THE IMPACT OF TEXT MESSAGING ON THE ACQUISITION OF STANDARD ENGLISH WRITING IN TANZANIA: A STUDY OF HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS IN DODOMA MUNICIPALITY
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Abstract
Text messages also referred to as “text messaging” or “texting” have become the preferred mode of interpersonal communication among young people at the turn of the 20thCentury(It is in the 21stCentury that SMS has become popular among young people). This study is aimed at investigating the impact of SMS/text messages on the acquisition of Standard English writing in Tanzania. The general objective of this particular study was to explore the distinctive linguistic features of text messages used by university undergraduate students and their impact on the acquisition of Standard English writing at higher learning institution in Tanzania. In carrying out this study, Communication Accommodation Theory by Giles (1987) was applied and data was collected through questionnaires, telephone survey and documentary review. Data based on questionnaires was analyzed through SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Basically the study employed both qualitative approach and quantitative approach. The findings of this study clearly show that text messaging is characterized by both standard and non standard language, though non standard language seems to be the greatest feature of students’ text messages.
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References
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