Abstract:
The 21st century has brought with it many new and efficient technological advances in
the area of communications; most notable are the Internet (CMC) and mobile telephones
(SMS). The youth of this generation has advanced communications through various
media, although the most popular methods of choice have been text messaging via
cellular phones and chatting on the Internet. However, there has been some debate
about whether this "new" communication is negatively affecting students' academic
writing. This study seeks to discover whether or not Lebanese university students’
constant use of chatting and text language (textisms) has in any way affected their
academic essay writing assignments in one English medium university in Lebanon.
Through content analysis of academic essays and questionnaires from both students and
instructors, findings indicate that texting does not negatively affect English academic
writing, since students can differentiate between the appropriateness of using textisms
and academic English when writing essays. Recommendations for teaching and
learning and future research have been made.
