Juan Dela Cruz Loves To Text
Below is my major paper for my English subject this semester, I’m a repeater okay. It centers about shortcut texting here in the Philippines. Just want to share it here; in fact, I’ve already shared it on my blog. Hope you like it. You may comment on it if you want: say something about my topic, point out some mistakes I’ve made, praise or disagree to it, etc. Well, someone already commented that my “supposed-to-be” introduction before the major topic was very long, and I apologize for that. Hehe.
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Juan Dela Cruz Loves to Text
Written by: Nikko Feliz
Text messaging, or more widely known as texting, is a way of sending a message from one cellular phone to another. It is considered as the best way to keep in touch with distant friends and relatives. It is now part of the Filipino’s daily life as it became the standard mode of communication in the Philippines because of its affordability. One text message only costs one peso while a call may charge you more than five pesos. Since it has a cheaper rate, most Filipinos, especially those who belong to the lower class prefer texting.
Philippines, in spite of being a third world country and having a poor economy, is said to be the “Text Capital of the World”. Reports say that there are 1.39 billion text messages from a subscriber base of 50 million here in the Philippines. The country racks up more text messages in a day – about 18 million – than all of Western Europe. Texting even helped shape the country’s political situation. Back in the late 1990s, it was used as a way to mobilize Filipinos to join the rally against President Estrada. For the first time in Philippine history, texting was recognized as a vital tool for political mobilization (Zpryme: Emerging Markets Group, 2008).
The rise of shortcut texting has created a whole new culture in the country. Shortcut texting is a manner of creating text messages through abbreviating words, removing several letters especially vowels, or substituting some syllables to numbers that are homonymous. By this manner, we look into the benefits it may bring us; however, we are still aware of the disadvantages that may affect the Filipino society. For the advantages, a lot of people agree that it is fast and saves time and effort. One speech teacher said that it enhances the creative skills of people when they try to think of ways to abbreviate or shorten words. Thus, it can also help people not only in texting, but also in writing, particularly whenever they have to take down dictations. However, he observed that ‘shortcutting’ could erode or stunt the vocabulary of the students because they could soon start using simple words to express themselves. Peter Fernandez, an information technology professor at the Asian Institute of Management, attributed the cradle of this culture to something that anyone can use, even people who don’t know how to spell properly. On the other hand, he said that it might affect the written form of communicating in English and added that the language becomes ugly. Paul Anthony Villegas, an Ateneo De Manila high school teacher, expressed his concern that if this becomes habitual and fixed in a person’s mentality; he might find it difficult to write better compositions, formal letters, or documents and reports in an increasingly interdependent and fiercely competitive global economy. Villegas has seen the effect of what kind of language is used in texting on the essays of some of his students (Cabagnot, 2000).
This texting phenomenon has been influencing the youth, especially the students. They admit that convenience is the number one reason for doing so. Other reasons that were given is the ‘in’ thing or fad, or that they do not know how to spell the words. Nevertheless, studies show that texting doesn’t affect a college student’s language competencies, such as grammar and spelling. De La Salle University-Manila’s Department of English and Applied Linguistics Assistant Professor Nudred Rojo-Laurilla suggested that effects of texting on a student’s competencies may be seen on elementary and high school students who are just beginning to develop language and communication skills (Cruz, 2002).
Shortcut texting may not be easily changed since it already became part of our culture, but ways on how to gradually reduce the use of this behavior are now on their moves. Smart Communications made an advertisement concerning its effects particularly on having wrong spellings. Some schools start to give deductions on a student’s grade if he will be caught using the texting language on his essays and compositions. The use of cellphones in classes has also been banned. Selwyn Clyde Alojipan of Mosaic Communications and Fernandez both believed that since this phenomenon is technology-driven, it would be also technology that will correct this and will provide solutions. Yet, Alojipan opined that feared spelling and grammar breakdown will not result to the collapse of the Filipino society (Cabagnot, 2000).
