Online language and texting ‘contributed to poor scores in literacy’ in South Australia’s NAPLAN tests

A common habit that many of us are guilty of contributed to poor results in literacy in South Australia’s 2024 NAPLAN results, education leaders say.

• SA NAPLAN scores revealed

Mobile phone use and abbreviations used online have contributed to poor results in literacy in South Australia’s 2024 NAPLAN results, education leaders have said.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said online language and texting “is contributing to eroding” students’ understanding of writing and grammar.

“They’re using slang or acronyms or often not even words, emojis and that is the way they’re getting used to communicating,” Mr Boyer, who had two daughters take the tests for the first time, said.

It is now more difficult for teachers when “their kids are communicating in a shorthand form”, he said.

“It’s up to us as a system to make sure we reinforce to them why it is really important that they still know how to write in a correct grammatical way,” Mr Boyer said.

“These are the things and skills that employers still very much want.”

Education Minister Blair Boyer with Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Matt Loxton

It comes after data released on Wednesday showed SA rose in the national literacy and numeracy test rankings, relative to the other states, in just one category this year – Year 3 writing.

Compared to NSW, WA, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, SA’s average score dropped for years 5 and 9 reading and Year 9 numeracy.

When comparing the average score achieved by SA students this year with the 2023 cohort, there was a decline in reading across all year levels.

Clapham Primary School students were prepared for NAPLAN but principal Cassie Kopias said that literacy tests were being impacted by online habits.

“When you think about texting there’s a lot of slang, there’s a lot of abbreviations, there’s a lot of acronyms and a lack of punctuation,” Ms Kopias said.

“The way kids write these days within technologies it’s not like it used to be.”

The principal said the school combatted bad habits through “explicit teaching of writing”.

“Hopefully then they’ll learn those skills that transfer then to their normal writing,” Ms Kopias said.

But her students remained calm during the testing and were pleased with their results.

Year 5 student Sam Koroshati said while he “made a few errors with punctuation”, he was happy with his test scores.

“I felt pretty confident and spelling and maths were my strongest areas,” the 10-year-old, who wants to be a lawyer, said.

His classmate Joel Wagener, 11, said the testing was “just like normal lesson time for me”.

“You’ve got to try your best and not worry,” Joel, a budding young footy player, said.

Lily Wundersitz, 11, said she “did pretty well” in NAPLAN this year.

“You can’t overthink it or you start doubting yourself,” Lily, who wants to be a clothing designer, said.

Students took the NAPLAN tests in March.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) released results on Wednesday showing how students in each state and territory fared.

A major shake-up last year changed how results were reported, shifting from the previous system of 10 bands to four new categories.

They group students who need additional support, are still developing, have a strong grasp or are exceeding expectations.

The data revealed:

ONE in five Year 9 boys need extra help with grammar, and results have worsened since last year.

GIRLS are also struggling with grammar and almost 15 per cent of Year 3s need extra help.

ONE in four girls exceeded expectations in Year 9 writing (up from 20.5 per cent), and one in five excelled in Year 7 writing (up from 15 per cent).

THE best results for boys were in spelling where 18.3 per cent of Year 7s and 14 per cent of Year 3s exceeded expectations.

However, average spelling scores for SA students were lower this year, compared to 2023, in years 3, 5 and 9.

Originally published as Online language and texting ‘contributed to poor scores in literacy’ in South Australia’s NAPLAN tests