The Use of Online Video Games’ Communication Language and its Impact on Formal Academic Writing The Case of Second Year Master Students of English at Larbi Tebessi University, Tébessa

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of online video games on student's formal writing and to determine whether it is positive or negative. It focuses on the impact of communication language that is used during the gameplay which is also known as "language of the net or Netspeak" on the formal aspects of writing. Correspondingly, this research hypothesizes that if students communicate frequently during playing online video games that would affect their formal writing negatively. To gather sufficient data for this research, a descriptive method was adopted with a sample of 58 Master 2 students of English. In this context, a questionnaire was administered to the participants and analyzed with SPSS program. The findings of the research reveal that the frequent use of online video games communication has a negative impact on students‟ formal writing because of the misuse of Netspeak. The study recommends students to practice more and to be accustomed to formal writing instead of Netspeak. Additionally, students have to distinguish between formal writing and Netspeak.