Abstract :
Spelling and grammar checkers help to make surface errors more apparent; do
they influence the way in which people revise the content of their writing? We
investigated whether the presence of checkers distracts students from making
content revisions. Twenty-five freshmen, 20 English majors and 20 graduate
students revised two essays on a computer, one with the spelling and grammar
checkers, and the other with a dictionary. These essays were unfamiliar to the
students and rigged with content and surface errors. The checkers helped the
participants to revise text for surface features but did not affect the students’
other revisions. Our findings suggest that checkers are helpful yet do not inhibit
students’ ability to make content revisions.
