A lazy spL? Some worry that correct spelling losing importance

PROVO — Thx 2 txt msgN, the ways ppl spL R changing.

Translation: Thanks to the popularity of text messaging — one poll says almost two-thirds of young adults use their phones to send text messages — the ways people spell are changing.

Perhaps for ease or simple brevity, text message writers drop vowels. And they substitute single letters and numbers for sounds, words or phrases — such as "BTW" for "by the way" or "skul" for "school."

As Springville mother Teresa Walker watches her children's fingers fly over their cell phones, she considers text messaging's effect on their spelling.

"I know it doesn't help them any," she said.

Four of her five children send text messages. Although Walker's children send her messages with correct spellings, she realizes her daughter programs words into her phone to avoid having to spell them.

"I'm not any more worried about that than the spell checker on the computer," Walker said. "It's making us all lazy."

But while technology may be driving new spellings for old words, a recent spate of entertainment programs focusing on spelling bees suggests spelling hasn't lost its importance in society.

The 2002 documentary "Spellbound" proved spelling bees are popular to watch. Fictional movies such as "Bee Season" and "Akeelah and the Bee" were favorites with critics and crowds. The musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" won a Tony, and tonight the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee will be shown for the first time on a broadcast network. Dixie State College's elementary education director, Brenda Sabey, whose specialization is literacy and spelling, actually thinks interest in spelling bees has risen in tandem with the rise in popularity of text messaging.

"People (are) becoming concerned text messaging is going to ruin our children's spelling forever," Sabey said. "I think (the movies are) a good thing. That's getting us talking about an area of literacy that maybe needs more attention."

Sabey does not necessarily believe that spelling in text messages will lead to poor spelling in more traditional writing.

When people write text messages, they think about how words sound, are abbreviated and traditionally spelled. Spelling is inherent in that thought process, Sabey said.