Lecturers’ and students’ perceptions on the influence of texting language on students’ academic writing in English at Egerton University, Kenya

Abstract

Technology is the hallmark of today‟s world. It has bequeathed us with computers, mobile phones and related gadgetry. The proliferation of these gadgets in the society has influenced the modes of communication and the use of language. The gadgets have restrictions that force users to flout grammatical and other language rules which are likely to pose a danger to correct English language usage among University students. This study sought to examine lecturers‟ and students‟ perceptions on the influence of texting language on students‟ academic writing in English at Egerton University. The study was guided by Sociolinguistic theory and Situated Learning theories. The study used descriptive survey research design. The target population was Egerton University 2017 third year students comprising of 140 students and 55 lecturers from the Faculty of Education and Community Studies (FEDCOS) and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS). Simple random sampling and purposive sampling were respectively used in selecting the students and lecturers from the departments of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Management (CIEM) and Literature Language and Linguistics (LLL). A sample of 48 lecturers out of 55 and 121 students out of 140 successfully responded to the questionnaires. A set of questionnaires, one for the lecturers and the other for the students, and an observation checklist were used as research instruments. Content validity of the instruments was determined through expert judgement and piloting. Reliability of the questionnaires was estimated through Cronbach‟s alpha coefficient. From the pilot study, the students‟ questionnaire attained a reliability coefficient of α=0.904 while the lecturers questionnaires had a reliability coefficient of α=0.952. This reliability coefficient met the minimum threshold coefficient of 0.7. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies was used to analyse the data. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. The results were then presented in the form of Tables. The findings indicated that 97% participating students found texting convenient due to the ease of putting messages together while 74% admitted experiencing challenges in using correct English language and punctuations in handwritten assignments. The findings of this study gives an insight on the influence of texting language on academic writing of Egerton University students in Kenya. The findings of this study are useful to the university students, lecturers and researchers who may be interested in improving the quality of academic writing in universities education.