EFFECTS OF CYBER LANGUAGE ON CORRUPTING VERBAL

AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: A STUDY OF

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES

SABA FAROOQ

ROLL NO: 13913

Faculty of English Language, Literature &

Applied Linguistics

National University of Modern Languages,

Lahore Campus

2017-2019
 1 - Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Internet has emerged as a notable new technology which has spread all over the spheres of

education, business, economics, and other disciplines. Internet has brought new stylistic varieties

of language. So, the way people communicate on social media leads to the new ways used by

students while writing. English as an international language is being used on social media by more

than 80% users. Therefore, online communication through social media has affected English

language in different aspects. For example, spelling and grammar are being highly ignored. Young

generation is using emojis or emoticons to express their feelings. Moreover, students are using

emoticons in their formal writing as well to convey emotions. Language of social media has

become totally different from Standard English Language. These days, social networking has

allowed these communities to develop their own language.

Cyber Language has become an overwhelming modern trend of communication amongst youth.

Due to this new means of communication people are easily able to communicate and exchange

thoughts and ideas. This new writing medium gave birth to cyber language which is becoming more

wide spread in the educational context. Chatting is usually a more synchronous and faster mode of

communication and instant messaging is rapidly replacing the conversational and traditional form

of correspondence. This development has affected sounds, alphabets, vocabulary and symbols to

complex sentences governed by grammatical rules, by adopting the language of instant messaging

with simple syntax, incomplete sentences, and informal structures.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Cyber language is a term used to describe contractions, alternative words, or even symbols and

digits used to convey thoughts in an electronic document. The widespread use of social media has

completely changed the way we communicate with each other. While this communication boom

has been praised for its educational benefits, some argue that a negative effect is beginning to take

hold in our classrooms. Cyber language is suspected of damaging students writing ability in

particular besides excessive usage of slangs and contractions in even formal domains of speaking

as well. Use of letters and numbers to express sound has become a common feature in formal

writing. Excessive use of slang language is also leading towards weak spellings.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

Following are the objectives of the study:

 To find out teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding the role of cyber language

in corrupting verbal and written communication.

 To determine how excessive use of cyber language has affected the formal aspects

of spoken and written language of students.

1.4 Research Questions

Following are the questions of the study:

1. What are teachers’ and students’ perceptions regarding the role of cyber language in

corrupting verbal and written communication?

2. What aspects of English formal language are being changed due to excessive use of cyber

language?
1.5 Significance of the Study

The current study tends to investigate one of the most problematic area of students these days

regarding their formal writing as well as verbal communication. This research highlights the

negative effect of cyber language on students’ writing and oral communication. The present study

throws light on the importance of academic writing in student’s educational journey, and how it is

affected due to extensive use of the cyber language. This study recommends teachers and

curriculum developers to integrate such strategies that will discourage the use of cyber language

in the formal domains of academic writing.

2 - Literature Review

Cyber Language is an informal form of written language used on the Internet characterized by

abbreviations, acronyms, internet slangs, onomatopoeic spellings, letter homophones and

numerical digital expressions. It contains instant-messaging, computer-mediated communication

and all other types of online communications. Internet permits us to follow language change in

vocabulary, grammar, spelling and pronunciation.

Internet has swiftly dived into our lives and concealed almost all the spheres of human activity,

from research to revolution in education to teaching. This so-called electronic language has

aroused great linguistic and psychological interest and pulled more and more consideration of the

linguists and psychologists, who are really apprehensive with its possible influence on language

and psychology in general. Alternative terms for cyber language are: Net speak, Electronic

Communication, Net Discourse, Electronic Discourse and Internet Language.

Jackson (1995) describes that it is the part of our work as an educator to help students to switch

off their informal habits, when they leave the chat room or in other words when they are in their

classroom. Giving a linguist's appraisal of cyber language, Crystal (2001) opines that we are on

the brink of the biggest revolution in language ever, the cyber language, this is how he calls online

language, which is rather an incongruent set of communication methods and types such as e-mail,

chat rooms, Internet Relay Chat, World Wide Web pages, Websites etc. Online language is best

watched as a new species of interaction, a genuine "third medium", which is evolving its own

systematic rules to suit new circumstances (Crystal, 2001). Participants practice all types of

shortened forms simply to combat the limiting conditions of the medium itself.

It is observed that the occurrence of grammatical errors has increased with the increase of time

spent online and text communication. The practice of syntactically-reduced forms: acronyms,

symbols, word clippings are therefore purely for practical reasons. They decrease the time and

effort necessary to communicate. But this informal writing is adversely effecting students’ ability

as they use incorrect spellings, inappropriate grammar, and a lot of punctuation mistakes. Internet

Relay Chat is an antilanguage (as defined by Halliday, 1978) and not the speech of an gigantic

community (sometimes called antisociety) that employs different language varieties for purely

concrete reasons (Stevenson, 2005).

This compressed form of writing is like a havoc on academic writing in the classroom. These

complaints take account of students’ academic papers missing end punctuation and students

overlooking to capitalize first letter of a sentence. Most educators, linguists or researchers have

regarded the influence of cyber language as negative and detrimental towards students’ writing as

they bring their informal language to academic career. Digital technology has become a part and
parcel of students’ life as a mode of communication; however, it may also cause some negative or

damaging effects on students’ ability in the writing component.

The impaired language used through this method of communication can cause derogatory effects

on students’ writing skills, as the impact of cyber language is rather powerful and children are

inclined to absorb it quicker than the formal language. Baron (2001) states that internet has

significantly transformed the manner of people’s communication. The effect of the Internet is

extensive as it covers the manner of how language is converted both locally and globally. Students’

overuse of chat has developed deep and profound effect that the educationalists are concerned

about its impact on students’ writing. Thus, cyber language is destructively affecting students’

writings because they are writing their formal papers in the way they are chatting. So, Internet

language is destructing students’ ability to write formally with using the suitable language and its

correct form.

The language of online communication; Cyber language is extensively used on social media. The

language of internet depends on characteristics of both speech and writing. The key features of

Cyber language which have now been also exercised in classrooms are;

I. The practice of abbreviation and acronyms, e.g. ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing),

IMHO (in my humble opinion) and FYI (for your information).

II. Deliberate spelling errors e.g. sauce (source).

III. The use of word compounds and blends e.g. site for Website and Weblish for web

English.

IV. Least usage of punctuation and capitalizations.

V. The habit of emoticon, e.g. :-) ;-) :-(

VI. The practice of rebus writing, e.g. 2day in place of today, 4u (for you), gr8 (great).
 VII. The elimination of pronoun and the omission of vowels, e.g. whr r u? (Where are you?)

In this type of communication many of the customary rules of grammar and style are

overlooked (Thurlow, 2004).

Some critics have also noticed that the increasing trend of using computer mediated

communication has led to a new words of written language, which seems to be deviant from the

natural form and students try to practice them in classroom. According to Baron (2001) cyber

language comprises of emoticons, flaming, abbreviations, acronyms, different slangs and new

modification on words and sentences. All these type of short forms of language were actually

created to save time and speed up the typing process, however now it has become a trend among

the younger generation. Students also try to use these type of words in their formal writing as for

example bcz, by, and plz. Therefore, Cyber language does actually have detrimental impact on

students’ writing ability. Students who frequently use the shortened and unsatisfactory truncated

method of writing online, tend to practice the same method during formal writing in the classroom

as well. According to Lee (2002), many teachers say that homework are being written with

shortened words, inappropriate capitalization and punctuation, and characters like @, $ and &.

Jovanovix (2013) states that many teachers are aware of the existence of cyber language in

language classrooms, and it also has changed student’s writing skills as many tend to use them

accidently in their academic writing. Stop it may be expressed as STOP IT and John’s book as

Johns book, apostrophes and hyphen can be dropped easily. Onomatopoeic spellings are also

widely used to imitate the natural sounds on internet e.g., hahahhaha.

Due to inordinate use of cyber language on social media students, consciously or unconsciously

try to exercise them in classroom as they make many spellings mistakes, for example sauce for

source. They use inappropriate grammar and make incomplete sentences as they are habitual of
using all these when they are online. O’ Connor (2005) mentions that cyber language transgresses

the rules of proper English in the aspects of capitalization, punctuation and sentence structure. The

levels of written work produced in the classroom are at times not up to the formal standard of

English due to the usage of improper abbreviations.

Today there is a widespread belief among many linguists that the Internet has a negative impact

on the future of language, and that it would lead to a deterioration of standard. Some would even

attribute this decline of standard formal English to the increase in usage of electronic

communication. There was great condemnation of this style by the mass media as well as

educationists, who expressed that this represents diminishing literacy or linguistic abilities.

3 - Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The approach that is used fir this study is quantitative in nature. The present study discusses the

relationship between two variables chatting and student’s academic writings. Questionnaires were

administered on respondents to gather their perceptions regarding the use of Cyber Language on

corrupting verbal and written communication.

3.2 Population

The population of current study includes all the teachers and students from English department at

National University of Modern Languages, Lahore campus.

3.3 Sample

Twenty teachers and fifty students from MA English were selected as a sample for the current

study by adopting convenient sampling technique. Data collection was done by administering

questionnaire on the selected sample of 3rd and 4th semester and result have been generalized to

the population.

3.4 Delimitation

This study was conducted only with teachers and students of MA English at NUML Lahore,

Campus and only questionnaires were used to collect data.

3.5 Research Instrument

In this study, the tool of research is questionnaire. Two questionnaires were utilized in order to

collect data from the selected sample of students and teachers. The questionnaire contained

statements framed on likert scale with five options.

3.6 Procedure

Data was analyzed quantitatively in the form of percentages presented in tabulated forms.

Questionnaire were floated on fifty students and twenty teachers from M.A English to get unbiased

and objective viewpoints. The data was analyzed statistically. The data was collected by the

researcher herself. Simple and clear statements were used to avoid any uncertainty.
 4 - Data Analysis

The data collected through the questionnaires framed on likert scale was analyzed quantitatively.

The researcher distributed questionnaires amongst the students and teachers of MA English 3rd and

4th semesters. Fifty students and twenty teachers responded the questionnaires. The following

questionnaires were utilized to get their perceptions about the use of Cyber language in formal

context.

4.1 Analysis of the Questionnaires for students

Dear Student,

Assalam-O-Alaikum,

I am the student of MA English Literature & Linguistics, at National University of Modern

Languages. I am conducting research on Effects of Cyber Language on Corrupting Verbal and

Written Communication: A Study of Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives. You are requested

to fill in the following questionnaire. I will ensure you that your data will be kept confidential and

will be used for research purpose only. Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated.

Regards,

Researcher

I. Name: ________________

II. Discipline: _____________

III. Age: __________________

IV. Gender: ________________

 Questions Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
. t1. I 1. I use social media on daily basis. 52% 30% 10% 6% 2%

2. English Language is most frequently used 36% 48% 12% 4% 0%

language on social media.
3. I think students don’t follow grammatical rules 54% 30% 10% 4% 2%
while using social media / chatting online.
4. I assume there is no compulsion on using 22% 50% 24% 4% 0%
informal language on social media and people use
it extensively.
5. Excessive use of Cyber language on social 48% 38% 6% 6% 2%
media is infecting written proficiency of L2
learners speedily.
6. Use of Cyber language on social media is 22% 50% 20% 6% 2%
promoting the use of informal language in
academic writing as well.
7. Students are using emoticons in their formal 8% 48% 28% 16% 0%
writing as well to convey emotions.
8. Excessive use of Cyber language on social 26% 42% 18% 10% 4%
media has negatively affected the Standard
English Language.
9. Use of abbreviations is quite common on social 48% 42% 6% 2% 2%
media (for example LOL, OMG, IMHO, CU).
10. Use of informal language letters to express 30% 56% 10% 2% 2%
sound has become common among youngsters (c
instead of See, n instead of And) on social media.
11. The sound expression is now widely used on 20% 52% 24% 2% 2%
internet language (2day instead of Today and gr8
instead of Great).
12. I understand the terms used on internet very 14% 46% 16% 24% 0%
well and I personally use them as well.
13. I think academic writing is different from 64% 22% 4% 8% 2%
Cyber language.
14. Word clipping, blending, compounding, and 40% 36% 12% 10% 2%
shortening of spellings are common features of
internet language.
15. Acronyms, abbreviation, slang, and shortcuts 22% 38% 32% 6% 2%
are also used in formal writings whether
intentionally or unintentionally.
16. I often write informal language, misspelled 2% 32% 28% 22% 16%
words, contractions, and slang language in my
academic writing unintentionally.
17. I believe that internet language has affected 16% 24% 14% 30% 16%
my academic writing in various ways.
18. I think internet slang should be banned in 48% 28% 8% 12% 4%
formal writing.
19. Academic vocabulary of formal English 26% 46% 20% 6% 2%
Language is also being affected by excessive use
of internet language during online
communication.
20. Internet should have access to the spelling, 46% 44% 6% 4% 0%
checkers and grammatical errors (punctuation,
grammar, syntax).

The statistical analysis of student's questionnaire provides clear evidences that Cyber language has

an adverse effect on the usage of English language. Almost 52% students agreed that they use

social media on daily basis. 54% students strongly agreed that grammatical rules are not followed

on social media. About 64% students strongly agreed with the statement that their academic
writing is different from Cyber language. 38% students agreed that the most prominent features of

Cyber language are acronyms and abbreviations, and they used them in formal writing as well.

About 32% students agreed that they often write informal language, misspelled words in their

academic writing while 28% students show neutral agreement. About 48% students agreed that

internet slang should be banned while12% students show disagreement. 44% students agreed while

46% students strongly agreed that internet should have an access to the spelling checkers and

grammatical errors.

4.2 Analysis of the Questionnaire for teachers

Respected Sir / Madam,

Assalam-O-Alaikum,

I am the student of MA English Literature & Linguistics, at National University of Modern

Languages. I am conducting research on Effects of Cyber Language on Corrupting Verbal and

Written Communication: A Study of Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives. You are requested

to fill in the following questionnaire. I will ensure you that your data will be kept confidential and

will be used for research purpose only. Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated.

Regards,

Researcher

I. Name: ________________________

II. Designation: ___________________

III. Commanding Subject: ____________

IV. Experience: _________ years

 Questions Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
1. Cyber language has become more prominent in 40% 55% 5% 0% 0%
online communication.
2. I believe that appropriate spellings, punctuations 45% 50% 5% 0% 0%
and formal language are not being used on social
media during online chatting.
3. Students don’t follow grammatical rules and 45% 45% 10% 0% 0%
regulation while using social media and this affects
their formal writings as well.
4. Students don’t follow grammatical rules while 45% 45% 10% 0% 0%
using social media / chatting online.
5. Students who frequently use Cyber language 45% 40% 15% 0% 0%
online, tend to practice the same method during
formal writing in classroom as well.
6. All types of shortenings, abbreviations, 25% 60% 5% 10% 0%
acronyms, digital expressions, and emoticons were
actually created to save time but now it has become
a trend among youngsters.
7. Cyber language is now achieving popularity in 35% 50% 15% 0% 0%
the formal context as well.
8. Internet has no strict policy regarding the use of 40% 50% 5% 5% 0%
formal language.
9. Acronyms and abbreviations are more used than 30% 50% 10% 10% 0%
other forms of cyber language.
10. Communication is possible on social media 50% 45% 5% 0% 0%
even with the use of accurate grammar and
spellings.
11. Students are less conscious about use of 40% 50% 10% 0% 0%
informal language in their writings because of
spending more time on internet and doing online
communication.
12. Excessive use of informal language during 30% 60% 10% 0% 0%
online communication has diminished the use of
punctuation in formal writing.
13. I often experience inappropriate and informal 35% 50% 15% 0% 0%
language with weak and faulty grammar in writings
of my students.
14. Students do not bother to capitalize the first 30% 50% 10% 10% 0%
letter of a sentence or they do not put hyphen and
apostrophe where they are needed (for example E-
mail → email, Ali’s book → Alis book).
15. Students use very much casual and non- 60% 30% 5% 5% 0%
academic vocabulary while texting.
16. Word clipping, blending, compounding, and 25% 50% 15% 10% 0%
shortening of spellings are common features of
internet language.
17. Excessive use of Cyber language on social 35% 55% 5% 5% 0%
media is infecting written proficiency of L2
learners speedily.
18. I have noticed changes in academic writings of 20% 70% 5% 5% 0%
students since instant messaging and computer
mediated communication become popular.
19. Wrong spellings and faulty sentence structure 25% 60% 10% 5% 0%
is very common in student’s writings after the
advent of Cyber language.
20. Internet slang should be banned in formal 45% 30% 15% 0% 10%
writing.
The statistical analysis of data collected from teachers' advocate similar results, about 45%

strongly agreed that grammatical rules and regulations are not followed by students while using

social media and this has negative impact on their formal writing as well. About 50% of the sample

agreed that students often practice informal and inappropriate language with weak and faulty

grammar in academic writings. About 60% of the selected sample show strong agreement that

students use very much casual and non-academic vocabulary while texting. The results become

worst when 70% teachers strongly agreed with the argument that they have noticed changes in

academic writings of students since Cyber language became popular. 60% teachers agreed that

wrong spellings and faulty sentence structure is very common in student's writings after the advent

of Cyber language. 45% teachers included in the sample show strong agreement that internet slang

should be banned in formal writing while 15% show neutral agreement and 10% show strong

disagreement.

5 - Conclusion

5.1 Findings

 Most of the students visit different social websites (fb, Insta, Tweeter & Google etc.)

 Excessive use of cyber language is infecting written proficiency of L2 learner speedily.

 Use of different forms of cyber language on texting and messaging is promoting informal

conversation.

 Excessive use of Internet has promoted cyber language which in turn, has minimized the

use of punctuation in formal writing.

 Acronyms and Abbreviations are quite common on internet (for example; OMG: Oh my

God, LOL: Laughing out Loudly).

  It was found that students who tend to visit social sites on daily basis, write inappropriate

language, misspelled / shortened spelled words and slang language in their academic

writing unintentionally.

 Internet has no strict policy regarding the correct use of language.

 Grammatical regulations and language rules are mistreated on Internet.

 Most of the internet users have very poor and weak grammar and they tend to use faulty

grammar in academic writing as well.

5.2 Recommendations

 Internet must have strict policy regarding the appropriate use of language.

 Students must follow the rules and regulations of language and grammar while texting and

using social media.

 Using sounds, acronyms and abbreviations should be discouraged on computer mediated

communication and instant messaging.

 Slang language should be repressed on Internet.

 Use of formal language should be promoted on social sites.

 Learners should distinguish between formal and informal expression, so that they may be

used in formal academic writings.

 Teachers should give strong feedback against the use of informal writing in the classroom.

 Appropriate and correct spellings should be used by students. Students’ spelling retention

can be enhanced by means of ‘Key word method’.

 Students should focus on the accuracy of spellings rather than only conveying their

messages.
  Spellings and grammar rules should be reviewed by the teacher so as to avoid writing

mistakes becoming permanent.

5.3 Concluding Remarks

English language is amalgamation of different languages as there are many borrowed words from

numerous languages over centuries .The spellings of English words are already complex and

multifarious by having silent sounds and multi-syllabic pattern. Cyber language has become root

cause to make them more confusing and also increased the complexity of spellings in order to

learn. There is no particular course related to the improvement of grammatical rules, spelling

mistakes and pronunciation. Therefore, the negative impact of cyber language is increasing day by

day.

One of the astonishing aspect of this study is the fact that Cyber language is an amalgamation of

oral and written manifestation. It has swiftly encapsulated the fidelity of English spellings and

grammar among students. The statistic of this research regarding the deterioration in spelling as

well as grammatical aspect reflects extensive use of Cyber language.

This research shows that students do not know how slowly and swiftly they are intoxicated by

Cyber language. It is hoped that by recommending different strategies, language and grammatical

errors including spelling mistakes will surely decrease. To sum up, there are multiple reasons for

change in standard and formal writings of students and Cyber language is one of them.