A University of
Pittsburgh study indicates that spell-check software may level the playing
field between people with differing levels of language skills.
In other words, we may all write and sound alike—and
still be wrong.
In the study,
undergraduate students were asked to proofread a one-page business
letter—half of them using Microsoft Word, with its annoying red and green
lines underlining potential errors. The other half did it the old fashioned
way, they used their heads.
Without grammar or spelling
software, students with higher SAT verbal scores made, on average, five errors,
compared with 12.3 errors for students with lower scores. Using the software,
students with higher verbal scores reading the same page made, on average, 16
errors, compared with 17 errors for student with lower scores. In other words,
the software made both groups look smart.
Spell-checking software is so ubiquitous that some have come to trust it too
much. Grammar and spelling technology is meant to help writers and editors, not
do their writing.
The study found the software helped
students find and correct errors in the letter, but, in some cases, they also
changed phrases or sen-tences flagged by the software as grammatically
suspicious, even though they were correct.
For instance,
the letter included a passage that said,“John Ames would be the best
candidate. Ames has been in political rolls for many hears.”
Software noticed the last “s” in
“Ames” and suggested changing the verb from “has” to
“have,” as if it were a plural. The spellchecker ignored
“rolls,” which should have been “roles” and missed
“hears,” which should have been “years.”
Grammar and spelling software may never approach the
complexity of the human mind, or replace the creativity of the human experience
as expressed in words.
Computer programs can suggest
correct speech, but to follow them is to make all of us sound alike or appear
brighter than we are—or allow more silly errors to pass through.
According to a research study back in 1990, Macintosh
users wrote at an 8th grade level and PC users wrote at a 12th grade
level.
It seems
that the Mac typographic format encouraged a simple sentence structure (and
perhaps some alliteration) with childish vocabulary. PC users were not
distracted by form and therefore concentrated on content.
The original article appeared in
Academic
Computing in January 1990. An English instructor at the University of
Delaware noted that freshmen using Macs seemed to be turning in essays that
were not as well written as those done on the PC.
When
authors (writers, editors, etc.) deal with both form and content, there is a
noticeable reduction in grammatical structure. They focus on what the text
looks like rather than what it says.
It makes no
difference if it is a Mac or a PC—it is the preoccupation with format that
diminishes attention to the details of the English language.
And don’t get me started on calculators and the loss
of basic math skills.
This article by Frank J. Romano is reprinted with
permission from the Digital Printing Report,
Volume 10, No. 5,
Digital Printing Council, Printing Industries of America, Inc.,
U.S.A.
Check out
TechTopics No.
12 for another view on spellcheckers.
Tips to avoid
embarrassing and costly proofreading mistakes and blunders are included.
The technical bulletin will be helpful to any person who
creates documents for publication.
You can get a free
subscription to TechTopics by completing
a form on the Copresco
website.
Thank you
for responding to our survey regarding the physical condition of
Overnight Lite when the
postman brings it to your door.
The consensus was that
Lite, a
self-mailer, stands up to Postal Service brutality quite well, but some rubbing
of the digital image does occur.
Full survey results can
be found at the same website address you used to access the survey form
last month.
In Copresco’s spirit of ongoing testing and
continuous improvement, we’ve printed this month’s
Lite on dull
instead of gloss-coated stock. Is this better? Worse? No difference?
Please let us know by sending your comments via e-mail to
the address at the bottom of this page.
Copresco will be closed Monday, May 31, for Memorial Day. Enjoy the start of the summer season.
Overnight Lite
Main Last
Month Next
Month This Month's On-Line
Jokes
Home Contact Us What's New Publications
Copyright © 2004 by Copresco All rights reserved.