The Use of SMS and Language Transformation in Bangladesh

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to explore the evolution of language in SMS-mediated communication among Bangladeshis, particularly among university students. Key findings indicate that the majority of respondents (69.7%) send 1-5 text messages (SMS) on an average each day, followed by 22.7% who send 6-10 SMS per day; that most young people (49.7%) mix up Bengali and English (known as Benglish) languages (also, Hindi and other languages) while typing SMS on their mobile phones; that most respondents (64.0%) do not follow the rules of capitalization while typing SMS; that most respondents (67.7%) use abbreviations (gr8, ASAP, LOL) in writing SMS; and that males use more words in SMS (20.7%) than females (7.3%). Discussions include implications of SMS in language transformation in Bangladesh in both academic and non-academic settings.