The Discourse of Text Messaging: Analysis of SMS Communication

Understanding the discourse of text messaging has
profound implications for society. SMS text messaging has impacted considerably
on how we communicate with others. Negative, sometimes alarmist media coverage
continues to fuel debate surrounding its 'damaging' effects on language and literacy,
yet these portrayals tend to be based on extreme or fictionalised accounts of
text messaging. What kind of language do people really use when they text?

Drawing on a range of academic sources from various
fields, this book describes the language used in a corpus of over 11,000 text
messages, as yet the largest collection in the UK. In particular, the book shows
how the discourse of text messaging is shaped by users' often creative
responses to the functions and constraints of the medium.

This is an essential book for upper level
undergraduates and postgraduates studying discourse analysis, as well as
educators wanting to understand this important new form of discourse.

Caroline Tagg is Senior Lecturer in Applied
Linguistics at The Open University, UK.