JELT (January-March'19)

RESEARCH PAPERS

TEXTESE CATEGORIES AND TEXTESE APPLICATION IN

L2 CLASS DISCUSSION

ABSTRACT

The present study seeks to determine significant similarities and differences of teacher-textism and student-textism styles. It

also investigates on the use of textism in the actual class discussion shared by the participants of the study. To wit, results show

that textism is significantly utilized by both teachers and students (12.84%). The texting styles stipulated are contraction,

clipping, onomatopoeia, sound representation, abbreviation, acronymy, letter dropping, emoticons and some novel

styles (AbuSA'aleek, 2013; Bieswanger, 2007; Lee, 2006; Smith 2003). Likewise, this paper opens awareness to the use of

textese as a “conscious” activity in violating grammar and lexical rules, and building connection among users. Moreover,

the inevitable use of textese in class discussion has been brought to light. Based on the FGD responses, four functionalities of

textism in L2 (Second Language) class context are drawn: (1) Small Group Language Functionality; (2) Hook/Engagement

Functionality; (3) Low Filter Functionality; and (4) Learning Comprehension Functionality.

Keywords: Teacher-Textisms, Student-Textisms, Textese, Class Discussion.

* MA Graduate, Philippine Normal University/Teacher, Science High School (Department of Education-Taguig-Pateros Division), Philippines.

** Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Santo Tomas (UST), Manila, Philippines.

B. C. TOTANES * R. B. LINTAO **

Date Received: 04/12/2018 Date Revised: 14/02/2019 Date Accepted: 04/03/2019

INTRODUCTION

In the Philippines, some scholars avow that the term 'text'

originated its operational meaning related to SMS in the

country whereas in America, the said term is meant a

reading material. In an infographic shown in 2009, the

average Filipino mobile subscriber sent an average of 600

text messages per month, or 43 percent more than the US

counterparts (Dimacali, 2010). In addition, a survey report

in 2016 revealed that about 43.5% of Philippine residents

accessed the Internet. It was also supported by surveys

posted in 2017 that about 400 million text messages were

sent by Filipinos every day or 142 billion a year. These facts

revealed that the Philippines has been the World's Text

Capital ever since. Lichauco (2011) purports that the

country has given much ascend to the rise of SMS (Short

Message Service) as part of its people's subcultures. Even

the emergence of text's lingo style has been further utilized

by common Filipinos where the term 'Jejemon' had been

once known and popularized. Cabatbat and Tapang

(2013) explain this phenomenon as attributed to the texters'

tendency to write in textese the word 'hehe', which is laugh

or lol in Filipino, as 'jeje', which is of Latin Origin. Cabatbat

and Tapang (2013) likewise, reveals that Filipino SMS

messages are usually characterized with the vowel 'a' as

deleted, skeleton consonants, characters and bigrams.

In various fields, text messages are quite playing a salient role

in the communication system within an organization. The

Philippines as 'Text Capital of the World' is concurred in an

online blog site named Mashable.com, and as introduced

by Sen. Lapid in Senate Series No. 2512: 2004, SMS may have

been an indispensable means for Filipinos to be reminded of

their appointments and planned dealings – formal or

informal transactions. It has been an important portion of their

social life. However, as L2 speakers of the English medium, a

lot of grammarians take this phenomenon as a destructive

entity to making language competence more erroneous via

syntactical rules and orthography, and even mentioned as

language ofilliterate (Sutherland, 2002). This notion is also

supported by the conventional teachers of the language,

lest they may be accused of defiling the structured

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conventions of the English grammar mechanism. Thus,

texting patterns has been perceived and linked to cause

the decline in literacy standards of children and young

adults (Thurlow, 2006).

On the contrary, many researchers have disclosed the

richness of text language in time. The use of this texting

phenomenon could be utilized in such purposes: for

language play and flexibility, for language economy, for

group identity, and for directness to communication. Such

were proven true and useful. Texting has been utilized to

further update the workforce with a lot of errands or

reminders they need. More so, the use of SMS could also

give teenagers – or any users – a gradual asynchronous

type of text message i.e. giving announcement. In fact,

Drouin and Driver (2014) highlight interesting findings about

the significant negative relationship between textism

density and the skill of reading and spelling. Likewise, they

found out that there were textism categories which were

positively related to literacy skills like that of accent

stylization. Tagliamonte and Denis (2008), likewise, added

up that text language is both standard and non-standard

forms used creatively for a specific communicative

function and a skilled command of language.

1. Text Language, Textism, Textese: The Evolution

Recent studies claim that the new media has tremendous

effects on the way people use languages (Cohn, 2014;

Hayati, Charkhabi, & Naami,2014; Willgress, 2016). Studies

further explain that shortened messages or textisms are

used to enhance the non-verbal communication in the

written format (Reed, 2014). So much so, new media is

making pathways for language evolution to exist; thus,

allowing the oral tradition of conversational

communication be revived in a sense (Tenore, 2013).

In the advent of internet, CMC (Computer Mediated

Communication) has also developed its impact to the

language of humanity. Bock, Dalwai, & Stroud, (2016)

argued that the use of stylistic textese among language

users also depends on the repertoire of stylistic features

expanded from the electronic phones or the electronic

application of the users. There arises the use of text

language in different diachronic utilities: text-based

communication (Herring, 1996), internet language

chatting (Segerstad, 2002), netlinguistics (Posteguillo,

2003), and then, internet linguistics (AbuSA'aleek, 2015).

Truly, text language has evolved and influenced by the

world of internet and web media. Even the way textese

users vary its usage based on the recipients. It has been

found that textese users are sensitive to the function of

textism in their dealings among peers, friends and lecturers

(Kemp & Clayton, 2017).

Recent researches have been developed in the creative

implications of textisms in the world. In fact, a text

normalization system of text language was developed in the

Philippines (Cuevas, Gopez, Nocon, & Suministrado, 2014). It

is an experimental study of collating textese among Filipino

users, and created a corpus-based system using a dictionary

substitution approach. Moreover, it was emphasized that

there is a purpose in utilizing textese and emailese in writing

tasks (Ekundayo, 2014). It had been suggested that the use of

shortcuts will be of function in the note-taking tasks, minute

writing and shorter spelling structure under short notices or

pressure in academic or business transaction. However,

there is a contention that 'textese' (Aziz, Shamim, Aziz, & Avais,

2013) has been affecting the writing skills of the users. They

argued that this phenomenon has adversely affecting

writing. This thought has been concurred by Koross and

Kipkenda (2016) saying that mostly of the lecturers in Kenyan

University viewed that SMS texting or textese has a negative

influence on the written language skills of the students.

Furthermore, the pervasive use of textisms among the

learners has shown that there were perceivable occurrence

in the learners' spelling, punctuation and syntactical

formation. Thus, it increases the tendency of adopting the

contractions and the non-standard uses of language in the

research reports and academic writing tasks of the learners.

Nazaryan and Gridchin (2006) describe net ligua, not just a

language variation, however a slang where user needs to

know when and where to use it. From a psychological

perspective, net lingua should be viewed as borne in mind

affecting human behavior – not that it is a contact to a

living creature, however computer and technologies are

the tools capitalizing it. Focusing mainly on the linguistic

view of the study, Nazaryan and Gridchin highlighted out

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the claims of Halliday (1978) that traditionalist would say

that this new language variations is an antilanguage,

therefore not adhering to the language of society

(Stevenson, 2005).

Texting phenomenon has become a popular worldwide

activity. In fact, Troxel, Hunter, and Schart (2015) reveal how

ubiquitous texting behavior among youth in night time;

ergo, it makes texting a pervasive electronic activity

among its users. As shown in the recent study in the

Sultanate of Oman, usage and choice of text messaging

has also been found involving gender dichotomy; where

females were found more frequently immersed to texting

while males were found to be more task-oriented, and

indulged less frequently to be texting (Nair, 2016). In this

study, textese, as a novice language used in E-texting is

considered to be seen in positive light as to its modified

literary characteristics. This means that youngsters used

and exploited text language in many different platforms

and fields resonating their ideologies and thoughts.

Moreover, Nair (2016) discloses that it can be used for

relevant marketing strategies like usage in daily

communication and college and interest promotions

which can inculcate belongingness and resolving gaps

between authorities and students.

Furthermore, gender bias in text language has been

delved, and it has been illuminated that the simple and

innocent forms of engagement among teen texters create

meaningful interactions among them. The new and stylistic

textese-based communication among adolescents really

creates meaningful forms and maintains their unique

social lives (Ling, Baron, Lenhart, & Campbell, 2014). This

phenomenon has also impacted the literacy

development and the orthographic awareness of men in

the English language. This is due to the phenomenal

coined word, textese or textism (Drouin & Driver, 2014; De

Jonge & Kemp, 2010; Thurlow & Brown, 2003) denoting the

use of abbreviated slang expressions or typescripts,

acronyms, emoticons, clippings, omission of punctuations,

contraction styles, and deletion of unnecessary words,

vowels; and likewise, expanding its definition into more

categories like accent stylization (i.e., gonna), nonstandard

spelling (e.g., gudnite).

2. Textisms on Language Studies and Textese Categories

Bieswanger (2007) had a comparative analysis on two

corpora namely German text messages and English text

messages. He integrated the use of CMC (Computer

Mediated Communication) in sending and receiving

messages via SMS. He proposed six shortening strategies or

categories in text: initialisms, clippings, contractions,

letter/number homophones, phonetic spellings and word

value characters. For a more recent study, AbuSa'aleek

(2015) suggests a future proposition for more studies

regarding e-discourse. AbuSa'aleek discussed in his paper

two subdivision namely: the percentage and frequency

analysis of the corpus, and the linguistic analysis on the

language features of e-discourse. He as well restrictedly

categorized the features into 9 categories. These groups

were also presented and significantly discussed by

Bieswanger (2007). Furthermore, Averianova (2012) mentions

that the uniqueness and iconographic features of electronic

writing are comprised of, but not limited to, innovative

shortening mechanisms (acronyms, clippings, logograms or

letter-numeral hybrids, etc), emoticons, non-normative

capitalization, truncated simplified syntax and other

attributes.

A lot of linguists have been debating over the real effects of

textism to language users. Some express that grammatical

and spelling violations are associated with the extreme act

of textism, may it be the youth or the adults (Aziz, Shamim,

Aziz, & Avais, 2013; Ahmad, 2014). Wood et al. (2014) found

that a significant negative relationship between adults'

grammar-orthographic violation and their grammar

awareness exists. This violation was due to their individual

differences in IQ and spelling ability. They may be very

positive to the fact that 'textism' does not really affect the

grammar skills of children, teens and adults. It can be

implied that the impact of 'lazy' language in texting may

not have been fostering a decline in literacy and this notion

seemed debatable.

Several research studies suggest that the effectiveness of

communication through SMS is highly appreciated for its

instantaneous purpose. However, the competence of the

language speakers/ users has lowered as far as spelling,

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grammar and discourse are concerned. In the report of

Hogan, Staff, Bunting, Deary and Whalley, (2012), a survey

study looked at some of the effects and potential problems

arising from the use of this text messaging. A survey of

students and instructors in Lane Community College

revealed this downbeat to communication competency. It

was mentioned that 70% of the sample believe that texting

had harmful effects in effective writing skills of learners.

However, more than 50 per cent of the respondents still

adhered to the belief that this means instant communication

was beneficial to them. Moreover, the surveyors had such

findings that this could also affect the social skills of the

people, and mostly risky to teenagers. However, a recent

study shows how beautiful and distinctively socio-cultural are

texting styles used by the ESL/EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia

(Ahmad, 2014). Still, the point of contention is that textese can

have both positive and negative impacts.

As bandwagon effect of the internet and the rampant

evolution of modern language of the computer, popularly

known as electronic communication, various language

features have been developed, and continuously

evolving, as people become more and more creative in

shortening, and sometimes this new language can also be

affected by the culture of subgroups. Many studies as

regard textese have been done which focused its effects

on the writing proficiency of language users (Aziz, Shamim,

Aziz, & Avais, 2013; Chaka, Mphahlele, & Mann, 2015;

Koross & Kipkenda, 2016). Much reviews and investigations

were conducted as for the effects of textese to writing;

however, gave a much lesser accounts to the use of this

phenomenon in the classroom interaction and actual oral

interaction. This study, aside from identifying and classifying

textisms among language users, also attempts to

investigate on the inevitable utilization of the 'intraference'

of text language in the classroom confines which can be

done in teaching and learning Standard English (Ekundayo,

2014). There is also need to know how purposeful, valuable

and insightful the use of textese in the class interaction.

3. Research Questions

In view of the foregoing literature studies, this study seeks to

answer the following:

1) What are the 'textese/textism' strategies employed by the

selected teacher- and student- respondents?

2) What are the similarities and differences of the

'textese/textism' strategies employed?

3) How are 'textese/textism' strategies employed in the

classroom interactions based on the responses of the

selected groups?

4. Theoretical Framework of the Study

To further expound the context of texting phenomenon, the

present study highlights the Linguistic Adaptivity Theory

proposed by Segerstad (2002). It refers to the relativity of

language behavior in the set variables of the study –

commonly in the language of internet. It is likewise relative

to the rational behavior which is a part of communicative

competence of language users. Due to language

evolution, an attempt to creating corpus of text language

in the Philippines has been developed and based on a

dictionary substitution approach (Cuevas, Gopez, Nocon,

& Suministrado, 2014). This posited a significant role of

textisms in the country, for this phenomenon is emergent.

Moreover, the categorization of the textese styles

underpinned herein are from the evolving research bases

from (Bieswanger, 2007; Segerstad, 2002; Lee, 2006;

Chaka, Mphahlele, & Mann, 2015; Indrajith & Varghese

(2018); Drouin & Driver, 2014; Smith, 2003).

SMS shortening in this paper connotes all ways of lexical or

syntactical reduction. This may cover deviating spelling

rules, omitting of some lexicons in words, using punctuation

marks in word contraction, syntactic reduction and

elliptical messages. This phenomenon has evolved into

much number as e-discourse language grows. Texting

styles had originated from initialing or acronymy, rebus-like

characters, logogram and alphabetisms, 'g-clipping', and

genuine novelties (Averianova, 2012; Cabatbat & Tapang

2013; Chaka, Mphahlele, & Mann, 2015; Drouin & Driver

2014; Koross & Kipkenda 2016; Indrajith & Varghese, 2018)

which can be formed in relexicaliazation (Halliday, 1978) or

reduced forms using symbols. The main shortening classes

are the following: contraction, clipping acronymy,

onomatopoeia, sound representative, abbreviation, letter

dropping and emoticons.

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Notions on the impacts of texting in language learning

have been given much light. Inclination of texting or textese

in oral discussion may contribute to promote high

performance in language learning, and reduce language

learning anxiety (Mousavinia, Hayati, & Khazaie, 2014). By

this paradigm, question on the purpose of textese as

motivating factor in class discussion may appear to

explicate the idea of making learners engaged rather than

disengaged (Guthrie, 2004). The continual investigations

on the flexibility of text language and its effects in writing

were significantly studied in the area of writing (Aziz,

Shamim, Aziz, & Avais,2013; Chaka, Mphahlele, & Mann,

2015; Koross & Kipkenda, 2016).

Mousavinia, Hayati and Khazaie (2014) reveal that textism

as causal to language learning has been found to be

statistically significant as for the groups being studied in

Iran. More interesting results had also been highlighted as

the role of textese in promoting learners' performance

through reducing distance and language anxiety. This

rationality suggests that humans are able to be lithe or

flexible and adapt their rational sense to different variables

that condition the mechanism in the communication

process. Thus, there has been the phenomenal existence

and emergence of 'textism' or clipping of words in SMS

being part of rational behavior that is explained in the

concept of the theory. The idea can also be supported in

the different levels of human intentionality towards

communication (Allwood, 2000). Up until the latter parts of

the year 2000's, this linguistic theory may have been

manifested in modern communication media. Hence, an

indispensible narrative inquiry is stipulated to further

determine the significant difference of teen 'textism' to that

of adult 'textism', and textese effects in the classroom

interaction. Many studies delved on the effects of textese

on writing and literacy skills, and indispensable conclusions

were attributed to much light of the use of textese.

5. Methodology

5.1 Research Design

The researchers used a qualitative research approach i.e.

narrative inquiry method. In analyzing the features of

textese, the researchers used coding and tagging of the

culled SMS samples from the participants. For a more

specific stance, the research study utilized narrative

analysis to extract information from various responses taken

from interviews – structured and semi-structured – in the

focus group discussion. The paper likewise involved

collection of data from various contexts, anecdotes or

experiences to describe the use of textisms.

5.2 Research Corpus

The corpus of this paper came from the samples of text

messages and online messages collated from a private

school in Metro Manila, Philippines. The sample collection

was done during August to October 2017. The messages

contained formal, informal and personal conversations of

teachers and students respectively. The use of different

'textism' styles was significantly manifested. A total of 336

text messages from the teachers, inclusive of other

personnels comprised one set of corpus. The other set of

corpus was culled from High School students which had a

total number of 1,103 SMS which are mostly synchronous.

Both corpora were amalgamated random samples of

synchronous and asynchronous text messages. After a

careful manual tagging, 3651 and 3663 comprising of a

combination of synchronous and asynchronous texts from

both student- and teacher-groups were then tallied.

In seeking to analyze salient features on the act 'textism' in

synchronous and asynchronous SMS between two sub-

culture groups, this work helps whether a person's

grammatical and orthographical awareness, when s/he

uses shortened words, is affected. This paper opens

awareness to the use of text messages as a conscious

activity to violating grammar and lexical rules. Moreover, it

also attempts to present sketch of the new language

(textese) by some teen agers and adults, and to shed light

as to how this evolving sociolinguistic phenomenon come

into play, and how this can be useful in class interactions.

This can also be very useful for any future pedagogical

issues that may be relevant to teaching and learning such

as consciousness and corrective measures in

orthographic, lexical, syntactic problems. Moreover, the

data culled for the samples were limited to more

synchronous text messages rather than the asynchronous

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ones. Due to privacy issues, the respondents carefully

chose the text messages for this study. Likewise, the results

of the investigation were delimited to the two subgroups'

collated data and responses.

5.3 Research Participants

The selection of participants was done through a purposive

sampling method. Three Focus Group Discussions (FGD)

were done online involving (1) one group of teachers, (2)

two groups of private high school students; and (3) three

public school high school students. To wit, the group of

seven teachers was composed of 24 – 31 years of age. So,

they were relatively young millennial educators in the

group. They had teaching experiences both in private and

public schools. Additionally, to maintain the objectivity of

the discussion on textism in class interaction, both public

and private school students were asked to share their

opinions about the study. The ages of the high school

students range from 16 – 18 years of age. There were eight

private school students, and eight public school students.

All the three FGD groups were asked for their full consent to

participating in the study. Their identities were kept in

secrecy to maintain confidentiality and ethical

consideration. Before the conduct of the FGD, the

researchers oriented them that the responses to be gotten

from this research were to be taken solely for the purpose of

completing the study.

5.4 Data Analysis and Research Procedure

To answer the first research question, the predetermined

codes stipulated from the previous studies gave the

researchers the notions on the categorization of 'textisms'

used in the corpora (Bieswanger; 2007; Chaka, Mphahlele,

& Mann, 2015; Drouin & Driver, 2014; Indrajith & Varghese,

2018). Two language specialists were consulted for inter-

coder reliability and validation of the results and findings of

the paper. Furthermore, the researchers then included

other distinct shortenings and conspicuous features drawn

from the samples. Frequency distribution and basic

arithmetic mean were used to classify the texting styles

used after all the shortened text entries had been tallied

and manually tagged. The language usage and functions

per shortening text mechanism were also analyzed as to

how the recurring patterns or contexts were used. Some of

the linguistic features stipulated were orthographical

changes, lexical reductions, contractions, clipping

strategies, homophones, stylization, non-standard spelling,

omission techniques and letter-number homophones.

Furthermore, focus group discussions were piloted to

answer the third research question inquiring how textese/

textism strategies were being employed in the class

discussions based on the personal communicative

experiences of the groups. In this part of the study, three

groups of respondents were interviewed. A group of

teachers and two groups of students were asked to

participate in focus group discussions to give their insights

and experiences as to the incidental, conscious,

intentional and instantaneous uses of textese in the

classroom confines. This stage determined the leading

functionalities of text language as employed in the L2

classroom. The researchers qualitatively analyzed the

transcribed responses of the groups and coded the

recurring themes of their answers. To ensure its objectivity,

the researcher consulted two coding experts for reliability.

After these two stages of investigation and inquiry

processes, conclusions and recommendations were

explicated regarding the existing textisms from the sub-

groups and the textese application imprinted in the class

interactions drawn from the guided interviews piloted.

6. Results and Discussion

6.1 Students and Teachers Textism Styles

Out of 1,439 SMS culled from the teacher participants and

a total of 7,314 words from students' text messages, 750

student-textisms were tallied while 189 were from the

teachers. Accumulating all the textisms employed, a total

of 939 were used by the groups. It is, likewise, seen that

students relatively use textisms four times higher than the

teachers. The data below show the tagged student

samples:

The Table 1 presents the SMS strategies employed by

students based on Bieswanger's (2007) and AbuSa'aleek

(2015) shortening strategies. It is remarkable to note that a

number of SMS shortening strategies do not fall into any of

Bieswanger and AbuSa'aleek's categories. These therefore

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contributed to another set of distinct features namely:

spelling alterations, slang, numeric, word blending and

lack of punctuation. Moreover, the data show that students

tend to employ emoticons in their text messages most

frequently (26.40%), followed by contractions (23.60),

sound representation (17.47%), other text mechanisms

(8.00%), letter dropping (7.07%), abbreviations (3.60%),

clipping (3.07%) and acronymy (2%). It is likewise

manifested that overlexicalization (Werry, 1996) and

relexicalization (Halliday, 1978), were still being utilized, and

highlighted in the text mechanisms of learners.

On the other hand, text samples from teachers had

contributed lesser features as manifested in the data

below:

Table 2 suggest that teachers use sound representation

(19.58%) more frequently, and followed by some other

features (17.99%) which cannot be categorized into

textisms mentioned by Bieswanger (2007), abbreviations

(16.40%), acronymy (11.11%), emoticons (8.47%),

contractions (8.45%), letter-dropping (7.94%), clipping

(7.41%), and onomatopoeia (2.65%). There are other

features used by the specific group. The conspicuous

examples were spelling alterations or misspelling, slang,

numeric, word blending, lack of punctuation and

fragmentation of utterance. This occurrence further

explains the claim of Tagliamonte and Dennis (2008) that

instant messaging is a new hybrid or variation of language

in contemporary English exhibiting an amalgamation of

formal and vernacular variants. The observable number of

new variants of textism is also adhering to the Sociolinguistic

study of Thurlow (2003). In this paper, Generation Txt, it was

disclosed that the language of e-discourse is linguistically

unremarkable. Thus, it was a demonstration of skill and

creative interaction ability of the age groups to use the

language.

Table 1 and 2 reveal that both students and teachers use

the various shortening classes in their text messages. As

manifested, students' textisms were clearly four times

higher than teachers' textisms. Based on the culled

samples, sound representations, onomatopoeia,

contractions were significantly utilized by students.

Moreover, it can be inferred that the students are far more

creative in using the 'textism' styles than the teachers. The

findings are in consonant with the claim of Lee (2006)

asserting that the use of CMC or Computer Mediated

Communication is extremely utilized by the students viz

emoticons, initialing (AbuSa’aleek, 2013) and

onomatopoeia.

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Strategy

Rank

Contractions 177 23.60 2

Clipping 23 3.07 8

Acronymy 15 2.00 9

Onomatopoeia 66 8.80 4

Sound Representation 131 17.47 3

Abbreviations 27 3.60 7

Letter-dropping 53 7.07 6

Emoticons 198 26.40 1

Others: 60 8.00 5

Spelling alterations 3 0.40 -

Slang 15 2.00 -

Numeric 22 2.93 -

Word Blending 8 1.07 -

Lack of punctuation 12 1.60 -

Total 750 100.00

Table 1. SMS Shortening Strategies Employed by Students

Strategy

Rank

Clipping

14 7.41

Contractions

8.45

Acronymy

11.11 4

Onomatopoeia

2.65 9

Sound Representation

19.58

Abbreviations

16.40

Letter-dropping 15

7.94

Emoticons 16

8.47

Others: 34

17.99 2

Lack of Punctuation

2 1.06

Use of Dash for Direct Announcement

2 1.06

Elliptical or Fragmented

4.76

Spelling Alterations

13 6.88

Numeric

4.23

Slang

- - -

Total

189 100.00

Table 2. SMS Shortening Strategies Employed by Teachers

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6.1.1 Contraction with Respect to Age Group

Table 3 shows that the students (23.60%) extremely use

contractions in their SMS than the teachers’ (8.40%). The

number of students' usage with the respective textism is

significantly three times more than the teachers' SMS. In

sample corpora, the researcher have accounted 16

contracted words from the teachers and 177 from the

students. Thus, this occurrence to the sample SMS supports

the economy principle set by Dahl (2001).

6.1.2 Clipping with Respect to Age Group

The teachers (7.41%) use clippings in their text messages

two times higher than the student SMS (3.07%). The

teacher-respondents conspicuously use this as language

flexibility. Therefore, it concurs that the texting economy is

sometimes overruled. It is not absolute to text messaging.

This shortening may be an effect of socio-emotional

consequences of language play (Doring 2002). There are

a number of accounted sample in this category e.g. Dec,

tarp, Thurs, exam; and for students: typo, exams, intro, org,

prob (problem) and probas (probably). Only the initial

letters are retained, and the rest were dropped. One

distinguishable factor of clipping is its familiarity sense once

the text is cut initially or at the end. Thus, the texters can

automatically understand the intended message.

6.1.3 Acronymy with Respect to Age Group

Table 3 shows that teachers use acronyms in their text

messages (11.11%) more than the students (2.00%). This is

probably teachers are more exposed into such technical,

or jargonized expressions used in their work culture. With the

result presented, the assertion of Sveningson (2001) that

“The use of specialized short forms is an indicator of

belongingness to the community and group identity” holds

true. As Doring (2002) says that short forms are products of

collective identity functions that serve a specific group of

people.

6.1.4 Onomatopoeia with Respect to Age Group

It is seen that the students are more creative in using the

onomatopoeia. A lot of it were manifested in the text samples

from the students. 8.80% was true to the students' samples

whilst 2.65 from the teachers. Onomatopoeia was first

developed by the claim of Werry (1996) in the idea of

'overlexicalizeion'. Moreover, Lee (2006) and Smith (2003)

developed the use of this occurrence as an invented

linguistic device. A lot of trendy internet initialing were taken

from the students SMS e.g. omg; lmao (laughing my ass out)

hbu (how bout you), idk (I don't know), ikr (I know right), lol

(laughing out loud), ttyl (talk to you later), wru (where are you),

brb(be right back), and jsyk (just so you know).

6.1.5 Sound Representation with Respect to Age Group

Table 3 shows that both students (17.47%) and teachers

(19.58%) have an almost equal share to using the rebus-

like characters in their text messages. In such cases,

spelling of words imitates the phonetic value that the

characters represent or the spoken-like forms of

unconventional spelling (Segerstad, 2002). This strategy

serves, whether or not in formal SMS, as a language play for

economizing the word-length of the messages; likewise,

used as an art of writing through unigram or bigram

(Cabatbat, & Tapang,2013; Schlobinski et al., 2001).

6.1.6 Abbreviation with Respect to Age Group

Teacher commonly use abbreviated words or expressions

in their text messages (16.40%); unlike in the student SMS

with only 3.60%. The teacher-respondents have a much

higher percentage of using the abbreviated words. It is,

however, described as a commonly used strategy in

textisms (Averianova, 2012).

6.1.7 Letter Dropping with Respect to Age Group

The table entails that both teachers and students similarly

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f %

177

23.60

23 3.07

15 2.00

66 8.80

131 17.47

27 3.60

53 7.07

198 26.40

60 8.00

750 100

F %

8.45

14 7.41

21 11.11

5 2.65

37 19.58

31 16.40

15 7.94

16 8.47

17.99

189 100

Strategy Teens Teachers

Contractions

Clipping

Acronymy/ Initialing

Onomatopoeia

Sound Representation

Abbreviations

Letter-dropping

Emoticons

Others: (Spelling alterations, Slang,

Numeric, Word Blending, Lack of

punctuation, Fragmented/ Elliptical)

Total:

Table 3. SMS Shortening Strategies Employed by

Students vis-à-vis by Teachers

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drop letters in their text messages. There was 0.9%

difference in their use of the said textism style viz students:

7.07% while teachers: 7.94%. From the corpora, the

researcher synthesized two observable occurrences of

letter dropping viz extreme letter omission and single-letter

omission which were incidentally caused from speed

texting. This supports the idea of Averianova (2012) on the

creative use of CMC as unique linguistic feature of

electronic writing.

6.1.8 Emoticons with Respect to Age Group

Table 3 shows that the students (26.40%) extremely use

emoticons in their text mechanism as compared to the

8.47% from the teachers' SMS. It can also be inferred that

students utilized much of extra-linguistic cues; thus,

employing economy principle and breaking the mono-

modal expressions in text messaging (Halliday, 1978).

Table 4 shows other creative 'textisms' employed by the two

groups. These include the use of symbols for expression of

emotions, elliptical and fragmented expressions,

punctuation marks, and excessive use of passive syntactic

features for direct announcements. These samples support

the economy principle of texting taken from Dahl (2001).

Distinct codes were found in the data samples which

symbolized happiness, sadness and nonchalance. This

strategy provides an economy effect to the feelings of the

senders supporting the claim of Averianova (2012) that

iconographic e-writing is not limited to innovative

abbreviations. Thus, the use of emoticons could also be

developed – from the use of mixed, repeated or single

emoticons. Furthermore, Koross and Kipkenda (2016)

named spelling alterations in texting similarly as sound

homophone and non-conventional spelling. It is

characterized by replacing a syllable in a word using single

letter to represent the sound attributed to it e.g.:

“sked” for schedule, “thanx” for thanks, “gud” for good,

“opis” for office, “entranz” for entrance”.

Moreover, the use of elliptical or fragmented phrases were

commonly accounted to teachers' text samples e.g. 'am

so happy' and 'your absence excused'. This strategy made

the function words implicit. On the other hand, there were

also some indispensable observations that the researcher

noticed in the text mechanisms employed. It is the use of

frequent repeated words or unit ie. hahahahahaha,

showeeeerrrrdd, huhuhuhu, psssssssssst, okayyyy, whyyyyyy,

jkjk i.e. joke, and address to a person using a repeated last

letter of the name i.e. al****iaaaaa. With these recurring

patterns, it could be inferred that students use this

mechanism to emphasize feelings or capitalize an

intimate culture or norm within group of peers. Consider the

sample: “AND THE MOVIE IS LIKE 2 HOURS LONG,

SDFGHLJ;A”, “OH C***, Kelbakwishwowodjd. I'M SO ANGRY

LIKE. WHY YOU DO THAT”. It is clear to note that students

creatively play with words that seems connected to their

friendship norms or the sub-culture underlying in their

system as 'internetters'. Some examples drawn are:

Instead of 'help', it was consciously misspelled as 'halp';

nerds as nurdz; okay to oki; the personal pronoun 'me' to

'meh'.

This observation, likewise, contributes to much more

features of students' text mechanism which may seem

worthy of research.

6.2 Textese Imprints in Class Discussions

Little is known about the use of textese in the classroom;

however, many studies contributed to the effects of

textisms in the writing skills of students (Aziz, Shamim, Aziz, &

Avais,2013; Chaka, Mphahlele, & Mann, 2015; Koross and

Kipkenda, 2016). This study aims to contribute to filling the

gap on the functionalities of this digital language in class

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Variables

Other Textisms Employed

Lack of Punctuation

Fragments

Use of Dash

Numeric Word Blending

Slang Spelling Alterations

Students

Teachers

0.40

13 6.88

2.00

- -

1.07

- -

2.93

4.23

- -

1.06

- -

4.76

1.60

1.06

Table 4. Frequency Distribution of Other Observable Textisms with Respect to Age Group

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discussion which challenged the researchers to look into

the utility it provides for oral discussion; thus, another notion

to build on the strength of SMS language rather than a

hindrance to students' literacy (Aziz, Shamim, Aziz, & Avais,

2013).

Based on the culled text messages, it can be inferred that

textism has been significantly utilized. The participants'

inclination to using this unconventional language makes

an interesting query as to its application in class

–unconsciously or consciously. There are studies show that

textism is a vibrant and exuberating language for the users

which emphasizes understanding in communication

rather than standards (Ahmad, 2014; Ekundayo, 2014). This

notion is definitive to another investigation: the specific

functionality of 'textese' in class discussion as manifested

from the participants' communicative experiences in class.

These class discussions include teacher-student

interactions in the lecture or student engagements within

group sharing or round-table discussions.

The data presented are the delimited findings in the use of

textisms in class discussions based on the FGD responses of

teachers and students. Based on the answers of the

respondents, four functions of textese in the classroom

discussion and interaction in L2 classroom had been

framed. These have been coined as SHELL: (1) Small Group

Language Functionality; (2) Hook/Engagement

Functionality; (3) Low Filter Functionality; and (4) Learning

Comprehension Functionality. The categorization was

plotted based on the responses of the students and

teachers on the questions elicited during the interview

sessions. This analysis shows the effective and active use of

textese or textisms into reducing learners' anxiety levels,

thereby inducing the language learning (Mousavinia,

Hayati, & Khazaie, 2014).

6.3 Small Group Language Functionality

The role of textese to the language learners is still a

debatable topic to think about as posited from different

studies (Ahmad, 2014; Hogan et al., 2012). Two

perspectives have been raised whether texting has a good

or bad influence to the learners' academic performance

and its usage in the classroom interaction. The use of

'textese' among the learners, according to the student-

respondents, gives more opportunities to create a more

comfortable atmosphere in the small group discussion.

One student commented “When the discussion is limited to

fellow students, then yes, I often use contractions and

shortcuts because of the nature of how we usually

communicate to each other normally consists of the use of

such words.” Lynch and Pappas, (2017) posited that there

are more comfortable sharing experiences or ideas with

peers and students in smaller settings. According to the

student-respondents the use of textisms is utilized in a more

meaningful way in a small group discussion and in an

informal setting: “With small group discussions, I prefer

shortcuts and contractions (i.e., gonna, wanna thx, gg, wth)

because I consider them to be a more natural and casual

form of speaking.” Philp (2016) reported the value of

training peer collaboration and the support mechanism

which can be brought through the role of teachers in

building this learning environment with a high degree of

mutuality.

The use of textese in social media reveals that not only it

can develop the users' fluency, but also in intercultural

competence skills in the target language (McSweeney,

2017). One student responded, “Very often I use it (textism)

to call, to chat, and to open various social media.” Another

respondent mentioned, “I often use my phone for social

media! Updating my twitter or facebook for my friends to

see is a way for me to communicate with them, but of

course I also use my phone for texting and 'chatting' for the

most part and calling, too”. Taking the answers of the

interviewees, all had agreed that the use of text language

could allow them to communicate freely – even in the

class setting where real chatting had been the students'

opportune time to use textese. Often they use text

language in conversing, and a few of the words mentioned

were: gtg, ily, thx, gg, wth, gonna, wanna, “wry” for “where

are you” or “ikr” for “I know right”. These examples do not

necessarily show their language competence but even

the cultural difference of the language of the millennial.

McSweeney (2017) reemphasized that vocabulary use is

not necessarily being developed in this mechanism.

Furthermore, one teacher-respondent shared about the

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use of textisms in small group sharing: “Most of them

(students) react and share more. They also seem to

establish further connection with the lesson/s and the

teacher as well.” By this, it is evident that text language has

a huge role in allowing the students to share and freely

communicate their ends in a small group discussion.

Another respondent disclosed that when discussion was

limited to fellow students, very often they used contractions

and shortcuts because of the nature of how people usually

communicate to each other. Normally, according to the

respondent those pertinent discussions consist of the use of

word contractions and text language. McSweeney (2017)

reports that practicing texting in English could further

establish a healthy acquisition of English literacy, thus,

produce higher English Literacy progress.

6.4 Hook/ Engagement Functionality

Gatica (2017) reiterated that L2 language teachers must

have an attitude to search for more ways on maintaining

engagement for language learning. Incorporating all the

responses from the focus group discussions reveal that

using 'textese' in class discussions is a factor to rebuilding

connection and motivating the learners to listen and

engage themselves in the class interaction. One student

mentioned, “It's fun especially when the younger teachers

engage in our so called text-speak. It does get us to

participate more because we're encouraged to speak in a

way we are comfortable with.” It was likewise reinforced by

another, “There are times when our teachers do engage

themselves in 'textisms' while discussing in class. And yes, for

me it really does catch my attention and I also notice my

classmates suddenly lighten up and be more cooperative

in our class”. Based on these, the effect of using textisms in

class can eventually establish a meaningful connection

between teachers and students. From the notion of

'classmates suddenly lighten up' improves the motivational

factor in rebuilding from students' disengagement to

engagement (Guthrie, 2004). Among the 'Other Elements

of Performance Teaching and Experiment with Delivery' or

'Simple Non-verbal Strategies', fluency of spoken words is

the one being stipulated in this study (Lynch & Pappas,

2017). Consider the anecdotes presented from the

respondents:

Student A: “Like one time, there was a teacher who started

the class sort of serious (which made the mood a little

scary) but then he started communicating with us by using

words like 'weh?' 'Luh' or actually laughing like the text laugh

“hehehe” in person, and we enjoyed more and felt like we

had a connection with him.” In this sample, the idea of

reinforcing learning engagement was clearly established.

By injecting text language by the teacher, the students felt

the ease of the situation, and discriminated the filtered

atmosphere in class. By saying that the teacher was scary

at first, then to enjoying class interaction supports the idea

that there is a significant purpose of using 'textese' in class

interaction. This notion was reinforced by the response of a

teacher-respondent saying, “When it comes to oral class

interactions, I appreciate it so long as my students actively

participate and if using shortcuts and contractions will

make them more confident in expressing themselves. I

don't think it's a hindrance to the learning process.” Both

students and teacher-respondents agreed that 'textese'

could promote motivation in learning.

Additionally, Student B disclosed: “One time in class, we

were doing presentations so the class was talking mostly to

the presenters. During the Q&A for one of the presentations

we were like “Oh that's the OG!” over and over again. Then

our professor just stared at us and went, “OG? What's OG?”

And we laughed. Before that, not a lot of people were

answering the questions and the atmosphere was really stiff

but afterwards it became casual, so people suddenly

recited more and the ideas were more wild, but also more

interesting.” Exemplifying this instance proves that the

sincere disconnection of the instructor to the text language

accidentally built more engagement processes among

learners, and created a more convivial atmosphere to

allow recitations and student-sharing. Lynch and Pappas,

(2017) emphasized level of comfort in a class discussion;

though this example was in a bigger group scale, there had

been a significant impact manifested as a 'textese' term

was used by the students, and used as an object of fun.

Philp, Adams and Iwashita (2013) then posited the use of

new language among learners which significantly

produces a meaningful connection between meaning

and form. This idea has been supported through the cited

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anecdote which had been established from the time the

level of seriousness was rectified as the 'textese' term was

incidentally mentioned during discussion. From the

experience of the learner, peer interaction (instead of

teacher-student interaction which was too restrictive and

inhibiting) was developed and an opportunity for trying out

new language was drilled. In fact, one teacher-respondent

shared, “As one of our activities before discussing The

Taximan's Story by Catherine Lim, I asked my students to

describe their generation using the familiar SNS logos,

hashtags, shortcuts or acronyms. They were very active in

sharing and were able to provide a good preview about

the lesson.” The atmosphere was maintained as free and

student-friendly. Hence, there had been a class

engagement where students carried out mistakes with

confidence and spontaneity (Philp, Adams & Iwashita,

2013).

6.5 Low Filter Functionality

Lynch & Pappas (2017) purported the 'Degree of Informality

in the Classroom' encompassing the idea of Lambert, Philp

and Nakao (2017) in building a more engaging platform for

the students to learn the target language whether spoken

or written. Informal use of language thus creates an

atmosphere of free environment to sustain the motivation

to learn and unlearn ideas. A student in the current study

shared, “One instance of using textisms for me in class is

how once our teacher was telling us about their life and it

was very casual and everyone was laughing and the like.

Then my professor said something shocking and I

accidentally said “shook” and they heard it. My professor

just went “yes, exactly, shook”. This experience contributed

greatly to the use of 'textese' in language learning which

supports the idea that environment in a classroom has a

tremendous effect on learner motivation (Gatica, 2017).

The idea of Low Filter is taken from the theory proposed by

Krashen (1982). He claims that learners with high

motivation, good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are

better equipped for success in second language

acquisition. Thus, low motivation, unstable self-confidence

and negative feelings toward learning can contribute to

raise the affective filter which prevents comprehensible

input from being used for acquisition. In other words, when

filter is up, it hinders language acquisition and when filter is

down, it facilitates learning. Allowing the students to learn in

a free-environment where there is a feeling of comfort – not

competitive – and level of informality helps increase the

motivation in language learning (Gatica, 2017). Likewise,

this situation creates an avenue for 'Oral Interactive Tasks' to

be at some point manufactured on the context (Lambert,

Philp & Nakao, 2017).

A student revealed, “In particular, my teachers don't really

use textisms – maybe they're worried it would make them

less formal – but in cases where we do speak in textisms

and they hear, they're confused. And, their being confused

helps everyone in the room bond and encourages

participation. I feel like this is the case because since the

professor is confused, we feel like it's okay to make mistakes.

<That> consequences for mistakes won't be as grave or

will be viewed in a different light by everyone… So it doesn't

matter.” As Candlin (2016) mentioned, it is important for a

communicative language teaching to have an error-free

context where students do not stress themselves out

towards making mistakes in class interaction. This freedom

to commit errors in class builds and encourages more

student sharing and responses. It is inevitable to make

mistakes, so this idea of creating a 'free-to-error' classroom

could possibly entice the learners to confidently discuss

ideas and share their voices in class. A similar teacher story

was posed: “I can't remember the lesson but I was trying to

explain "Seize the day" to my students and got everyone's

attention when I said YOLO. They were also able to explain

more and became more active to share something in

class.” In this sample, there is a clear impact of text

language in allowing students' interest be upheld, and

building their learning preparedness. This situation is an

inviting mechanism to allow the students to freely share

their thoughts without inhibitions since the teacher imposed

a friendly atmosphere of posing a relevant activity using a

trendy term in 21 century.

6.6 Learning Comprehension Functionality

Philp (2017) mentioned that observation and trial-and-error

in language learning indicates that learners move from

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comprehending to communicating. Through those

processes the learners can engage to a more sensible

mechanism to think about the system of language. A

student disclosed, “It could be because of the textism that I

have to actively think about what I say before I speak

especially in a school setting”. This student probably meant

that through the active use of text language, they

meaningfully engaged themselves into self-monitor, and

eventually could help them process language learning in a

more informal way. However, the use of textism in a

traditional setup shows a significant impact as well.

“Occasionally, when we accidentally slip into textisms

during recitation, the teacher would berate us as it creates

an unprofessional and non-academic atmosphere.”

Lynch and Pappas, (2017) clearly debated that it is

important to emphasize the need for diversifying learning

activities-especially in large courses-to maintain student

interest, and teachers must have a need to uphold that

every time they teach, they must make sure that affective

filter is low (Krashen, 1982), so that retention and learning

would be better achieved and retained.

One of the areas being brought in this study was the use of

'textese' in the comprehension of language learners.

However one problem was raised: “I don't see any problem

when it comes to using the SMS language in engaging the

class for interaction. however, I think if the learners do not

have the proficiency yet or strong fundamentals of the

language, and the teacher was not able to process some

colloquials or slangs which are ungrammatical or the like,

some errors in orthography or language use may become

a student's habit ergo the errors might be fossilized,” a

teacher-respondent mentioned. It was clearly resolved

that the idea of allowing errors can lead to fossilization

(Rahal, 2016). Using text language in class likewise may

impede sound language learning. Therefore, teacher

scaffolding imputed in the class interaction in an informal

discussion plays a vital role.

On the other hand, exposure to communicative tasks can

promote opportunities to actively use target language

towards practicing and building up fluency (Mackey,

Abbuhl & Gass, 2012). The process of practicing

communicative tasks like informal conversation in the class

or communicating with others can provide context to learn

and engage in the language activities where students can

be exposed to resolving problems of understanding and

being understood, or noticing mismatches between the

target language and their own version (Philp, Adams and

Ishiwata, 2013). A student shared, “It may certainly be a

factor as I am now more used to text rather than to

converse, and thus more naturally inclined to use 'textism' in

real life.” This notion suggests that there is a normal

tendency for a student to use text language in their life

engagements or dealings. This can be also manifested in

the way they interact in the class. Thus, a culture of

communicative atmosphere or conversation-themed

class would build much of engagement. In connection, a

teacher-respondent commented, “I usually use trends that

students can relate to further their understanding about a

concept (e.g. YOLO) or to maintain their interest in class

(e.g. the hashtags, FYI, and others). I actually always use

#OOTD (Objectives of the Day) to present the objectives in

class. They really comprehend more and enjoy the class

when I use those trends.” This idea validates the idea of the

use of text terms or the trendy 'textese' words to promote

motivation in learning and not to utterly allow the students

to comprehend a text material, but providing the students

a mechanism to understand a lesson through the help of

text terms as aid for comprehension. This is supported from

the theory stipulated from the neuroscience study

revealing that activations in parts of the brain for semantic

memory and emotion have overlapping relationship, and

likewise associates to the theory of learning as dependent

on the state of the affect (Binney, Embleton, Jefferies,

Parker, & Ralph, 2010; Hruby & Goswami, 2013).

Conclusions and Pedagogical Implications

This paper has investigated the differences and similarities

of 'textisms' employed by two sub-groups regarding the use

of shortening text strategies in text communication, and the

functions of the text language in the actual classroom

interaction.

Based on the careful analysis done in this study, text

communications among teachers and students show a

significant result as far as the use of text shortening

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strategies is concerned (12.84%). Shortening text

messages are reserved for various purposes and functions:

for language play and flexibility, for language economy, for

group identity, and for directness to communication.

Segerstad (2002) once stated that the immediacy and

ease of interaction might lead to disregarding such

linguistic standards like proper orthography, lexicography or

any syntactical features. The findings in this paper are

adhering to this claim of Segerstad on the Linguistic

Adaptivity Theory which entails flexibility on the use

language i.e., using unconventional orthography. With the

use of different textese styles, both subgroups could make

connections to their instant conversation more

synchronously, although there are authentic asynchronous

text messages employed. As for the classroom interaction,

it can develop more motivation to the students in class as

revealed by one of the teachers in the focus group

discussion. It was mentioned that the current trends and

relatively appealing words from social media sites, once

used for class motivation, can be good strategy to engage

the learners in the lesson that an L2 teacher discusses. It has

been found out that the use of textisms can develop more

active involvement among the students, peer interaction,

and connections with the teachers. It has been proven that

textism use in class enables the students to share ideas

without too much inhibition.

Results suggests that both sub-groups use major categories

in shortening text mechanism ie contractions, clipping,

sound representations, acronymy, onomatopoeia,

abbreviations and letter dropping. Likewise, the researcher

has found out that both age groups can create other

variations of textisms. It has been observed that both

groups employed 'lack-of-punctuation', numerics and

spelling alterations. However, there are also some features

which are not utilized by the other group. Students don't use

fragments and dash in shortening their text messages,

unlike teachers who significantly use these two in their text

messages especially in making announcements. On the

other hand, teachers don't use slang and word blending

strategies which are creatively utilized by the students viz.

'imma' for 'I might'. Though not significantly resolved, as

mentioned in the first part of the paper, this study may give

the readers comprehensible picture of how 'textism' is

separately and purposely used in text messages, and not

directly affecting the person's competence in utilizing the

language (AbuSA'aleek, 2013; Bieswanger, 2007; Lee,

2006; Smith 2003).

Having been immersed to the modern world, students,

whether elementary, high school or collegiate level, are

needed to be taught efficiently by the language teachers

on the nitty-gritty details of the English syntactical and

lexical rules. Likewise, other teachers in other specializations

are also agents of language learning in a more implicit

way. They teach students to use the language in a more

specific purpose. They must be very aware on the trends

and the implications of text messaging in the language

speakers today. With a number of findings drawn from this

article regarding textisms, researchers may find other

evolving patterns in text language e.g. the repeated text

mechanisms of teenagers, additional categories for

shortening classes, or psycho-sociolinguistic study on the

text language. Since text language is a flexible mode of

communication as emphasized in this study, there could

be other stylistic mechanisms that can be studied since

language is, by nature, dynamic.

This paper opens awareness to the use of text messages as

a “conscious” activity to violating grammar and lexical

rules. Adolescent learners are one of the highly affected

subgroups by this continuously emerging phenomenon.

Having been exposed to such, they tend to use textese

even in their class interactions. Considerations on proper

monitoring and processing by language educators

regarding textese among learners have been

emphasized. Much challenged is faced now since

'textisms' are not only utilized through text messaging but

even through different social media sites. Hence, the

inevitable use of textese in the classroom confines has also

brought into light. Gatica (2017) emphasized that L2

language teachers should allow more strategic ways to

maintain engagement in language learning.

Thus, the present study proposes four functionalities of

textism in the class interaction which can help language

teachers understand how purposeful textese in language

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learning: (1) Small Group Language Functionality that is

further developed by the suggestive idea of Lynch and

Pappas (2017) of allowing learners to achieve level of

comfort within their peers or classmates; (2)

Hook/Engagement Functionality as proposed by Guthrie

(2004) in making learners engaged rather than

disengaged; (3) Low Filter Functionality which is adopted

from the concept of Krashen (1982) and Candlin (2016)

which both adhere to error-free environment in language

learning; and (4) Learning Comprehension Functionality

that capitalizes on the exposure of students to

communicative tasks that can promote opportunities to

actively use target language towards practicing and

building up fluency (Mackey, Abbuhl & Gass, 2012).

To further develop and improve the findings from this paper,

it is recommended to pursue more relevant experimental

approaches in investigating this phenomenon in class.

Actual observation of teacher-student interaction can also

be an interesting area to delve into. Since the data were

drawn from qualitative interviews and perceptions of

respondents, it is more advantageous if quasi-research or

longitudinal studies would be considered to further

explicate the results.

References:

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Benedict Cereno Totanesis currently working as a Senior High School Teacher in a Science High School in Department of

Education – Division of Taguig-Pateros, Philippines. He teaches English and Research subjects, and currently, serves as the Adviser

of the Supreme Student Government. Moreover, he is an active member of the Exalt Choir Team in Christ's Commission

Fellowship. As a researcher, his major interests are primarily focusing on Critical Literacy, Extensive Reading, World Englishes, and

Linguistics. He, likewise, has presented in different international and local research conferences. He took up Master of Arts in

Education major in English Language Teaching at the Philippine Normal University.

Dr. Rachelle Ballesteros- Lintao is currently working as an Associate Professor of English at the University of Santo Tomas (UST),

Manila, Philippines. She has published numerous articles in refereed professional and academic journals and has presented

papers in local and International Conferences in line with her research interests in Forensic Linguistics, Discourse Analysis and

Second Language Teaching, and Learning. She also serves as the eLearning Specialist of the UST Graduate School and teaches

graduate courses at the Philippine Normal University on a part-time basis.

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