The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Research Writing 125 textism use is a direct reflection of one’s literacy ability. N. Kemp is a senior lecturer in phycology for the University of Tasmania in Australia. He/She participates in researching acquisition, development, and use of spoken and written language with A. Grace. Kemp also maintains the position of associate editor for the Journal of Research in Reading (University of Tasmania, 2005). F. Martin and R. Parrila are both professors of psychology at the University of Newcastle, Australia and University of Alberta, Canada, respectively. Martin has completed a Ph.D. in Visual Processes in Dyslexia, and currently conducts research in the area of Word Recognition and, specifically, Phonological Processes in Reading Development (University of Newcastle, 2012). Parrila has earned a Ph.D. from University of Alberta with a specialization in Learning and Development, and currently researches a variety of linguistic factors, such as Reading Acquisition and different types of dyslexia (University of Alberta, n.d.). In studies completed by Grace, Kemp, Martin, and Parrila, the pattern appeared that textese use can actually encourage creative thought in those who are younger than 18 years old. According to them, higher literacy skill has been consistently and positively linked to a higher use of textisms (Grace et al., 2014, p. 868). This can be logically explained. When a child attempts to express emotion through written language, he/she must figure out how to convey emotion to the reader without being able to use facial expression, voice tones, eye contact, or gestures. Dr. Albert Mehrabian, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at University of California, Los Angeles, has completed a study in which he learned that communication is 93% non-verbal. This statistic has been widely accepted and is well known in the world of communication. If communication is 93% non- verbal, then expressing emotion and the correct message, is a difficult task for texting. When children morph words into textese, they are engaging in a written language that was created for simplicity. This requires the child to utilize a new way of thinking to express