Thursday, January 4, 2018

When Grammar and Technology Collaborate


Individuals with an array of disabilities and abilities use proofreading applications to bolster their writing skills. Engineers design this software to ameliorate spelling, grammar, punctuation, style,,and structure errors. Three specific applications I will highlight are WhiteSmoke, LanguageTool and Microsoft Word. Each software application provides a free version that is accessible to anyone who wants to get a taste of some of the things it has to offer before purchasing. We reviewed the free versions.  Even though these programs have a conventional purpose, they are very diverse in many ways.

Language tool and WhiteSmoke are web-based applications. LanguageTool corrected four of seven errors, including homonym, verb tense, spelling and capitalization mistakes. It provided an explanation and offered a solution.  It missed three errors regarding verb tense, run on sentences and over-capitalization. WhiteSmoke identified a similar amount of errors, but also reported some mistakes inaccurately. The writing window was small and difficult to navigate.  I also felt that it berated the writer, by stating that their work was poor. Throughout the duration of using these websites, I found them to be quite stressful and frustrating. Overall, I felt that each of the websites performed below par, but LanguageTool was better.

 Microsoft Word is a word processor with built-in proofing software. When using the program, it corrected five errors that included capitalization, verb tense, homonym and sentence structure mistakes. Unlike the web-based applications, it helped me to improve the strength of one of my sentences. Even though it is not one hundred percent accurate, their suggestions were more helpful and easy to understand. One of the built-in features that behooved me the most was the text-to-speech read back. It allowed me to edit my work in a timely fashion. I highly recommend this software to anyone who needs assistance with their writing. The practical aspect about using Microsoft Word is that their proofing services are free and there is no need to download anything.

Please share your experiences with proof reading services below!

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