A new form of written - in this case typed - English has emerged in the last few years that really troubles a lot of people: text messaging. Lately, it has been treated as an entirely new phenomenon, when it has its roots in instant messaging on the internet. This form of "written" language uses different grammatical standards and many abbreviations. In many cases, spelling is ignored (so long as the reader can recognize what word is being sent) and verbs are not conjugated. Those of us who prefer more traditional forms of written English fear for the sanctity of our precious language.
To assume that text messaging will "destroy" the English language shows a certain lack of understanding on the part of the person holding this misconception. Texting is still English. The people using this form of "written" English are still communicating in English. To understand what is being typed, they must have a good understanding of syntax and grammar already. They must be able to recognize speech and sentence patterns, to predict accurately what someone is going to say, especially since the words probably won't be typed out. Unfortunately, for many young people, this understanding is so fundamental that they can't access it in any way other than through texting.
With all the abbreviations and acronyms used in typing text messages, texting reads like some sort of code. This is nothing new. In fact, what you are reading now is a code. It is a code that many of us understand because we have been taught this code by the adults and other people we accept as linguistic authorities. This code relates ideas in the English language. So does Morse code, which is a system of sounds transcribed as dots and dashes that represent messages interpreted as recognizable English by those people who understand the code. However, it doesn't sound or look anything like the code I'm currently using.
The use of codes is widespread, from law enforcement agencies to businesses to criminal organizations. Each one uses a code exclusive to it, except maybe in the case of street gangs. Military groups use codes no one else understands so that ideas in English may be communicated without being easily intercepted. Businesses may use codes simply for ease of communication. Even outside of any code, business communication already uses its own grammatical standards, which can be just as strict as those in English classrooms. Criminal organizations developed codes to deliver messages without being found out. In the case of street gangs, spoken and written codes are used not only to deliver messages within each individual gang but also across enemy lines. The codes they use, of course, are not meant to be understood by the general public but only by the intended audience.
If most of use were to pick up an Old English edition of Beowulf, we would swear up and down it was not written in English, when it was. It was written in one of many accepted forms of English used at the time. In fact, what we generally refer to as Old English is actually the West Saxon dialect of Old English. The language was far less uniform during those times than it is today, even with different versions of English appearing more and more within our culture. Only a few years, relatively speaking, after the publication of Beowulf, another version of English appeared: Middle English. While Old English contained much Celtic influence, Middle English reflected the French influence at the time. And if a lack of uniform spelling can undermine English, then it's amazing we still speak it after the spelling atrocities committed during the Middle English period. Modern English appeared during Shakespeare's time, which does not look very "modern" for most of us, though it is much easier to understand - even for all its difficulty - than Middle of Old English. The spoken and written forms of English have changed quite a lot during the existence of the language. Even in the last century, there have been many changes and additions made to our understanding of our language.
If we feel that the English language is being undermined simply because the common, accepted written code is falling out of favor, then we need to turn to our teachers, our advertisers, our television stations, where our young people are going to find examples of written or typed English. Our teachers need to put a stronger effort into teaching traditional grammar and mechanics. Currently, in the state of Georgia, it is frowned upon to teach grammar in "isolation;" that is, to focus only on grammar instead of putting it in the context of some type of literature (hello, all of the greats stretched or broke the precious rules we hold so dear, so why should we put those rules in context just to confuse our students THAT much more?). This standard of English education in Georgia comes out of the state's response to No Child Left Behind, and many other states have adopted the same standard. Since education is a public issue (public education?), a discussion needs to be opened with the local and state boards if we feel they are not doing their jobs. As for advertisers and the news media, if we feel that the youth are not getting a healthy dose of "good" English, there are ways of letting these agencies know in no uncertain terms that it will no longer be tolerated. The word "boycott" comes to mind.
Texting is a new code used to communicate ideas in English accurately and with ease and efficiency through a specific medium and for an almost exclusive audience. The level to which this code is used seems to depend on the age of the user. Teens seem to be the most proficient at texting, while users in their 20's and 30's seem to use it less and less. Part of the prevelance of this code comes from the fact that the establishment does not like it and cannot read it. While I agree that traditional forms of written and spoken English need to be preserved, I also blieve that we all need to understand what is appropriate in different situations.