Posting Date: March 25, 2003

Study: Spell-check makes writing worse (Salon) -- "The study found the software helped students find and correct errors in the letter, but in some cases they also changed phrases or sentences flagged by the software as grammatically suspicious, even though they were correct." (Comments: Thanks MadMan.)

Reader Comments...

The first thing I do after installing Word (if it was up to me I'd never touch it) is switch off "Check spelling as you type", "Check grammar as you type" and most of AutoCorrect. Having multi-coloured squiggly underlines all over the place is too distracting, particularly when they're highlighting perfectly valid text.

Posted by: Matt Round on March 26, 2003 04:15 PM

I can see doing a spell-check as a way to reduce work, but it is not a substitute for carefully checking the document yourself, since it can easily overlook words that are spelled correctly but used incorrectly.

I would be more likely to rely solely on a spell checker for something personal, such as a website post or an e-mail, where it isn't critical if I make a few word-usage mistakes. Critical writing would require a personal double-check.

I have noticed the way grammar checkers can degrade writing if the writer isn't confident that he/she is putting sentences together well. Most good writers I know never go near the things.

Posted by: Lydia on March 26, 2003 04:40 PM

I remember one instance about 9 years ago when I was in the English Lab working on something for my English class (which I never passed). They only had Macs and I decided to try the grammar checker to see what it would say (no pun intended). It proclaimed a certain line to be incorrect, though I knew it was perfectly fine. I let it change the line and it promptly flagged that line as being incorrect!!! It had put that line in itself! I clicked on Correct and it went back to the original line that has been there and reflagged it as being incorrect. This loop went back and forth till I got tired of it and clicked Cancel. I've had no respect for grammar checkers since then.

Posted by: Morris Cox on March 26, 2003 11:57 PM

I disable all of Word's auto-correction settings. Too often they "fix" things that are not broken. Plus, things like "smart quotes" don't convert when copying & pasting text into my web editor. I do like the red underlining of misspelled words and feel it has vastly improved my spelling over time.

Posted by: Ted Normal on March 27, 2003 10:55 PM

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