Use of nonstandardisms in essay writing among senior secondary school students: implications for achieving English language curriculum objectives among senior secondary school students

In the digital age, students’ patterns of communication have been increasingly shaped by social media platforms, where brief, informal, and symbol-driven language has become the norm. This shift has contributed to the rise of nonstandardisms such as slangs, abbreviations, and phonetic spellings which, though eFective for online interaction, have begun to intrude into formal academic contexts such as essay writing. The study adopted a survey research design to examine the eFects of social media language on essay writing among secondary school students in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. The population comprised 2,433 SS1–SS3 students across four schools, from which 335 respondents were selected using simple random sampling and Krejcie and Morgan’s table. Data were collected with a 20-item structured questionnaire validated by experts and tested for reliability using Cronbach’s Alpha. Out of 335 copies distributed, 295 were retrieved. Data were analyzed with arithmetic mean, and decision rules were based on statistical real limits of numbers. The results revealed that slangs, abbreviations, and phonetic spellings were prevalent in students’ essay writing in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni. Slangs and abbreviations such as “u” for “you” and “bcos” for “because” appeared frequently (Mean = 3.78), with an overall cluster mean of 3.66, showing they reduced grammatical correctness and formal quality. Similarly, phonetic spellings like “wen” for “when” and “dat” for “that” recorded high means (3.81 each), with a cluster mean of 3.70, indicating widespread usage. Respondents agreed such spellings distorted meaning (Mean = 3.78). Teachers were observed correcting these errors, highlighting their negative impact on academic writing. The study concluded that nonstandardisms present a major challenge to students’ proficiency in English essay writing and recommended deliberate pedagogical strategies, continuous teacher interventions, and awareness programs to strengthen formal writing skills amidst growing digital influences.