The thing I love about research studies is that, whenever someone comes out and says one thing, the next study released directly contradicts it.

Two years ago, an Irish eductation study concluded that text messaging was harming schoolchildren's English skills, noting that the kids, about 15 years old, had become "unduly reliant on short sentences, simple tenses and a limited vocabulary."

Now comes the flipside, with a UK university's research finding quite the opposite.

Coventry University examined the texting habits of 88 children between the ages of 10 and 12, and found that text messaging shortcuts -- which they called "textisms" -- might help their development of reading skills.

Comparing text messages on a given topic to formal school essays, the research was surprising: "The alarm in the media is based on selected anecdotes but actually whenwe look for examples of text speak in essays we don't seem to find verymany," noted the researchers. Rather, students appeared fully aware of when they were making contractions and taking the shortcuts that are commonplace in text conversations. When asked to write something seriously, the kids were able to put those textisms aside.