Does Texting Affect Writing? By Michaela Cullington Essay

The essay discusses the effect of texting on the formal writing skills of teenagers. The author outlines various scholars to relate to each other. There are those who criticize texting for it negatively impact on the writing skills, those believing that texting affects students writing abilities positively and the ones that think the two are not related in any way. Cullington herself is a student as she wrote the essay making her a subject in the whole issue. In her opinion, the writer believes that texting does not in any way affect the writing skills of the students. The author went ahead and gave an example by herself by declaring that she is also a texter (Cullington, 370). According to Cullington, she remains confident in both her writing and spelling skills and has never noticed any adverse change in her English despite her texting habit. After researching her former teachers and some students plus her view, the writer concludes.

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The arguments of the writer appear relevant since texting has become common in the temporary society. Currently, any person that owns a phone is in one way or another affected by texting making him/her the author's audience. In the essay, Cullington has focused majorly on teenagers both in college and high since texting has become their major mode of communication. She surveyed seven students and interviewed two of her former English teachers to give precise information on how texting impacts on the students' performances. Her readers are therefore able to join the conversation and get them to think about it after reading.

Cullington presents some logic in the article by demonstrating how she understands the complexity of the issue at hand. The author notes the pros and cons of texting. She starts by outlining how the use of abbreviations in texts affects the writing skills of the students. She gives an example of "cuz" that usually stands for "because". The author also refers to Jacque Ream's argument that most students cannot usually portray emotions while writing since they are used to short and simple texts (Cullington, 362). She then counters these by citing David Crystal's opinion that texting enables people to summarize and express themselves concisely in writing. Crystal even went ahead and explained that people could easily sharpen their diplomatic skills through texting since this practice gives them enough time to formulate and express their thoughts carefully (Cullington, 364). After examining the opposition that exists in this matter, Cullington then acknowledges that none of the parties will agree with her since her view is entirely different from both sides.

The use of different articles to help put her view clear also helped her establish logic in this essay. She cited scholars with opposing views regarding texting before she could conclude. Articles from writers like Dennis Baron, an English and linguistics professor; Jacquie Ream, a former teacher and author of K.I.S.S.-Keep It Short and Simple; USA Today and David Crystal who has authored and edited more than 100 books were cited in the essay.

Following the credible source that the writer used in the article, it is evidence enough to ascertain the credibility of the essay. Cullington drew information from the articles written by famous and well-known authors. She went ahead to convince the readers by pointing out that even herself she is a "frequent texter". The writer explains to the audience that in a month both her received and sent texts to add up to 6400, but she rarely uses abbreviations and acronyms in her texts (Cullington 370). Her spelling and writing skills remain perfect despite the number of texts she exchanges with friends and family members. Surveying her student friends as well as interviewing her two former teachers also shows the credibility of the essay. The readers can get the teachers' and students' opinions regarding the effect of texting on learners since they are the primary subjects. For the few students she surveyed, they all believe that abbreviations or slang language are not acceptable in formal writings (Cullington, 369). All these experiences allow the readers to identify with the writer at a personal level.

The writer employed various rhetorical techniques in writing this essay in an attempt to persuade the audience, but her attitude towards the issue portrays a different picture. The article appears like a standard academic paper without exciting word choices or imagery to make it more appealing to the readers. Since the audience to this article is teenagers, they need beautiful and inspiring words to make them read it up to the end. As it appears, the essay might sound annoying to the readers hence fails to convey the message since not all of them will read it to the end. The author spends most of the paper telling the readers about her views, and she even ends up concluding that the students and the experts see no effect. Cullington is trying to prove her opinions by all means giving little rooms for those who think texting affect students' writing skills. By doing so, she can easily demoralize a person with a contrary opinion to hers hence making more readers keep off her article. As a writer, she should factor in all ideas positively. As a student, Cullington needed to be more passionate about the topic what she does not show in the paper, and that makes the article less attractive to the audience. As it stands, the writer seems to be informing the readers about what she knows but not changing the people's mindset about texting. The author's detachment from the piece as depicted in the essay can turn away the readers. Despite her weaknesses, the writer can blend the logical, current and credible techniques in her write-up what makes her arguments in the paper very useful.

Conclusion

"Does texting affect writing" is a very significant topic in the current society. In as much as the content of this essay may not please all readers, a perfect number of audience that takes thing positively will find it very helpful. Currently, the elders fail to understand the youths in society following the changes starting from the mode of dressing up to the behavior. Most adults that is parents and some teachers believes that texting impacts on the writing skills of the students what the article discussed thoroughly. The author has provided her audience with detailed information regarding texting, and by reading this paper, one will fully understand it correctly hence decide on what to believe. Cullington has demonstrated logic in her arguments and shown credibility following various sources of information she used.

Work Cited

Cullington, Michaela. "Does Texting Affect Writing?" They Say I Say With Readings (2010): 361-72.