Text talk can cause problems, prof

   By KATELYN FARRIS

            Texting is a way of staying in touch with friends and using text talk makes that easier.

            And that isn’t always a bad thing UPEI, linguistics professor Anne Furlong says.

 But text talk, the shorthand many use online, may reinforce difficulties a person already has, Furlong said.

            “Say a person has trouble with using commas, punctuation marks etc. texting is more likely to reinforce these difficulties.”

            Texting is mostly about the need to socialize, Furlong said.

            “I remember this one time when a friend of mine and myself were traveling on a train. She had a lot more luggage, so we had to sit on opposite sides of the train. I started to text her just to see the look on her face.”

            If you’re just joking around and chatting with your friends, you’re more likely to use text talk, Furlong said.

            “However, when you’re communicating something important, you tend to use  the proper English terms.”

            The majority of people text because it makes things easier, Furlong said.

            “People text for the fun of it. It also simplifies your relationship with another.”

            Mike Turner, editor of Summerside’s the Journal Pioneer, said when text talk  is used in email, it is not a problem.

            “In articles, however, I believe it would affect people’s proper English.”

            It’s not something that is going to help people, Turner said.

            “It doesn’t give people good language skills. It doesn’t look good on things like resumes either. It deters a person when they see a resume covered in net speak.”