'What did I just say?’ Reading problems in writing with the machine

Sixteen computer-writers were informally interviewed about how they use the computer for writing tasks. While the writers felt that the computer was useful for some writing tasks, they also indicated that writing with the computer had disadvantages. They reported reading problems such as difficulty in locating information, difficulty in detecting errors, and difficulty in reading their texts critically. Three experimental studies were conducted to compare the performance of college students reading texts displayed on a computer terminal screen and on a printed hard copy. Findings indicate that visual/spatial factors influence locational recall, information retrieval, and appropriate reordering of text. As computers become increasingly sophisticated and useful for teaching a wide variety of skills, schools at every level are acquiring machines, and educators in every subject area are enthusiastic about using the computer in the classroom. Language studies are no exception and much effort has gone into developing innovative software for writers, such as Writer's Workbench, developed by Bell Labs (Frase, 1983), and WANDAH, developed for the IBM-PC (Von Blum and Cohen, 1984). The strengths of the machineprocessing speed and large memory capacity make it ideal for some parts of the writing process. Speed in reformatting text facilitates surface editing and eliminates the need to retype when trying alternative wording or organization. Interactive databases allow writers to check spelling and grammar, and networking between machines lets writers comment on one another's work easily and quickly and may encourage collaborative writing. Daiute ( 1983) outlines some of the physical and psychological constraints that she believes computers can help overcome. Elsewhere, Daiute and Taylor (1981) show that using a computer may improve children's revising skills. Eight elementary school students used a word processing program called "Catch" for five weeks. Post-tests (written with pen and paper) showed that after using "Catch," students made more revisions per word and more types of revision. Post-tests also contained fewer errors and received higher holistic ratings. However, Gould (1981) found that expert writers using text The authors would like to thank Sandra Bond and Wilfred J. Hansen of the Information Technology Center, and Christine Neuwirth of the English Department, for their help and support. Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 20, No. 1, February 1986