Het klinkt misschien verbazend, maar uit het onderzoek van psychologen Dr Nenagh Kemp en Catherine Bushnell ( University of Tasmania) blijkt dat sms-en wel eens een positieve invloed op de taalvaardigheid zou kunnen hebben.

Abstract van deze studie:

This study investigated 10- to 12-year-old Australian children’s text-messaging practices and their relationship to traditional spelling ability. Of the 227 children tested, 82% reported sending textmessages; a median of 5 per day. Use of predictive and multi-press entry methods was roughly equal. Children produced a wide range of text-message abbreviations (textisms) (M = 53%) when asked to rewrite a list of 30 conventionally-spelt words as they would in a text-message to a friend. The proportion of textisms produced was significantly positively correlated with general spelling ability, which fits with previous findings of positive relationships between children’s textism use and literacy.

Download hier de volledige studie.