SMS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE USE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Global system for mobile communication (GSM) is a digital telephone system that digitizes and compresses data to assist wireless mobile devices communicate more quickly (Bunt, 2001). GSM is one of the most widely used digital cellular systems, employing narrowband Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to support up to eight concurrent conversations on the same radio frequency (Amos 1999). This kind of communication is far more sophisticated than analog cellular technology (Computer.com/ITNewspaperJan.2002). According to Paul (2014), GSM is the most extensively utilized of the three digital wireless telecommunication systems. It is based on a version of time division multiple access (TDMA) (TDMA, GSM and DMA). In 2007, over 690 mobile networks provided GSM services in 213 countries, accounting for 82.4 percent of all mobile connections worldwide. Globally, there are already more than 2 billion GSM mobile phone subscribers, according to GSM world. By the end of this year (2009), the world's mobile subscriptions are predicted to reach 4.6 billion, according to a recent study by the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) secretary (Softpedia 2009).

One of the platform's aims was to provide advanced services and capabilities across a single network; to do this, the designers included it in the standard and built the architecture on the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) paradigm. (Comptuer.com/ITNewspaper, 2002).

GSM services are a set of standardized applications and features that are available to mobile phone customers worldwide. They are the world's most widely used mobile phone standard. The service's architecture is relatively difficult, since it must be capable of locating a moving phone belonging to the same service anywhere on the planet. Additionally, the GSM standard includes different capabilities for sending digital data. This enables a mobile phone to function similarly to any other computer connected to the Internet, transmitting and receiving data via the Internet protocol (Bunt 2001). Additionally, the mobile device may be linked to a desktop computer, laptop, or Personal digital assistant (PDA) in order to function as a network interface (much like a modem or Ethernet card). The rise of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has squeezed the globe into a global village. GSM increased the speed of global communication.

According to Biscker (2002), a mobile phone provides the following:

Internet Access with Integrated Voice Calls; (separate facilities for transmitting digital data which allows a mobile phone to act like any other computer on the internet, sending and receiving data via the internet protocol), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Circuit Switched Data, Music Player (Mp3), Calendar Calculator Digital Color Services for Camera Short Messages (SMS), MAPS Weather Channel You Tube Encyclopedia Dictionary, Alarm Clock/Light Clock, etc.

The Short Message Service (SMS) language, or textese, is a collective term for the acronyms and slang most often used in mobile phone text messaging. Because the goal of textese is to employ the fewest possible letters to communicate a meaningful message, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are mostly neglected. Textse has been attacked as "wrecking our language" by individuals such as John Humphrey, a Welsh journalist and television reporter. He refers to emoticons and textese as "infuriating" and ultimately lazy behaviors, concluding that "sloppy" habits acquired via the use of textese will result in students' increasing misunderstanding of correct language and punctuation" (Biscker 2002).

Several studies on the impact of GSM/SMS language on university undergraduates have been conducted. A case in point is the 1990 collaboration between the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the British Overseers Administration (ODA). Chiluwa (2009), of Covenant University in Nigeria, also conducted study on the extent to which text messaging influences Christian value beliefs and attitudes in Nigeria. In a similar line, Feuba Wanji Elvis of the University of Yaunde's Department of English conducted an inquiry on the sociolinguistics of mobile phone SMS usage in Cameroon and Nigeria. Additionally, Ezekwesili (2008) examined the effect of GSM/ICT on undergraduate writing. All of these studies discovered detrimental effects of SMS coded language on the English language.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There has been a paradigm shift away from traditional English language writing toward what academics have dubbed GSM/SMS, Internet/e-mail communication technologies (Cross 2012). The issue is determining the effect of GSM/SMS, internet/e-mail communication platforms on English language acquisition.

The fact that English is studied in Nigeria as a second language presents significant difficulties, but the rise of GSM/SMS and e-mail communication systems complicates the process of learning English due to the interference qualities introduced by this new development. Numerous studies have explored the difficulties encountered when English is used as a second language at various degrees of linguistic usage. There is a wealth of research on the phonological and syntactic difficulties encountered by English language learners in second language situations, but growing trends in GSM/SMS and e-mail communication systems add additional aspects to these difficulties (Cross 2012). Although developing trends have generated considerable attention, little research has been conducted on their impact on the structure and general development of the English language among secondary school students. And that is precisely what this effort is intended to do.

While scattered comments may exist, this project is intended to conduct a comprehensive study of sms and english language use in selected secondary schools.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of this study is to examine the impact of sms and English language use in selected secondary schools. Specifically, this study seeks to:

i.          Determine the extent SMS is being used in the study of English language in selected secondary schools.

ii.        Determine whether SMS has influenced the use of English language in selected secondary schools.

iii.      Examine the impact of using SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools.

iv.      Determine whether the use of SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools impacts on academic performance.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

i.          To what extent is SMS being used in the study of English language in selected secondary schools?

ii.        Has SMS influenced the use of English language in selected secondary schools?

iii.      What are the impact of using SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools?

iv.      Does the use of SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools have an impact on academic performance?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The identification of the effect of SMS communication on secondary school students' English language development is significant in the following ways:

i.          It will demonstrate the extent to which the SMS communication system has an effect on students' English performance.

ii.        It will equip teachers with sufficient techniques to meet the massive and evolving demand for information and education among today's youth; it will assist parents in deciphering some text-message abbreviations designed to confound their comprehension of certain contents, such as "CPC," which stands for "Keep Parents Clueless," and will also assist them in monitoring their children's English performance.

iii.      It will assist learners in reining in their excessive use of GSM/SMS, the Internet, and e-mail; and it will enable second language teachers to be aware of the issues faced by students' unbridled reliance on SMS and its detrimental effect on their writing abilities.

iv.      Finally, this study will be beneficial to scholars and researchers as it will serve as an existing material for further studies and future references.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will focus on examining the impact of sms and English language use in selected secondary schools. Specifically, it will focus on determining the extent SMS is being used in the study of English language in selected secondary schools, determining whether SMS has influenced the use of English language in selected secondary school, examining the impact of using SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools and determining whether the use of SMS to teach English language in selected secondary schools impacts on academic performance.

Teachers and students of selected secondary schools in Lokoja, Kogi State will serve as respondents for this study.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The researcher encountered minor obstacles when conducting the study, as with any human endeavor. The significant constraint was the scarcity of literature on the subject due to the nature of the discourse, so the researcher incurred more financial expenses and spent more time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information and in the data collection process, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. Furthermore, the researcher did this investigation alongside other academic activities. Furthermore, the sample size was limited because only a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, therefore the results cannot be generalized to other secondary schools outside the state. Despite the constraints encountered during the research, all elements were minimized in order to provide the best results and make the research effective.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

SMS: SMS is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet, and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text messages. An intermediary service can facilitate a text-to-voice conversion to be sent to landlines.

English Language: English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, originally spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England.