TOTAl 10

CENTRE FOR NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES

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• I • COMPUTER-ASSISTED ~RITING IN ADULT EDUGATION SETTINGS

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BY

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Joan· Pa~line Marche, B.A., B.Ed.

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S~ f · . Gradu~t~.

~ -~~udies iri partial fulfill~ent of the

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r~u.iremen~s for t~e degree of Mart.~~ ~f Education.

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·Department of Curricufum and Instruction

·Facul. ty of Education

'Memorial University of Newfoundland

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July -1986 -

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thesis and .-to lend- Or SE!ll copies of the film. · '

·The author (copyright owner) has reserved other publ icat'ion rights, and n e i.t he r the the s is nor · extensive ex~racts from it may .be pr'inted or otherwise

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ISBN B-315-3l617-X.

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MSTBACT

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The current technological revolutio~ has produced the need_.. to find more efficieqt ways .of recording a~d

storing lnforma~ion. The latest technological advancemflJl,t- for

~writer

is

th~

computer. This new

medi~m

permits

th~

writer to get _.

~ords

_. .into print quickly _.

. and·e~sily

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facilitating more eff'ective revision. ' ^.

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This research~r surveyed adult educators acrosQ C,anada

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to determine if and how the computer 'is being used as a _. .

·writing tool .in adult."education cla.sses. The data for

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study wdcol·le'cted by means

o~ : mailed

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questJ.o~naires.

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Respoiises .... ~.er..e_ tabulated from .. ..b..o.tb users and non-usei:.s _ _ ...__ _ _ _

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o{ the computet:• .· Although only 29\ of those 'responding were using computers: in their writing classes, the

results were p.ositive. It ·w~s rep~rted that ad~lte·

generally enjoy using the computer and that the ease of revision whi9h • the c·omputer allowed actually improved

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--c-·

both the students' writing and thei,r ·att·itude towa.rd

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writing • . . ·.- - .

Provided Jn this study .is a 16 week module fo.r ·adui't·\;

learners~ O~fered_in_ this module are wrlting exer9ises based on informatic~m-gathered 'from the·s~rvey and on id.eas.

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from

r~lated

l'iteratur.e on the

subject~

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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_j'his writer wishes to express her.

. .

, \ . . . gratitude to a .

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friend and· supervisor, Dr~ Frank Wolfe, for his under-

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· :standing, . encouragement, and .competent guidance .du·r'ing

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.. ' the course of thios study. ·

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Appr'ecia.tion, is ex_pressed to Dr • . M. ·Kennedy and

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Dr. G. Fizza~d who to.ok-time from 'thelr .. busy schedules . .

# o o I o

·to

discuss this project· and . .off~r-assistance.

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This writer wishes to ex·p.ress special thanks to her

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.familf ,· especi~lly her· sister Ellen, whose support and

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'~encouragement helped make this study possible •

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Special thanks is expres_sed· to _those who demonstrated ·

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true friendship during the _{. .} ~ast year, especiallY Cyril,

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. ·Helen, Maxine, Reg, Joyc$· and the Governor.

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Finally; this writer wishes to .express deep apprecia-

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. tion t·o her husband Pat and.chilaren Pamela and Ian, without

• • , • • • • • • • t

~hose 'l~ve, ~~tien~e·.and· understa~ding t.his thesls--:WOuld nevet ^hav~ been completed.

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Tab1~

of

contents

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Ackno,~d~

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\List of Tab .. _~

Chapter 1

• , 0 •• •

Introduct•io ~. . ·.: ·

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HiatO~y ~f Wri~g

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·Need. for Computer-As·sisted

W~iting ·P~ograms

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The components of the Computer \ ·

System · ·; ·

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^{. .}

Software

The Writing centre

. Stages of Writing

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Prewriting . Writing

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· Revising ·'

·I

Editing

Writing and Pr·oofreading

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iv · -xi

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14 15

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/;· Sharing and Publishing 15

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Revie~· of Related Literature 17

Chapt~r 2

Introquction

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Research

Advantages of Using Computers .in Writing

The Nord Processor Ease of Revision

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Writing as a Comparison Process boration

as a Mot.i~ator · . of -Text

.

Struggle with Handwriting \

Change in ^{Attitude· tow~rds} Writing Advantages for Teachers

·Problems with Using the Computer Cost

Student Access •

Lack-

of' :

;Faculty Awareness Lack of Typing Skills Learning the ·commands

Tend~ncy Toward Surface Correction

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Conclusion

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Chaptet ^~ Purpose of the Study Si<Jnificance

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• • • • 0 , ' • • • , • •. ' • ·:·.,' • .~, ^{,· •• : '• •• : ' . : ' : : '}1 ..., lo

•• •• ·,, t •. i•.l .... ··: .. ·.4,_ -~\' ·-.·.,·,!.~ .. -.:,.,!¹,.··· /•,1~.'. •.tt':l .• ,. ,. \

17

2..'1'

27 28 31 33 .

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34 35

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35 37 38 40 40 41 42 42 43 44 44

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Desig-n of the Study The Suryey

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Instrument Pilot study

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.The

Samp}~

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Lim;tatio\ .

\

riefinition of e~ms

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Adult

Computer

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Word Pr.ocessor.

Adult Basic Education Vocational

Post-secondary

...

_·.Junior College

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Need for the Study Analysis of the Data

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.Computer Users

~dult Educate~ Opinions

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Results for Indivfilual State ents Computer Non-users

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Results for Individual State~ents

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Summa·ry Conclusion

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-:vii-

II

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51 52 52 ^\- 53 5.i - 53,·

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63 65 67 68

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Chapter 4

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Rationale ^f~r a Teaching Module on Uaing ,the ^Co~puter in the

Wri~ing Process

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Ch4pter 5 Behavioral Objectives for the Module ·

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70 75. Chapter 6 outline: of Possible Acttvities

for. a ~ea9hing Modul~ on Computer-

' Assit~d~Writing . · 82 ^I

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Introduction 'The· computer

82 ^. I

84

;.·. ^~ Week I. Lesson l. 84

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^{I . Week I.} Lesson 2. ^{·J' .}

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85

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·' week I·. Lesson 3.

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\ Week II. Lesson

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Week I I . Lesson 6. ⁰ 88

Writing Activi·ties 89

'! Week· III. Lesson 7. 90

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f '·. Week III;; Lesson 8. 90

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\ Week III. Lesson 9. 91

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Week IV. Lesson 10. 91

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;· -Week IV. Lesson 11.

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^{Lesson ·-13 •} 93

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Week

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^{Les·son 14. 94}

Week

v.

^Lesson 15. 94

We.ek 'VI. Lesson 16. 94

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__week VI. Lesson 17.

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Week VI. Lesson 18. 95

' ^{.. : · .} Week VIl. Lesson 19. ^\ 96

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'·· Week VII. Lesson 20. ^I 9f;

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Week VII. Lesson 21. ^.

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,., Week VIII. Lesson

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Week V~II. Lesson 97

Week VIII. Lesson 24.

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Week IX. . Lesson 25;. ^I 98 ⁾

Week IX. Les·son

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Week IX.

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Week IX. Lesson 27. _• 99

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Week

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Week

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esson 29. 9~' "

Week

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^Lesson 30. 100

Week XI. Lesson 31. 100 ^~

Week X _• Lesson 32. 100

Wee{ L

^Lesson ~-·- ^{_ 101}

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We' XII. Lesson 34. 101

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week XII.

Week XII.

Week XIII·.

,. .. Week XIII.

Week XIII •

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_· ^Week_We4t}t ^.XIV. _{XIV •.}

Week XIV .•

Week

xv • .

Week

xv.

week XV.

Week. XVI.' Week XVI.

Woek- XVI.

Bibliography_._

Appendices

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Lesson 35. '

Lesson 3'6.

Lesson 37.

Lesson 38 • Lesson 39.

~esson 40

s:- .. :·:·: .• : - •.

Le&SC!f\_ 41.

Lesson . .-42.

Le.sson 43.

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Lesson 44.

Lesson 45.: , Lesson 46 •

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Lesson. 47~

Lesson 48.

. ,. A. Survey .In$tnynent

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8 ~~

_,i') Ad4itional Comments

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102 102

103 103 104 104 104 104 104 .105

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105 107

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125 132 _I

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CIIAP'l'BR 1

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lntrQdpCtion

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Reading tpaketh. a _ful.l 'man, Conf~_rence

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!Dan, and

Writi~g an

exact man.

· -""' · . · (Fr·ancis Bacon)

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Wh~t

^is· Writing?

~dting

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· b~en

^{defined as. a . • . /}

: f'system·;;~: ^human i~terc:iommunication

by

^{means of} co~ve~tional ^{/ / ··}

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tt. .

·rqa~ks·· (G~lh·, 1969, p.l2). ~istoric~lly, wri.ti.ng J~as·

taken many forms. Primitive man . drew symbols"'

on

^cave

"" walla. Mo~e~n man uses the- li.ghte'd dots on a cathode

b ( C T ) ~· i 1 known. as the ray tu e . .R • . • .~:;?en, more ~ mp Y .

comput~r, to aid in the·: .t(r i ting process.

A b~~ef look at

a

h-istory· of writing as outlined

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Tuchudi and Tuchu._. di ( 198.4

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reveals much of the

~ . . . .

. e~olutiona.ry nature of the writing process.

'Witor:y qf· Writing· .,

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In his earliest attempts at communica~ing .v~sual~y,

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primitive man used drawings to tran~mit his ideas • In the int'erveni~g years, ~he drawings lost the! r

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clear-definition and ^we~e modified and changed into simpler forms. ^Somewher~ around 3000-2000

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these ideograms became more widely used. These markings were symbo~s· in which ~· rough sketch represented not just a single'object but several related ideas. For example,

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a picture of the sun might also

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^' .mean day, good weather, ^. or the east. ·'·· .

The next· stage in the .. deve'lopmen·t of wt'iting, the~ ·' curi~iform system, o.ccur red in Sumeria aro.und- 3 50 0 •

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a.c·~ At this. time,' ~eop~e used marks ma~e ~¥ pres~ing . · ~ wedge-shaped stylus or marking tool into wet ·clay •

~hese symb~ls

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came to ~~resent specific words in the

~poken la~guage.

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A ·furthet important development took place in Phoenicia·. ^t The· Phoenic .. ians a~ap~ed ea.rlie~ writing . systems, using marks to represent not whole words, '

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but individual sounds in their lang.uae~· . 'l'h,rou'gh

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in place of thousands of pictur~s.

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The modification of tlte alphabeb to the point at which we can re.cognize the let~€rs

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came through ,thejreeks

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and Romans. The Greeks borrowed ·the-•Phoeni9ian alphabet, adopted 19 of

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,these symbols and-' added some of t;heir

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own to create a 24 letter alphabet. The Romans then took that basic ·system of alphab-et writing and carried it ~hrough their par~ of the world as the written form of their l~nguage, Latin • .

The technolog~ ~f ~1ting ·h~s a,lso steadi.ly evo~veC!.

Fo~ the ~aveman, writing on walls meant using charcoal

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and paints laboriously created from materials· in his immediate env.ironment: ~ot only was the process a slow

one~ but written· ideas were- rooted to

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. the cave walls. · \

In the cuneiform system,. printing on a clay tablet with a stylus remaine~ very slow. and cumbersome.. In

~gypt, wr

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t_ten language wa!3 used only

by

priests who

·had access to. t.he mate~·ials and ~he . $lave labor to create writing. This writing was carved ·in s~ne,

which ·itself allowed little room for error. _.

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Later, ^~ the 'Egyptians developeq papyrus, parchment, and vellum,

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. which• were better a._. nd·

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l.lgn.te~: writing materials. ,. ... ,. ..

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Then, about the first century· A.D., the Chine11.e ·developed

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paper.

With· the development of pencil and pap&r,· wr~ing

became easler, faster, and more easily .shared. However, ⁽

t~~ physical act of writing by.hand -was still a· tedious

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chore for many people. The invention of the typewriter eliminated the laborious task of writing by hand, made the printed word more legible, and provided' the advantage of speed· in getting words on paper~

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. The cu-rrent

tec~~olo'9ical re~olutlon

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-- the· need to find yet more efficient ways of recording,

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storing and. making . availatile information • . Thuff, _the

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ratest t~chnological a~v~ncem.nt for 'he write~ i~

the cQmput~r. Tllis -n'ew '11\edium· not only a·llows ·the writer to get words into print quickly and easily·, it

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algo ·fa~ilitates more effective revisions, thereby

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removing the necessity

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rewriting the· entire. text when changes are to be ma~ in the original writing.

~ ' -

Need for Computer-Assisted Writing Progra~a ,

This thesis focuses on the use of the compute·r in the teaching of writing~ Although the concept is •

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still relatively new in the field of adult education, a number of community· colleges across Canada· are trying

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this new medium in their writing class~s ~nd are aCh~1vi_ng · positive results. A survey conduc.ted by this researcher.

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~bows that comput~r users ahd non-users alike felt that the computer ·can be a useful topl in teaching adults to

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write. Adult educators ·who are using the computer as a . I

wr i ti.!l~ tool report that l'earners generally enjoy. the

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writing· process .~nd ·tha·t the qua.lity of students' work

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improves• The ease of revisi~n . which ~be ·~q~puter

allows has eased th.e. re~ctance of lear>!lers 'to rewr;ite their work and has.

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them more. willing

pa.-: .~ic~.pants .

within. the instructional pro·cess.

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A review· of the literature on the use of .computers in· writing 'programs will show that this 'new ~echno~ogy

has .tieen use4 effectively as an aid in adult writing.

programs. At present, neither the 'community college

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nor 'the vocational sch.ools in Newfoundland have

a-

teaching module in p~ace which focuses s'pecifically

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on computer-assisted writing. Since we are preparing

student~

^{for a}

te~bnological

^{society, -}and since co,puterl! - in ad~lt writing 'classes 'have proven to be both mof'fvating

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and effective, this researcher feels· that the need· exists fo~ ·the ~nst.allation of such a pr,<?,9r.am •

The following section will introduce the. te~hno-..

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logical requirem.ents essential to the inco~poration of a nfi process for the instru~tion of writing within .

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the context of the·-adul t education system.··

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