2B OR NOT 2B; Text craze spilling over into schools and exams.

Byline: LINDSAY CLYDESDALE

MOBILE phone text messaging is breeding a new generation of classroom illiterates, education experts warned yesterday.

Pupils are increasingly using the cult shorthand instead of proper spelling as their first choice written language.

An English teacher at one of Scotland's leading state secondary schools was "shocked" to discover that a second- year pupil had written an entire essay in text message abbreviations and symbols.

She said: "I could not believe what I was seeing.

"The page was riddled with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate.

"When I challenged the pupil, she told me that was how she preferred to write because she found it easier than standard English."

Scotland has more than 3.5million mobile phone users - half of them teenagers - and between them they send nearly four million text messages every day.

Experts claim the cult of text messaging is sheer laziness.

They warn it threatens to destroy English grammar among a generation of youngsters already struggling to master basic spelling and sentence construction.

Children, some of them as young as seven, have been known to send up to 60 text messages in a 24- hour period, using a shorthand that is gaining universal recognition and is now available in books and on websites.

Fears over the impact text messaging is having on written English follows a study which revealed that nearly half of students training to become teachers at Scottish universities had a poor grasp of rudimentary grammar and spelling.

Judith Gillespie, development manager at the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said there was no doubt that a marked decline in grammar and written language in schools was partly linked to the craze for text messaging.

She said: "There must be rigorous efforts from those in the education system to stamp out the use of texting as a form of written language, so far as English study is concerned.

"There has been a trend in recent years to emphasise spoken English rather than written language, and as a result pupils think orally and write phonetically.

"The problem is that there is now a feeling in some schools that pupils' freedom of expression should not be inhibited, so anything goes.

"But texting must not be allowed to become acceptable written English - it will only further erode the language."

Dr Cynthia McVey, a lecturer in psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, said texting has successfully invaded the English language.

She said: "Many young people have switched to text writing because they have done it so often that it has become second nature to them.

"They don't write letters, so sitting down to write or type an essay is unusual and difficult.

"So they revert to what they know and feel comfortable with - texting

"To them it's quick, attractive and uncomplicated."

The National Association of School Masters and Union of Women Teachers is calling for headteachers to ban the use of text language in English classes which it claims is "spreading like wildfire".

Spokesman Tino Ferri said: "The majority of teachers would support a crackdown on this sloppy form of writing. There are also a few teachers who claim that getting pupils to carry out written work using phone text language is better than nothing."

Christian Kay, a professor of English at Glasgow University, said there could also be some benefits to texting.

She said: "For children who are not interested in writing English in the standard form, but who are interested in texting, it could have some value in as much as it may be a means of engaging them in the educational process."

The Scottish Executive said it was not aware texting was a major problem in English classes, but stressed that Ministers are committed to improving literacy in all schools.

CASE STUDY

My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great place.

But my parents were so worried because of the terrorism attack on September 11 that they decided we would stay in Scotland and spend two weeks up north.

Up north, what you see is what you get - nothing. I was extremely bored, in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but sheep and mountains.

At any rate, my parents were happy. They said it could be worse, and that they were happy with the peace and quiet. I don't think so!

I wanted to go home as soon as possible, to see my friends again.

Today, I returned to school. I feel very saintly, because I've done all my homework. Now it's business as usual...

My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ kds FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc. Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd 2wks up N.

Up N, WUCIWUG - 0. I ws vvv brd in MON. 0 bt baas & ^^^^^. AAR8, my Ps wr :-) - they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc&qt...IDTS!! I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again.

2day, I cam bk 2 skool. I feel v O:-) BC I hv dn all my hm wrk. Now its BAU...

ENGLISH:

2b or nt 2b is 1 o mst fmus lnz in shksprs hml8. rding bk ws CWOT BC cudv C-n MG mvi Nsted.

(To be or not to be is one of the most famous lines in the William Shakespeare play, Hamlet. Reading the book was a complete waste of time when I could have watched the Mel Gibson movie instead.)

HISTORY:

GB fot NZs 4 2yrs & wn BOB N 40 B4 ynk 4s jnd N l8 mkng Bs :) & V.

(Britain fought the Nazis for two years and won the Battle of Britain in 1940 before the USA forces joined in late, making the British happy and victorious.)

DRAMA:

M8s R getin 2gether 2 pt on pntmm 4 skool xmas sho. shud B LOF.

(My mates are getting together to put on a pantomime for the school Christmas show. It should be lots of fun.)

On the right are excerpts from an essay written in text language by a 13-year-old girl at a leading state secondary school in the west of Scotland. We've provided the translations.