on texting and writing in her piece, but I disagree with her and believe that texting and textspeak can hinder a students writing. Texting may be fun and time saving with friends, but is looked down upon by many teachers. School papers should have correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Textspeak does not require correct spelling, many smart-phones will autocorrect the spelling, or the writer abbreviates the words. Grammar is not necessarily correct all the time because text messages are shortened as much as possible, and capital letters are disregarded to save time and keep messages short. Many text messages do not have punctuation because writers use fragment sentences and pay no attention to proper commas, semicolons, question marks and other punctuation marks. Text messages do not require the same standards as academic papers do. Michaela Cullinton used evidences from sources like USA Today, Jacquie Ream and Naomi Baron whom all agree that texting has a negative affect on academic writing. Jacquie Ream was a teacher and author of K.I.S.S.-Keep it Short and Simple. In this book she wrote, “We have a whole generation being raised without communication skills.” I agree with Ream, our generation does not use the same communication that we used in past centuries. People of all age know what a text message, email, or