ABSTRACT
This research project examined the Effects of Social Media Abbreviations on Students' Use of Written English Language in Ovia North-East Local Government Area, Edo State. The research work was guided by three research questions which were hypothesized.. Its basic purpose was to reveal the level at which the social media abbreviations has eaten into students' writing abilities . It was tested at the 0.05 level of significance.
The research design adopted for this research work was a descriptive survey.This research work consisted of a population of 3,233 students of all Senior Secondary School 1 students of the study area. Wherein, a total number of one hundred (100) respondents were selected from six (6) secondary schools in the study area using the simple random sampling technique.The instrument used for data collection was an approved essay question. Hence, the essay question was administered as an on-the-spot test to sampled respondents. It was content and face validated by the supervisor and tested reliable by the test- retest technique at a 0.07 correlation coefficient. The retrieved scripts were here by retrieved , assessed on a benchmark of 50 and analysed via the t-test independent sample technique and pearson momentum correlation coefficient .
The findings of this study revealed that social media abbreviations has eroded students' academic writing proficiencies in Senior Secondary Schools in Ovia North-East Local Government Area, Edo state. Particularly, in the aspects of the use of expression and mechanical accuracy amongst others.Hence, the most appealing reasons for students' poor essay performance as observed were prior to the use of incorrect spellings, notation of the subjective personal pronoun "I" with the lower case alphabet "I", alarming use of enjambment and inappropriate use of punctuations . The researcher thus, recommends that firstly, professionally qualified English language teachers are retained by all schools in order to inculcate proper writing standards in thel students by means of the proficient instructions they command. Secondly, English language Oracy should be allocated a period of its own in all schools. Wherein, essays would be taught and tests would be conducted weekly and strictly assessed by the qualified English Language teachers with laid down standards. And lastly, the various social platforms should set boundaries on the use of abbreviations for all minors.
