Short_Messaging_Service_(Sms)_Language__Analysis_on_the_Effects_on_Standard_Languages

SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE (SMS) LANGUAGE: ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS ON STANDARD LANGUAGES Abstract: This research is carried out to investigate the use of SMS in Sibu town and its effect on SMS users. The SMS has gained popularity among the mobile users. It creates SMS language which involve abbreviates words, romanize words, code-switching and code-mixing in text messages. A pre-designed research instrument, questionnaire is used to conduct the survey, a total of 30 people responded. The data collected from surveying are analysed and interpreted. The findings show the SMS activities, how respondents abbreviate the words and obtain the opinion from them if shortening up words in SMS will corrupt standard language. Feedback is gained from the respondents if SMS corrupts standard language. Finally, conclusion is made based on the mini research and suggestions are given to prevent corruption of standard language from becoming worse. Table of Content: Page: Chapter 1 (Introduction) : 1 1.1 Research Objectives : 1 1.2 Research Questions : 1 1.3 Limitation of Research : 1 1.4 Definition of Terms : 2 Chapter 2 (Literature Review) : 3 2.1 SMS : 3 2.2 Use of SMS in the world : 3 2.3 Use of SMS in Malaysia : 4 2.4 Use of SMS and Language Change : 4 Chapter 3 (Methodology) : 5 3.1 Research Design and Reseach Instrument : 5 3.2 Sample : 5 3.3 Data Collection : 5 - 6 3.4 Data Analysis Procedure : 6 Chapter 4 (Research Findings) : 7 4.1 Respondents’ Profile : 7 - 8 4.2 SMS Activities : 9 4.3 SMS Abbreviations : 10 - 11 4.4 Agreement as to SMS corruption of language : 11 Chapter 5 (Conclusions and Recommendations) : 12 5.1 Recommendations : 12 5.2 Conclusion : 12 Reference Appendix Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Research Objectives: Investigate whether SMS is corrupting our national language (Bahasa Malaysia), English language and Mother tongue language in terms of oral and written communication or opened up opportunities to maintain survival of our national language (Bahasa Malaysia) and revive some mother tongue languages. 1.2 Research Questions: This study is an attempt to answer the following questions:- 1. How people with different ethnic use SMS' 2. Does SMS affect each ethnic’s language' 3. How words are abbreviated and Romanize' 1.3 Limitation of Research: This research is limited in the amount of surveys carried out due to time limitation. A total of 30 survey questionnaires are distributed to people in the general public. This is a small scale study which leads to inaccuracy of the research. This research was carried out in Sibu Town, Sarawak only, where majority of the population are Foo-Chow Chinese. This research will only be accurate for the people in Sibu. 1.4 Definition of Terms: “SMS” is the short form for “Short Messaging Service”. According to Wiki (2010), it is also known as txtese, chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, txto, texting language, or txt talk. Apart than that, it is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging. “Effect” is the change produced by an action or cause (Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary, 4th Edition). “Standard” in Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary (4th edition), is defined as the correct grammar, spelling and pronunciation, which are widely accepted as usual form. According to yourdictionary.com (1996-2010), “language” is defined as all the vocal sounds, words, and ways of combining them common to a particular nation, tribe, or other speech community. In Malaysia, it is referring to the National Language (Bahasa Malaysia) and English. “Corruption” in merriam-webster.com means a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 SMS SMS is a type of service which transmits typed messages among the mobile phones. For the past ten years, the technology in communication has become more advance. The availability and affordability of mobile phones and network subscriptions causing SMS is common and widely used by the masses especially the mobile phones’ users. According to a research done by Sandra Barasa and Maarten Mous from Leiden University, SMS offers many advantages, such as; it is cheaper than the voice call. Besides, it enables the direct conveyance of the message without the interruption from the recipient. SMS can be saved for future reference, not like the spoken words. It is less intrusive, for example, nobody hears you sending the message nor can one decipher what the incoming message is all about. However, SMS is only limited to the literate people and one has to abide by the space limitation (Barasa S. & Mous M., 2009). 2.2 Use of SMS in the World People around the world used to communicate with each other via voice calls and letter writing. Voice calls are the most effective way in communication. However, it is more expensive than letter writing. Letter writing, on the other hand, is time-consuming considering the amount of time taken to reach the receiver. Besides, it has less privacy. The introduction of SMS not only could combine the oral and written communication, but could link distances instantly. The availability of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in mobile phones using short messaging services and has gained in popularity, with as many as 5 billion text messages being transmitted daily (Baggot, 2006). The amount of text messages transmitted is increasing every year. As obtained from Wikipedia (2010), 4.1 trillion SMS text messages were sent in year 2008. 2.3 Use of SMS in Malaysia SMS has gained popularity in Malaysia for the past decade. Malaysia is a multilingual, multiracial and multicultural country as it has different races, mainly Malay, Chinese and Indian. This phenomenon allows people to grow up with access to two or more languages causing them being able to employ a choice in using languages for different purpose in different circumstance (Abu Rashed MD.Mostafizar Rahman, 2007). 2.4 Use of SMS and Language Change There is space limitation in SMS communication. For example, most mobile networks are giving 160 characters per SMS per unit. If the users type text messages exceeding the limit, the cost of the SMS is higher. As a result, people tend to shorten up the words such as, “l8r” for “later”, “u” for “you” and “y” for “why”. Besides, the mobile phones’ users use the emoticons to show the body language and feeling that they have such as, “:-)” for happy and agreement. Such actions can help the mobile phones’ users to save time, space and cost when come to text messaging. (Refer to chapter 4.3 for explanation). However, it might lead to orthography deviation. Code-mixing refers to the mixing of two or more languages. Code-switching is a linguistics term denoting the concurrent use of more than one language, speakers practice code-switching when they are each fluent in both languages. Romanise is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman (Latin) alphabet. (Wikipedia, 2010) The practice of code-switching, code-mixing and Romanizing language have become serious among the mobile phones’ users in the multilingual country, including Malaysia. For example, “he is so len zai” for “he is handsome” and “I belanja u makan” for “I treat you meal”. This is because both the sender and receiver of the text message understand what the content is and they are very close friends or family members. All these code-switching, code-mixing, Romanising words, and abbreviates words will lead habits in people using their languages, whereas leads to language change, people are most likely to forget the proper way of saying and writing their own language. Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Research Design and Research Instrument Please refer to Appendix for the research designed Paper-Pen-questionnaire. The questionnaire must contain clear and unambiguous instruction to respondents for completion. The response method, such as “Circle one only” is indicated. It is shown in “Background Information”, “SMS Activities”, and “Agree or Disagree” of the questionnaire. The neat and professional look of questionnaire makes the reading easier and encourages the response rate. Besides, it uses the bold and capital letters to differentiate the title, instruction and questions. The length of the questionnaire must be short by making the questions simple, short and to the point. Coding answers in the question in order to make the analysis easier. For example, in “Background Information”, age 15-20 is given code “a”. It is easier to compile the information and analyse in frequencies. Questions should address to single issue only to avoid confusion (Primary Data Collection Methods retrieved online). 3.2 Sample The data samples are collected from Sibu Town, mostly working individuals and students (Secondary school – Tung Hua Secondary School and College – Laila Taib College). These groups represent the youth in society from multilingual backgrounds with English as second language. 3.3 Data Collection The designed surveys Paper-Pen-questionnaire as shown in Appendix are distributed to the public as mentioned in (3.2 Sample) to fill in their opinion with minimum or 30 responses for analysis. The advantages of Paper-Pen-questionnaires are: • Can cover a large number of people or organizations. • Relatively cheap. • No prior arrangements are needed. • No interviewer bias. • Anonymity of respondent. • Avoids embarrassment on the part of the respondent. The disadvantages of Paper-Pen-questionnaires are: • Questions have to be relatively simple. • Low response rate. • Reminders may be required. • Problems with incomplete questionnaires • Respondent can read all questions beforehand and then decide whether to complete or not. For example, perhaps because it is too long, too complex, uninteresting, or too personal. (Source: Primary Data Collection Methods retrieved online) 3.4 Data Analysis Procedure: A total of 30 survey questionnaires were distributed to working class employees after working hours and to students after schooling. The respondents were guided to answer the questionnaires to ensure the reliability of answers. Data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel (2007), by creating tables and graphs to demonstrate and interpret the research findings. All the tables and graphs as shown in chapter 4 were all done using Microsoft Excel (2007). Chapter 4: Research Findings |4.1Respondents' Profiles: | | | | |Questions |A (Yes) |B (No) |C (Not Applicable) | |1. Do you have a mobile phone' |30 |- |- | |2. Do you SMS' |29 |1 |- | |3. When you used SMS, did you shorten up the words, abbreviate the words or chunk the |27 |2 |1 | |words' | | | | |4. Did you shorten up Bahasa Melayu words in your SMS |18 |9 |3 | |5. Did you shorten up Mother tongue words in SMS' |15 |12 |3 | |6. Did you shorten up English words in SMS' |28 |1 |1 | |7. Did you SMS in other languages' |18 |11 |1 | |8. If Yes, name the languages |18 |11 |1 | |(Languages mostly used are: Mandarin, English, Bahasa Malaysia, Foochow, Cantonese, | | | | |Hokkien) | | | | |9. Did you mix up more than one language in your SMS' |26 |3 |1 | |a. if yes, name the languages | | | | |10. Will SMS help to revive your mother tongue |10 |19 |1 | Table 4.1: SMS activities of the 30 respondents Table 4.1 shows the number of people who answer the questions by choosing “Yes”, “No”, or “Not Applicable”. These results show that nearly 100% of the people use SMS. 90% of the people shorten, abbreviate and chunk the words in their SMS. 60% of the people, shorten up Bahasa Malaysia, 1/2 of the people shorten up Mother tongue words in their SMS, nearly 100% of the people shorten up English words, 60% of the people SMS in other language, 86% of the people mix up more than one language in their SMS and lastly only about 33% of the people agreed that SMS will help revive mother tongue. Surprisingly, there is a respondent who does not use SMS because she thinks that using of SMS is time-consuming and prefer to use voice call. Besides, she is an officer in bank and has busy schedule every day. There are only 6% of people who do not shorten up Bahasa Malaysia words in SMS with the reason mainly because they are weak in Bahasa Malaysia and prefer to use English in SMS. 4.3 SMS Abbreviations: From the data collected in this research, these are the popular abbreviations: |Expressions |Mother tongue |Bahasa |English | |How are you' |Eh hor meh' (Foo-Chow) |Apa Khabar' |Hw r u' | | |Nei hou ma' (Cantonese) | |How r u' | | |最近好吗' (Chinese) | | | |Good Morning |Za (Foo-Chow) |Pagi |Gd morning | | |Zou ar. (Cantonese) |Samat pagi |Gd mrng | | |早上好. (Chinese) |Slmt pg |Good morning | |I will call you |Ngui eh pa do nu (Foo-chow) |Nanti cari kamu |I wi cll u | | |Ngo wui call nei. (Cantonese) |akan tel you |I’ll call u | | |我打给你. (Chinese) |nanti call u. |I’l cal u | | | | |I will call you | |Breakfast |Sia za buon (Foo-Chow) |Nak sarapan' |Brkfst | | |Zou can (Cantonese) |mk pg |B’fast | | |早餐. (Chinese) |srpn |Brfst | | | | |Breakfast | |I love you |Ngui ai nu. (Foo-Chow) |Syg awk |I luv u | | |Ngo Nguoi Nei. (Cantonese) |saya cinta u |I Lv u | | |我爱你. (Chinese) |i cinta u |ILU | | | |ak cinta pada mu |I lov u ^^ | | | | |I love you | |Do you want to come with |Ai guin ngui Khuo mo' (Foo-Chow) |Mau iku saya' |Do u wan to come with me' | |me' |Geng mum Gen ar' (Cantonese) |nk ikut saya' |Do u wan 2 come wt me' | | |来找我. (Chinese) |nak dating sama' |Do u wan 2 com wif me' | | | |mau ikut' |Do u wan2 come wif me' | |He had an accident last |Yi suo man muon chia huo wor (Foo-Chow) |Dia accident semalam |He had an acc last nite | |night |Kui zhong zho che cham man. (Cantonese) |Dia kena accident |He had accident last 9 | | |他昨晚车祸. (Chinese) |Semlm dia acc |He acc last nite :( | | | |Dia kmlgn smlm | | Table 4.2: Popular abbreviations from 30 respondents. The data collected as shown in Table 4.2 revealed the text messages were not written in their original spelling but rather in the way that they would be pronounced. • “u” for “you” • “wan” for “want” • “r” for “are” • “mau” for “mahu” (Bahasa Malaysia) Furthermore, numbers have been used in place of words that share their pronunciation, e.g. “2” for “to” and “9” for “night”. Some people tend to delete the vowel when typing the text messages. For example, • “hw” for “how” • “gd mrng” for “good morning” • “pg” for “pagi” (Bahasa Malaysia) As discussed in Figure 4.2, most of the respondents are Chinese; some of them use their own mother tongues to communicate with each other. There are a few who use Mandarin to send SMS because they claimed that they prefer to use Chinese and not familiar with their own mother tongue. 4.4 Agreement as to SMS corruption of language. [pic] Unexpectedly, 30% of people agreed on sms corruption of language where by 70% of the people disagree. The main reason given by the 70% of the people is, SMS does not corrupt individual standard language as they can differentiate between SMS language and standard language. Some of the respondents even claimed that SMS helps them to improve the vocabulary and learn proper grammar too. The respondents who agreed gave reason as, short form words in SMS will lead to habitual using of SMS language in eassay and other written communication. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion: Based on the small scale research which has been done, the language which is commonly used is English. Besides, each ethnic communicate with the friends and family using their own language or mother tongue. SMS does not corrupt the standard language. Whether or not SMS corrupts our language depends on the individual’s mindset and exposure. It can be used as a tool to help a person improve the language, especially in vocabulary and grammar if one uses it in a beneficial way. The invention of mobile technology has lead to emergence of new form of language, SMS language. The standard language will not be corrupted as long as there is proper teaching in school and guidance from the guardians. 5.1 Recommendations: SMS language is with us as we are using it every day. A proper teaching in school has to be implemented to ensure a person’s standard language will not be corrupted. Besides, people have to be made aware of the differences between standard language and SMS language, especially starting from school level. The mobile phones’ users may switch on the dictionary in the text messaging function when they type the text messages. Campaign shall be organised to encourage people to use standard language. Apart from that, competition such as spelling test can be organised frequently at school to maintain the standard writing language and prevent the corruption of language. Besides, competition such as essay-writing can be organised for the adults to participate.