A very short evaluation of some spell checkers carried out in 2010 - the results should NOT be taken as totally accurate and are just to show how different all the checkers are in the way they work. They have all been updated since 2010.
6. The right tool Online or offline Spelling, homophones grammar? While writing or as part of proofing? What support is included in the checker? What “type” of error? How easy to correct? TEST – for spell checkers
13. Single non-word error accuracy No updates Results may be updated from users errors Results may be updated from server database 4 7 1 6 (1) 1 1 0 0 7
Guildford College – 15 students being assessed on their blogs, 11 said they spell checked their work, 6 depended on using MS Word with ‘Cut and Paste’. LexDis participants http://www.lexdis.org anecdotal evidence - some used assistive technologies, others said ‘not sure it is right’ ask a human, others cut and pasted from Word, used Google etc… 34 Post graduate students only 2 used automatic spell checking in email but did proof read if used for formal occasions, no one usually checked their social networking communication - if it was going to be assessed 4 suggested use of Word, Google search and toolbar or Safari on Mac –only 2 in this group had English as their first language.
Not only should it be simple but also the instructions and strategies to use them.
Recorded location of correct spelling within suggestion list. Looking for correct spelling to be presented in top3. Public list covers a variety of words that Note – accuracy and results will change over time for checkers that provide results via server queries (Ginger, Ghotit)
Data not definitive and always changing!
Form / from most common error according to Pedler thesis
Unlike standard spell checkers that need to check whether a word is in it’s database and then suggest alternatives if it is not, contextual spell checkers have a more complicated task. First they have to identify words that are not correct within the given context. Then they have to suggest words to make the context of the sentence correct.
Most errors corrected but not all! Missed words and grammar still a problem but when does proofing become re-drafting?
Most errors corrected but not all! Missed words and grammar still a problem but when does proofing become re-drafting?