Mariëlle Leijten

Writing with speech recognition: The adaptation process of professional writers with and without dictating experience

This paper describes the adaptation and writing process of writers who have started using speech recognition systems for writing business texts. The writers differ in their previous writing experience. They either have previous classical dictating experience or they are used to writing their texts with a word processor. To gather the process data for this study we chose complementary research methods. First the participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire and given instruction about the speech recognition system. Then they were observed five times using the speech recognition system during their day-to-day work. Finally, they also filled in a logging questionnaire after each task. The quantitative analysis of the use of the writing mode shows that those participants who had no previous dictating experience, tend to use the voice input more extensively, both for formulating and reviewing. This result is confirmed in the more detailed case analysis. The other analyses in the case study-i.e. repair, revision, and pause analysis-refine the differences in the organization of the writing process between the writers, and show that the speech recognition mode seems to create a writing environment that is open for different writing profiles.

Error correction strategies of professional speech recognition users: Three profiles

One of the challenges in writing research in general is to explain the structural variation in writing processes within and between subjects. More or less recursivity has been attributed to writing experience, proficiency, task characteristics and the writing mode or medium. This study focuses on professional writers (n=10) who use a modern writing instrument - speech recognition - as their primary tool for text production and revision. More specifically we are interested in the way this new technology affects the cognitive processes that underlie text production. In our study we have focused on error correction. We provide a description of the errors that professional speech recognition users need to deal with, how they deal with them and why they opt for various error correction strategies. Different converging research methods were used: (1) product, (2) process, and (3) protocol analysis. The results are described on two levels: the overall level and the subgroup level (three writer groups). The results show that the contrast between immediate and delayed error correction is quite decisive for the way in which writers structure their writing process. Next to this, the distinction between technical problems and revisions also plays an important role. Most writers prefer solving technical problems immediately. The same does not necessarily hold for other revisions. However, the revision behavior is not random: overall results show three distinct patterns or profiles of error correction. First, there are writers who prefer writing a first time final draft and solve technical problems immediately as well as revising the text produced so far immediately (handle profile). Second, writers who solve more than half of the deficiencies in the text produced so far immediately, but who also delay or postpone various technical problems and revisions (postpone revisions profile). Finally, writers who prefer delaying error correction and who delay technical problems to a second draft (postpone technical problems profile).

Learning to write in an online writing center: The effect of learning styles on the writing process

One of the main advantages of online learning materials is that they can be adapted for students with different learning styles. This article presents a study and a methodology to investigate whether students with different learning styles make use of the potential flexibility of online learning materials, i.c. in the context of an online writing center. The study aims to investigate the effect of learning styles on (a) the students approach to the writing task (process), and (b) on the letters they write (product). Twenty students each completed a module on writing bad news letters designed for Business Communication courses. Their reading and writing processes were recorded. The letters were also graded to determine their quality. An effect of learning style was found: Active and Reflective writers approached the task differently, but only in the beginning of the process. In this early stage Reflective learners were more likely to focus on the theory section than Active learners. This suggests that writers with different learning styles tackle the learning materials in different ways, often in line with the preferences that characterize their learning styles. However, no effect of learning style on text quality was found.

Analyzing writing process data : a linguistic perspective

1. Writing(s) at the crossroads: The process-product interface (by Cislaru, Georgeta) 2. Some core questions about writing 3. Some problems encountered in the description and analysis of the dynamics of writing (by Plane, Sylvie) 4. Methodology: Investigating real-life writing processes (by Gresillon, Almuth) 5. Linguistic forms and choices at the interfaces 6. The instrumental use of verbless sentences in writing and rewriting: A longitudinal and genre-contrasted point of view (by Cislaru, Georgeta) 7. Re-writing operations and their effects of meaning (by Brunner, Pascale) 8. Linguistic forms at the process-product interface: Analysing the linguistic content of bursts of production (by Olive, Thierry) 9. Tracks and traces of the writing process 10. From writing under production to the finished product: A processual threshold (by Fenoglio, Irene) 11. Editorial genesis: From comparing texts (product) to interpreting rewritings (process) (by Mahrer, Rudolf) 12. A graph theory approach to online writing data visualization (by Leblay, Christophe) 13. Writing practices in context 14. Writing, literate activity, semiotic remediation: A sociocultural approach (by Prior, Paul A.) 15. Writing acts and writing performativity: Producing and disseminating leaflets (by Delbreilh, Fanny) 16. Professional writing as institutional norm and personal style: Inspection reports in French elementary schools (by Doquet, Claire) 17. Cognitive insights through writing studies 18. Conflict in writing: Actions and objects (by Galbraith, David) 19. Analyzing writing process data: A linguistic perspective (by Leijten, Marielle) 20. Index