EXPOSURE TO 'TEXTISMS' DOES NOT LOWER SPELLING SCORES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN

“Textisms” are semi-standardized abbreviations and conventions uses in SMS text messaging. Students in the fourth and fifth grades (N = 136) were expos ed to words on a spelling list as correctly-spelled words, incorrectly-spelled words, or “textisms” to determine whether short term exposure to “textisms” decreased spelling performance for elementary aged children. Multivariate ANOVA found exposure type significantly impacted post-exposure spelling, F(3,132) = 5.483, p