Chapter III. Research “sms-language in everyday speech’

Taking into consideration our theoretic research, I decided to make a survey and offered a questionnaire to the students and the teachers of English. We found out the frequency of the daily use of SMS- and e-mail language by the students and the teachers of English; made a survey in order to learn whether the students understand the meaning of SMS- or e-mail characters completely, only in the context or use them in the wrong way, defined what acronyms or abbreviations have gained the biggest popularity and created the glossary in English. We included fifty students (A) and twelve teachers (B) into the list of the respondents. It turned out that 100% of them not only have a notion of its existence, but use SMS- or e-mail characters in their E-mail messages to their Internet palls. (See Diagram 1).

 

Diagram 1

After that we made a survey in order to learn whether the students understand the meaning of the SMS-characters completely, only in the context or use them in the wrong way. 37 respondents (74%) claimed they understand the acronyms and abbreviations in the context (1), 11 students (22%) said they had certain difficulties defining the meaning of SMS-characters (2) and 2 students (4%) responded that they usually used the abbreviated text in the right way (3). (See Diagram 2). As far as the teachers of English are concerned, 8 persons (66.7%) were sure to use SMS- characters correctly (5) and 4 teachers (33.3%) pointed out that they needed the context to translate e-mail messages in the right way (6). (See Diagram 3).

Diagram 2 Diagram 3

Our next step was to interview the teachers of English and students and estimate what SMS-characters enjoy the greatest popularity. The glossary we created comprises 424 abbreviation/ acronyms and 19 smiley and graphic text messages.

It turned out that the teachers prefer acronyms to the others SMS-characters, then combined abbreviations follow, after that they named single letters or digits to replace the whole word, then a single letter or digit to replace a syllable and smiley or graphic text messages are at the end of the list. The students use smiley or graphic text messages most willingly, then acronyms and combined abbreviations go, the next place is taken by single letters or digits to replace the whole word and, finally, they pointed out that a single letter or digit to replace a syllable is not so popular as the others. (Diagrams 4A and 4B).

 

Diagram 4A

Diagram 4B

The next part of our research was aimed at discovering if the use of SMS-language depends on a person’s level of situational speech. First of all, we asked the students and teachers to make notes of 50 e-mail messages paying attention to the frequency of abbreviations and acronyms and found out that, on the average, the adult whose English can be characterized as being of advanced level uses SMS-characters in his or her e-mail messages twice as much as the students (22, 8 to 11, 3). (See Diagram 5).

Frequency of Use

Diagram 5

Then we offered different lexical exercises and tests to the teachers of English and the questioned students and the results are as following: 11 teachers (91.7 %) made no mistakes defining the meaning of the abbreviation or the acronym and 1 teacher (8.3%) used the SMS-character in an inappropriate way. At the same time 47 students (94 %) were wrong to apply this or that e-mail character while 3 of them (6 %) whose level of situational speech is high had no problem using abbreviations or acronyms as the key-elements of e-mail messages. (See Diagrams 6, 7).

 

Diagram 6 Diagram 7

 

Finally, we offered a questionnaire to define the attitude of the teachers and students to SMS-substitutes in e-mail messages. 10 teachers (83.3%) responded that since we are not native speakers of English and use SMS-language only corresponding with net-friends, it doesn’t corrupt everyday speech or writing at all. The same opinion was supported by all 50 students. 2 teachers (16,6%) have a different approach and say they hate different smiley or graphic text messages they get in SMS- or e-mail messages and they are sure of the negative impact of different substitutes on literary language. (See Diagrams 8, 9).

 

Diagram 8 Diagram 9

The results of both our theoretical research and our survey are summarized in the final part of the work, which also contains the glossary of SMS-substitutes.

CONCLUSION

Due to this research we managed to find out that speech consciousness of current tendencies is an inseparable element of learning a foreign language. E-mail and SMS-corresponding has rapidly taken on a distinct new format – that of the abbreviated text, especially in the conversations spoken by equals. It proved that communicating may help to set not only social links, but to enrich one’s situational speech in general and vocabulary as a comprehensive system in particular.

In our work we executed comparison between different groups of SMS-substitutes in English. We also estimatedthe frequency of their daily use in the languages; made a survey in order to learn whether the students and teachers of English understand the meaning of SMS- abbreviations and acronyms completely, only in the context or use them in the wrong way; discovered what SMS-substitutes have gained the biggest popularity and created the glossary regarding the research in English.

The results of the research prove that:

· On the one hand, SMS-substitutes can easily be overused and misused; they are inappropriate for formal speeches, business letters, and can also cause a loss of accuracy in communication.

· On the other hand, the reasonable use of SMS-language promotes lively speaking and writing, helps keep a language fresh and alive; it enables users to save time and money as it shortens a message.

· Since we are not native speakers of English and use SMS-language mostly in e-mail, it doesn’t corrupt everyday speech or writing.

· In case a person’s level of situational speech is advanced, the use of SMS-substitutes is more frequent and correct.

We can’t prove, of course, that it is a general tendency as the number of the respondents doesn’t allow making any scientific conclusion, but the received result may be regarded as a starting point to carry out a serious survey in the sphere of linguistics and, especially, Social English.

GLOSSARY

 

afaik	atm	asap
as far as I know	at the moment	as soon as possible
bbl	bf or b/f and gf or g/f	brb
for be back later	boyfriend or girlfriend	be right back
btw	cam	cas
by the way	web camera	cracking a smile
cnt	cob	cya
can't	close of business	see you (later)
dno	dnt	fnx
don't know	don't	thanks
ftw	fya	fyi
for the win	for your action	for your information
f9	g2g or gtg	g2p or gtp
fine	got to go	got to pee
gd	gg no re	gj
good often repeated to be gdgd	good game, no rematch	good job
gna	idc	idk
gonna or going to	i don't care	i don't know
iirc	ily or ilu	imho
if I remember correctly	I love you	in my humble opinion
imo	jic	jk
in my opinion	just in case	just kidding
k	kk	kl
okay	okay, cool	cool
lol	lmao	l8
laugh out loud	aughing my ass off	late
l8r	m8	n
later	mate	and
nm	ne	nefin
never mind	any	anything
np	nt	nw
no problem	nice try	no worries
omg	pita	pos
oh my god	pain in the ass	parents over shoulder
rofl	roflmao	rp
rolling on floor laughing	rolling on floor laughing my ass off	roleplay
slp/slpn	soz	sry
sleep/sleeping	sorry	sorry
tb	tc	thx
Text Back	Take Care	Thanks
ty	tmr or tmz or tomoz	ttml
Thank you	tomorrow	Talk to me later
ttyl or ttul	txtm8	ty
Talk to you later	textmate	thank you
tym	w/ or w	w/e
time	with	weekend or whatever
w/o	wb	wb2my
without	welcome back	write back to my
wg	whteva or woteva	wk
well good	what ever	work or week
wkd	wt or wut	wubu2
wicked	what	What you been up to?

 

wuu2	yw
What are you up to?	you're welcome

	A3	AAP
I don't know (adopted from the http error code 404)	Anytime, anywhere, anyplace	Always a pleasure
AAR	AAS	ADD
At any rate	Alive and smiling	Address
ADN	AEAP	AFAIK
Any day now	As early as possible	As far as I know
AFK	AISB	AKA
Away from keyboard	As it should be	Also known as
AML	AOTA	ASAP
All my love	All of the above	As soon as possible
A/S/L or ASL	AT	ATM
Age/sex/location	At your terminal	At the moment
AYEC	AYOR	B/F
At your earliest convenience	At your own risk	Boyfriend
B4	B4N	BAK
Before	Bye for now	Back at keyboard
BAU	BBIAF	BBIAM
Business as usual	Be back in a few	Be back in a minute
BBL	BBS	BC
Be back later	Be back soon	Because
BCNU	BF	BFN
Be seein' you	Best friend	Bye for now
BG	BGWM	BLNT
Big grin	Be gentle with me	Better luck next time
BM&Y	BOL	BRB
Between me and you	Best of luck	Be right back
BRT	BTA	BTDT
Be right there	But then again	Been there, done that
BTW	CMIIW	CMON
By the way	Correct me if I'm wrong	Come on
COB	COS	CR8
Close of business	Because	Create
CRB	CRBT	CU
Come right back	Crying really big tears	See you
CUA	CUL	CUL8R
See you around	See you later	See you later
CWYL	CYO	CYA
Chat with you later	See you online	See ya
D/L	DL	DEGT
Download	Download	Don't even go there
DIKU	DQMOT	DTS
Do I know you?	Don't quote me on this	Don't think so
DV8	EBKAC	EG
Deviate	Error between keyboard and chair	Evil grin
EMA	EMFBI	EOD
E-mail address	Excuse me for butting in	End of day
EOM	EZY	F2F
End of message	Easy	Face to face
F2T	FBM	FC
Free to talk	Fine by me	Fingers crossed
FICCL	FISH	FOMCL
Frankly I couldn't care a less	First in, still here	Falling off my chair laughing
FITB	FRT	FWIW
Fill in the blank	For real though	For what it's worth
FYEO	FYI	G
For your eyes only	For your information	Grin
G/F	G2CU	G2G
Girlfriend	Good to see you	Got to go
G2R	G9	GA
Got to run	Genius	Go ahead
GAL	GB	GBU
Get a life	Goodbye	God bless you
GDR	GFI	GG
Grinning, ducking, and running	Go for it	Gotta Go or Good Game
GIAR	GIGO	GL
Give it a rest	Garbage in, garbage out	Good luck
GL/HF	GLNG	GMTA
Good luck, have fun	Good luck next game	Great minds think alike
OI	GOL	GR8
Get over it	Giggling out loud	Great
GR&D	GT	GTG
Grinning, running and ducking	Good try	Got to go
GTRM	H&K	H2CUS
Going to read mail	Hugs & kisses	Hope to see you soon
H8	HAGN	HAGO
Hate	Have a good night	Have a good one
HAND	HF	HHIS
Have a nice day	Have fun	Head hanging in shame
HOAS	HRU	HTH
Hold on a second	How are you?	Hope this helps
HV	IAC	IANAL
Have	In any case	I am not a lawyer
IB	IC	ICBW
I'm back	I see	It could be worse
IDK	IDTS	IDUNNO
I don't know	I don't think so	I don't know
IG2R	IIRC	ILBL8
I got to run	If I remember correctly	I'll be late
ILU	ILY	IM
I love you	I love you	Instant message
IMHO	IMNSHO	IMO
In my humble opinion	In my not so humble opinion	In my opinion
IMS	INAL	IOW
I am sorry	I'm not a lawyer	In other words
IRL	IRMC	IUSS
In real life	I rest my case	If you say so
IYKWIM	IYO	IYSS
If you know what I mean	In your opinion	If you say so
j00r	JAC	JIC
Your	Just a sec	Just in case
JJA	JK	JMO
Just joking around	Just kidding	Just my opinion
JP	k/b	KISS
Just playing	keyboard	Keep it simple, stupid
KIT	KOTC	KOTL
Keep in touch	Kiss on the cheek	Kiss on the lips
KNIM	l33t	L8R
Know what I mean?	leet "elite"	Later
LD	LERK	LMAO
Later, Long distance	leaving easy reach of keyboard	Laughing my a** off
LOL	LTM	LTNS
Laughing out loud	Laugh to myself	Long time no see
LYLAS	LYK	M8
Love you like a sis	like	Mate
MFI	MorF	MSG
Mad for it	Male or female?	Message
MTF	MTFBWU	MUSM
More to follow	May the force be with you	Miss you so much
MYOB	n00b	N1
Mind your own business	Newbie	Nice one
NBD	NE	NE1
No big deal	Any	Anyone
NFM	NIMBY	NLT
None for me / Not for me	Not in my back yard	No later than

 

NM	NMH	NO1
Nothing much / Never mind	Not much here	No one
NOYB	NP	NRN
None of your business	No problem	No response/reply necessary

 

NVM	NW	NW)
Never mind	No way	No way out
OIC	OMG	OMW
Oh, I see	Oh my God	On my way
OO	OOH	OOTD
Over and out	Out of here	One of these days
OP	OTB	OTL
On phone	Off to bed	Out to lunch
OTOH	OTT	OTTOMH
On the other hand	Over the top	Off the top of my head
OTW	OVA	PCM
Off to work	Over	Please call me
PDQ	PLMK	PLS
Pretty darn quick	Please let me know	Please
PLZ	PM	PMFI
Please	Private Message	Pardon me for interrupting
PMFJI	POAHF	PPL
Pardon me for jumping in	Put on a happy face	People
PROLLY	PRT	PTL
Probably	Party	Praise the Lord
PTMM	PXT	PU
Please tell me more	Please explain that	That stinks!
Q	QIK	QT
Queue	Quick	Cutie
RL	RME	ROFL
Real life	Rolling my eyes	Rolling on floor laughing
ROTFL	ROTFLUTS	RSN
Rolling on the floor laughing	Rolling on the floor laughing unable to speak	Real soon now
RTM	RUOK	SAL
Read the manual	Are you okay?	Such a laugh
SBTSBC	SC	SETE
Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel	Stay cool	Smiling Ear-to-Ear
S ICNR	SIG2R	SIS
Sorry, I could not resist	Sorry, I got to run	Snickering in silence
SIT	SLAP	SMHID
Stay in touch	Sounds like a plan	Scratching my head in disbelief
SNAFU	SO	SOL
Situation normal all fouled up	Significant other	Sooner or later
SOMY	SOTMG	SOZ
Sick of me yet?	Short of time, must go	Sorry

 

SPK	SPST	SRY
Speak	Same place, same time	Sorry
SS	SSDD	SSINF
So sorry	Same stuff, different day	So stupid it's not funny

 

STR8	STW	SUITM
Straight	Search the Web	See you in the morning
SUL	SUP	SYL
See you later	What's up?	See you later
T+	TA	TAFN
Think positive	Thanks a lot	That's all for now
TAM	TBD	TBH
Tomorrow a.m.	To be determined	To be honest
TC	TGIF	THX
Take care	Thank God it's Friday	Thanks
THNX	THNQ	TIA
Thanks	Thank-you	Thanks in advance
TIAD	TLK2UL8R	TMB
Tomorrow is another day	Talk to you later	Text me back
TMI	TMOT	TMWFI
Too much information	Trust me on this	Take my word for it
TNSTAAFL	TPM	TPTB
There's no such thing as a free lunch	Tomorrow p.m.	The powers that be
TSTB	TTFN	TTTT
The sooner, the better	Ta ta for now	These things take time
TTYL	TTYS	TU
Talk to you later	Talk to you soon	Thank you
TY	TYT	TYVM
Thank you	Take your time	Thank you very much
UGTBK	UKTR	UL
You've got to be kidding	You know that's right	Upload
UR	UV	UW
Your / You're	Unpleasant visual	You're welcome
WAM	WAN2TLK	WAYF
Wait a minute	Want to talk	Where are you from?
W/B	WB	W/E
Write back	Welcome back	Whatever
WIIFM	WK	WKD
What's in it for me?	Week	Weekend
WOMBAT	WRK	WRUD
Waste of money, brains and time	Work	What are you doing?
WTG	WTH	WU?
Way to go	What the heck?	What's up?
WUBU2?	WUCIWUG	WUF?
What have you been up to?	What you see is what you get	Where are you from?
WUWH	WWJD	WWYC
Wish you were here	What would Jesus do?	Write when you can
WYLEI	WYSIWYG	X
When you least expect it	What you see is what you get	Kiss
XLNT	YA	YBS
Excellent	Your	You'll be sorry
YGBKM You've got to be kidding me	YKWYCD You know what you can do	YMMV Your mileage may vary
YR	YW	ZZZZ
Your	You're welcome	bored/sleeping

 

SMILEY AND GRAPHIC TEXT MESSAGES

 

:-)P	It's rude to pull your tongue
:)$	Man with beard?
:@	surprised?
:X	Cross?
;l	Sceptical?
8^+	not sure what this means?
:s	Shocked
>'o'<	Shouting?
:P	sticking ur tongue owt
:- D	welcome
:<	sad
<3	love
:)))	big grin
;=]	smile and wink
(\_/) (O.o) (")(")	bunny
:*	kiss
</3	broken heart
\=!	cool with a cap
:-) X	happy face and kiss