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William Peet,
Ph.D.
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Synopsis: Research has shown novice writers of
all abilities teach themselves basic writing skills as they
learn to communicate in print using talking word processors.
1. Introduction: Why Use a Talking Word Processor?
Learning basic reading and writing skills with a talking word
processor is a revolutionary process that was not possible
before the mid-1980s, when Dr. Laura Meyers, Dr. Teresa
Rosegrant and I (working with our publishers) invented, tested
then marketed our Apple II and IBM-PC talking word processors.
It was only a couple of years earlier that easy basic-level
word processing had become available through the Bank Street
Writer from Broderbund and Magic Slate from Sunburst/Wings for
Learning. Many of us now take for granted that children will
be able to use word processing during their K-12 schooling
process to enhance their reading and writing skills learning
process. But too many educators are still unaware that talking
word processors add a markedly different ingredient to that
learning process - the power to experiment auditorily with the
formation of the written language.
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1.1. The difference between talking and
non-talking word processors
While a non-talking word processor gives a child the ability
to increase writing skills through its great ease of editing,
versus typewriters or pen/pencil tools, editing is a higher
level skill than basic word construction. To get the greatest
benefit from using a non-talking word processor, the learner
must already know something about the written language: how
words are spelled and how sentences are put together.
Therefore non-talking word processors are most often used by
students in the upper elementary grades, as a way to make
their writing products neater in appearance and clearer in
message.
The talking word processor, on the other hand, allows learners
to construct words from scratch, so to speak. The learner
types a letter and the computer not only places the letter on
the computer screen, but says the letter out loud. When
several letters are typed together and the spacebar is pushed,
the computer tries to turn that sequence of letters into a
word. A learner can experiment with the written language with
such a tool. It is possible for individuals to create their
own unique intrinsic understanding of the system of the
written language through such experimentation.
Auditorily 'constructing words from scratch' with a talking
word processor is an excellent example of a learning process
referred to by some researchers as "informal learning,"
(educators Charles Wedemeyer, et. al.), by others as
"self-discovered learning" (psychologist Carl Rogers's term),
and in my work since 1983 as "interest-driven learning."
Through the continued experimentation with word formation
using an appropriate talking word processor, very young
children can continue the natural acquisition of their native
language without interruption, moving under their own
intitiative first through comprehension, then production of
the spoken language, and then, without even stopping to think
about what they are doing or being directly taught in any set
curriculum, right into writing and reading the words and
sentences of their spoken language.
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1.2. Revolutionary Process - The Current
Research Record
Experimentation with the written word using a talking word
processor is a truly revolutionary process for the novice
reader/writer. The experimentation process it makes possible
distinguishes the talking word processor in kind from any
other writing tool. Not just a word processor, its bridge
between speech and print provides an arena for self-directed
and concrete learning of written language -- a language system
considered by Piaget to be abstract, to be learnable only
through direct teaching.
Dr. Laura Meyers, who invented the first simple talking word
processor to use in her research on the aural and written
language development of children with Down Syndrome, states it
clearly: "...the keys to effective computer use by children
with language disabilities are to implement the computer both
as an access tool and as a personal meaning tool; that is, to
use the technology to provide access to speech and text, link
it to their personal meaning systems, and thereby allow them
to participate in the natural processes of language learning."
(Meyers, 1994, p. 272)
Dr. Teresa Rosegrant, who invented a talking word processor to
use in her work with children with learning disabilities,
describes: "...a research project in its fourth year which has
attempted to use the microcomputer as a means of supporting
learning disabled children in their efforts to acquire the
basic skills of reading and writing....The twelve students
observed ranged from 6 to 10 years in age. All were 'behind'
in reading by several grade levels. A look at what they could
read aloud indicated none were reading at a first grade
level...." However, after working with Rosegrant's "talking
textwriter," all of the children improved markedly: "During
the six months of this project, all twelve of the children
showed substantial progress in their reading and writing
strategies....their writing had improved in terms of length,
word choice, punctuation, and the use of more complex meaning
units.
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Their reading sub-skills improved in terms of
phonics and phonetics as strategies for decoding unfamiliar
words. They also showed considerable gains in the numbers of
sight vocabulary words that they could readily read. Overall,
each child improved at least one year in reading level."
Rosegrant attributes their progress to several aspects of the
microcomputer learning arena, especially interesting to me
being "the use of the microcomputer to provide visual,
auditory, and motoric modes of support for learning disabled
students....The support involved in the use of the speech
synthesizer as it provides information about letter names,
letter combinations, words, and how strings of words sound is
the most significant form of help during early stages of
literacy skill development." (Rosegrant, 1985, pp. 113-4)
Working with colleagues at the University of Hawaii Curriculum
Research and Development Group, I tested the potential of
merging the best whole language approaches (writing and
reading power words, brainstorming experience stories,
invented spelling, etc.) with the talking word processor as
the writing tool for the beginning writer/readers - the
kindergarteners. We worked with 10 kindergarten children in
one big class with 10 first and 10 second graders. Their
teacher, Carol Brennan, had a regular routine of developing
interesting content through in-class activities with bunnies,
fish, etc., then brainstorming, mind-mapping and eventually
writing the stories with the children. She used flip charts to
write the stories and some of the older children participated
in entering the stories on the non-talking word processor,
Magic Slate 20 column for the first grade and LogoWriter for
the second. But she had not had her kindergarteners writing up
to the '87-'88 school year. She decided she wanted them to try
using our Dr. Peet's TalkWriter, and agreed to help me do
pre/post-testing of their written language skills.
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We had each child identify five letters chosen
at random, three times, first by pointing to the letters on
the big ABC chart as Carol read them, second by saying five
letter names out loud as Carol grabbed them from her jumbled
letter box, and third by writing the five randomly chosen
letters as Carol said them. Two of the children had a harder
time with this task than the other eight. We decided to focus
our videotaping sessions on these two, for the best chance at
clearly recognizable growth.
All children had at least six directed sessions over the first
semester (September-December), but several chose to use the
talking word processor in their free time as well. Dawn made
friends with the talking computer. Jeff was less thrilled, but
we did see great gains in his ability to handle the written
language. They were the two who had some trouble with the
letter identification in the pre-test. But by post-test time
in December, all of the children could easily identify all of
the letters. We needed to do something else to document their
progress. I decided we would time them writing a simple "I
like ___." sentence, then compare the time it took them to
enter the sentences with the time it took their first grade
counterparts. We did a 'post-test' on both classes, asking
each child to write one sentence with a known power word, e.g.
"candy." and one with a new power word, e.g. "tyrannosaurus
rex." We found that the first graders were just a little
faster, averaging one minute per sentence to the
kindergarteners two minutes. The astounding aspect of the
research was the ability of the kindergarten children to find
all the letters they needed to write both the familiar power
words and the new ones they brainstormed with Carol on the
spot. We have a great video clip of Carol working the power
word out of Jeff, then grabbing the dictionary and getting him
to read out the letters with her as she wrote them down on his
power word card for him to enter into the "I like __." frame.
He had to have that "tyrannosaurus rex!" He captured that
monster with his talking word processor, taking about 1.5
minutes to find all of those letters, with absolutely no
prompting from Carol. On the way, he had to stop to re-write
the first 'n' in "tyrannosaurus." He entered it first as a 'u'
but edited it immediately without prompting after hearing the
computer say the wrong letter out loud. Jeff is one of the
children who just NEEDED that auditory feedback.
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2. Who Needs a Talking Word Processor?
This section is short and sweet, because in Meyers' words:
"Further research is also needed to determine which other
populations of children with language disabilities could
benefit from the access methods used in this study...." Her
access methods were similar to those used by Rosegrant with
her children with learning disabilities, and to the methods
Carol and I used with the children in Hawaii. There is one
common thread between all of these children, however, which I
believe may define the target users of the talking word
processor most accurately: All were novice reader/writers.
Meyers' children were also novice speakers of English,
Rosegrant's had had some exposure to standard reading and
writing curricula, but had not had success, attested by their
less than first grade reading levels. Jeff and Dawn were
novices simply because they were first semester
kindergarteners, members of a group that seldom gets more than
minimal introduction to the written word.
I would like to suggest extrapolation beyond these groups to
ANY speaker of English who is not a reader or writer of
English. This expands the target user group to non-literate
prison inmates and seniors in our high schools who are about
to be graduated, whether they can read or not, just to move
them along. I will personally be doing everything I can to
make this technology available to every novice reader/writer.
My experience over the past ten years, since we first started
using the simple, one-line WRITE WORDS module of my prototype
ABC Discovery, is that a very large percentage (perhaps
70-80%) of novice reader/writers is intrigued with and can
find a large number of personal reasons to write with a
talking word processor. Rosegrant's conclusions bear repeating
here: "The support involved in the use of the speech
synthesizer as it provides information about letter names,
letter combinations, words, and how strings of words sound is
the most significant form of help during early stages of
literacy skill development." This is true for any novice
reader/writer. It just makes sense.
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3. How to Teach with a Talking Word
Processor
This is in some ways the hardest section of the paper for me
to write, and in other ways the easiest. It is hard because I
have never personally done it, though I worked very closely
with Carol Brennan and her Hawaii kindergarten in her
modification of the curriculum I suggest in the teacher's
guide to Dr. Peet's TalkWriter. It is easy because every
activity suggested in the best whole language processes can be
used to great benefit when the novice writers are using a
talking word processor as their writing tool. This is
especially true for the process called "invented spelling" or
"invented writing." When you invent words with a talking word
processor, you get immediate aural feedback for every step of
your experimentation process, under your own control, without
asking teacher. I met a five year old who had much experience
inventing spellings for his power words. I asked him what his
favorite animal was and he immediately started typing "h r s."
No need for power cards here, thanks to his great teacher and
her support for his invention. But the computer did not say
"horse." It said "h r s." He looked at me. I looked at him. I
said "Do you want to try something?" We stuck one vowel after
another in between the "h" and the "r" until we got "hors,"
which sounds like a "bad" word he didn't even know when the
Echo synthesizer says it. Just for the heck of it, I suggested
we add an "e" at the end. Then it said "horse" clearly and
unequivocally. Though this little episode demonstrates the
power of the talking word processor in the invention of words,
it is not a perfect tool. The boy had me on his second
favorite animal: "l f n." It was perfectly recognizable as the
large pachyderm. I did not try to expand that one because it
sounded good. The process there would be to read to him from
Dumbo, Babar and Horton until he just had to take that long
word to his talking word processor and type it in letter by
letter: "e l e p h a n t," press the spacebar and hear a
perfect rendition of his second favorite animal.
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When you add either the prediction power of
software like Co-Writer (Don Johnston, Inc. 800 999-4660), or
the talking spell-checker power of talking word processors
like Write Outloud! (Don Johnston) or Dr. Peet's TalkWriter,
Macintosh version ( by Hartley Courseware, order from Dr.
Peet's Software, 800 245-5733), you add another level of
auditory support for your personal, self-directed exploration
of the written form of your most powerful spoken power words.
But there are novice writers with spatial, musical, and
story-telling skills and interests who will be strongly
supported by other talking word processing software with
drawing tools (Kidworks II (Davidson 800 545-7677), etc.),
musical support for letter exploration and initial writing
efforts (ABC Discovery in Dr. Peet's TalkWriter,
Kidstime(Great Wave 408 438-1990) etc.), and story
construction (Storybook Maker(Hartley), WiggleWorks(Scholastic
800 541-5513), etc.). Again, the process is the same: good
whole language approaches, building writing and reading
experiences from the child Culture, spoken Language,
Interests, Experiences, personal Nature, and Thinking skills
of each novice writer. I like to think of this as starting
with the CLIENT (note caps in sentence above) of each learner.
Carol Brennan used good whole language process with her
kindergarteners. She had each child first tell her, then write
their power words. She helped them build a nice ring full of
words by the end of the year, which they re-used in various
writing efforts when they went beyond the power word stage.
Carol also adapted my "BEEP Story" to her "W Story" and had
every child write their own "Wizard Story" or "Wholphin
Story," with every blank space filled in by the child with "w"
words, brainstormed with Carol and added to their power word
rings. The children had a great sense of support in their
personal exploration of the relationship between their
favorite spoken words and the written forms of those words,
through their brief experiences with the talking word
processor.
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There were ten computers in Carol's classroom,
enough so each K, 1, or 2 child could have their own computer
during their class's computer time, but only one computer had
the necessary Echo computer. This is no longer a problem for
classes with Macintosh computers and talking word processors
that use the software-driven Macintalk text-to-speech. Every
computer can be a talking word processor. It looks like we are
at a watershed, and none too soon!
References
Meyers, Laura. 1994. "Access and Meaning: The Keys to
Effective Computer Use by Children with Language
Disabilities." Journal of Special Education Technology. V. 12,
3, 256-75
Rosegrant, Teresa 1985. "Using the Microcomputer as a Tool for
Learning to Read and Write." Journal of Learning Disabilities.
V. 18, 2, 113-5
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