The authors: Charlie Hughes and David McNaughton, Penn State University. This article originally appeared in the November 1999 issue of Strategram, a newsletter for SIM teachers.
Return to Article ArchiveI have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
--Excerpted from Candidate for a Pullet Surprise (2)
Have you ever heard teachers or teacher-trainers say something like, "If a student with learning disabilities has writing or spelling problems, set him up with a computer and a spellchecker, and that should take care of it"? Although we know computer-based spellchecking programs can and do help students with learning disabilities in the composition process, we also know they are not 100 percent effective in compensating for spelling problems. There are at least three reasons why:
Many spellchecker programs are based on algorithms that focus on common typographical errors or phonetic errors (kat vs. cat). As a result, spellcheckers often detect and provide correct alternatives for only about half of the existing spelling errors in a document. And, right or wrong, multiple spelling errors can result in others perceiving the writer as lazy or "slow."
What seems to be needed is a strategy that enables students to "help" the spellchecker do a better job. So with Charlie's background in strategy development and David's seemingly genetic predisposition towards technology (although a current theory is that this predisposition is hormonal [over-production of the hormone, technostrogen] rather than genetic), we developed a strategy for detecting and correcting spelling errors, the InSPECT Strategy. The strategy was developed based on the following:
Three instructional goals are associated with teaching students to use the InSPECT Strategy:
We conducted the research on the InSPECT Strategy with high school students with learning disabilities who were identified by their teachers as having significant writing and spelling problems and who were using word-processing programs to produce written work. Before learning the strategy, the students were correcting only about 40 percent of their spelling errors even after running the spellchecker and engaging in other proofreading activities. After they began using InSPECT, they corrected 75 percent of their errors, resulting in an error rate (3 percent) close to that of students without learning disabilities (2 percent).
When students use the InSPECT Strategy with a word-processing program on a computer, they follow the six-step sequence listed in Figure 1. In the first two steps, students make sure they are in their document and then start the spellchecker at the beginning of the document. After the spellchecker detects a misspelled word and lists spelling alternatives or options, students pick the correct suggestion by first rereading the sentence in which the error occurred. This is done to focus their attention on the exact word used and its meaning in the sentence. Next, they look at the first several options (usually the first screen) and, if they are sure of the correct option, they make the change.
If the spellchecker does not present any alternatives or the student does not see the correct word, the student can "help" the spellchecker by estimating the correct spelling. This is done by saying the word aloud slowly and adding any missing letters. If this process does not generate the correct option, students are directed to think of a synonym to use. After proceeding through the document in this fashion, students correct additional errors by printing a hard copy of the text and reading through it twice. A copy is printed because it has been shown that most people do a better job of monitoring errors on paper than on a computer monitor. The first pass over the document requires students to read sentence-by-sentence starting with the last sentence, with the primary goal of detecting and correcting misused words (4). The next pass is made by reading the text out loud from the beginning to the end. All corrections are made on the paper. If students have learned the Error Monitoring Strategy, they can be directed to ask themselves the COPS questions (Figure 2 ) during this step. In the last step of the strategy, students transfer their corrections into the computer, run the spellchecker one more time, and then print a final copy.
The InSPECT Strategy is taught using a modified version of the Strategic Instruction Model's Stages of Acquisition and Generalization. InSPECT Strategy instruction involves the following seven stages:
During Stage 1: Pretest, students are instructed to write a 150-word passage using a computer-based word processing program and then use the spellchecker as well as any other proofreading techniques they currently use. A variation on the usual SIM instructional sequence is the combination of the Describe and Model stages (Stage 2 of InSPECT Strategy instruction): The teacher performs both processes during one instructional session.
Another unique instructional feature of InSPECT is that teacher and student materials are on computer disks (one in Macintosh format and another in IBM-compatible format) that come with the instructor's manual. The disks contain the passage the teacher uses to describe and model the strategy along with two dozen passages written at three different reading levels to be used during Stage 4: Controlled Practice and Feedback. Each of these passages contains 20 spelling errors, and students are directed to use InSPECT to detect and correct them. The disks also contain answer keys and scoring forms.
One advantage of providing the passages on disk is that they can be readily edited for a variety of instructional purposes. For example, if a teacher is teaching other grammar skills (for example, appropriate punctuation, capitalization, or subject-verb agreement), errors related to these skills can be inserted easily into the word processor file copies of the passages. Students can then apply their proofreading skills to detect and correct these errors, too.
(1) Like other Starter Strategies, InSPECT is taught relatively easily and quickly and can be used to introduce students to strategic learning. Because of the ease of learning and relative simplicity of this strategy, training is not required for teachers to obtain the instructor's manual. Contact Edge Enterprises, (785) 749-1473. The cost is $12.
(2) "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise," by Jerrold H. Zar, was published in the January/February 1994 issue of Journal of Irreproducible Results, page 13. The title was suggested by Pamela Brown. Poem based on opening lines suggested by Mark Eckman. The poem also has been widely distributed on the Internet and in various newsletters, sometimes with the title "Owed to a Spell in Checker."
(3) Most of the instructors' manuals included in the Strategic Instruction Model are precise in terms of directions and explanations provided to students during instruction. Because there are a variety of spellcheckers (and thus a variety of formats), some of the instructions in the InSPECT manual will vary depending on the type of spellchecker. These variations are noted in the manual and prompt teachers to be able to describe how the spellcheckers used by their students function.
(4) Misused words are typically homophone errors (for example, "its" for "it's" and "their" for "there"). The InSPECT Strategy manual contains suggestions for teaching students about common homophone errors as well as "tips" for remembering the appropriate word. Other misused words are correctly spelled words but are not the intended word (for example, "same" for "tame," "pints" for "points," etc.)
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