Résumé:
The modern era has witnessed a widespread expansion of technology and online communication tools, which has led to a fundamental shift in linguistic interaction patterns. As a result, “chat language” has become increasingly prevalent. This form of language is characterized by abbreviations, non-standard contractions, misspellings, and emotive expressions, creating significant challenges within academic contexts.This study aims to investigate the extent to which the use of chat language affects the quality of academic
writing among second-year students at English Department in Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia- Jijel University. Adopting a mixed-method approach, the research combines quantitative analysis of student writing samples with qualitative insights from students’ questionnaires and teachers’ interviews. The findings reveal a significant negative correlation between the frequency of chat language features and students’ academic writing performance. Specifically, the statistical analysis indicates that a higher number of informal features leads to lower writing scores. Furthermore, both students and teachers acknowledge the influence of chat language, with teachers reporting a general decline in writing
quality and students expressing difficulty in distinguishing between formal and
informal writing styles. The study concludes by recommending targeted
instructional strategies to raise awareness and to reinforce academic writing
conventions. Ultimately, it also aims to enhance the formal writing proficiency
of EFL students.
