Home | FAQs | News | Writing Courses | Writing Centres | Advice | Books | For Faculty

Software to Support Writing Instruction

A Report by Margaret Procter
Coordinator, Writing Support, University of Toronto
September 1994

Table of Contents

Online Workbooks | Online Handbooks
Bibliography Generators | "Process" Programs for Invention and Editing
Historical Note

Index to Programs Reviewed

Alice the Generator, Bibliotech, Blue Pencil, Comtext, Connect, Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, Edit!, Electronic Composition Workbook, EndNote Plus, English Online, Heath Grammar Review Software, Little-Brown On-Line Handbook, Reference Manager, SEEN: Tutorials for Critical Reading, Sentences and Paragraphs, Storyspace, Verbcon, Writer's Helper II, Writer's Prologue, Writing Tutor III

A number of people at the University of Toronto have asked about instructional software to aid student writers and those who teach them. This report outlines my investigation of programs that I gathered by attending conferences, visiting developers, and requesting sample copies from publishers.

My experience has been mixed. Some programs are inventive and amusing, but many contain dismaying flaws in content or technical quality. Even among the better programs, none exactly matches the needs of our students or could stand alone to facilitate learning. Some might, however, have specific uses as part of courses or adjuncts to instructional services. The descriptions in this report attempt to indicate these possible functions.

[Top] 

People's main hope seems to be that computers can help students learn grammar (that is, correct sentence structure, usage, and mechanics). Though neither research nor linguistic theory supports the efficacy of drill exercises for such a purpose, publishers of composition textbooks have created a number of online workbooks offering review and practice in language skills.

The workbooks tend to be primitive, measured against either the technical sophistication of word processors or the pedagogical flexibility of other kinds of programs. Many have awkward interfaces and even stylistic errors in their texts. Few explain the "rules" adequately, especially not for students working on their own and lacking knowledge of terminology. All tend to be unduly rigid in applying the rules they set out. Few make any accommodation for the special needs of students learning English as a second language (L2). All are subject to the criticism that their use takes students' time away from creating and editing their own writing. Given the demand for such programs, however, I have attempted to describe a number in detail.

[Top] 

Software developers are now most interested in the capacity of computers to encourage revision of students' own writing. The most advanced software concentrates on enhancing the process of writing: prewriting prompts, online handbooks, editing guides, and, most recently, networking programs that let instructors and students share messages and comment on drafts. This technology offers the promise of stimulating students' ideas and their sense of audience, as well as encouraging them to edit their own work. These programs, however, are limited not only by the hardware required but also by the product envisaged, the general-topic essay required only for composition courses.

Here are my comments on the programs I have used, grouped into categories according to main function. Those for which I own full or demonstration copies are marked *. I am happy to offer demonstrations and hands-on trials. This report does not consider style-checkers like Grammatik, reference guides such as dictionaries, and software for basic ESL learning, but I can offer access to a number of catalogues, brochures, and review articles that describe the full range of instructional software, including prices and licensing arrangements.

[Top] 

Online Workbooks

Potential advantages of this form of software:

Potential disadvantages:

[Top] 
Alice the Generator. Alan Bailin, Department of Effective Writing, University of Western Ontario, 519-679-2111, Ext. 5799). IBM, 1 disk. $50 for single disks, $100 for site licence for one location, less for each of multiple locations. See also Comtext and Verbcon.

This is an original and unique program that offers rigorous practice in recognizing parts of speech and components of sentences. It generates nonsense sentences whose structures the program can label, then asks the user to find specified items within the sentences. The user can access a help section giving definitions and examples of terms, and can review past choices. A final screen for each exercise gives the structure of the sentence; I found its screen design hard to grasp.

Though most students would find the terminology difficult, it is used consistently. Students with the will and patience to focus on the technicalities could learn a good deal about linguistic terms. Alice could be useful to back up a course teaching grammatical analysis and editing skills.

[Top] 
*Blue Pencil, version 2.0 (Prentice-Hall, 1986-9). Robert Bator, keyed to Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, 3rd ed., by Lynn Quitman Troyka (Prentice-Hall, 1993; see also Simon & Schuster On-Line Handbook, below.) IBM, 1 disk. Contact: Allan S. Gray, 905 839-3586.

Ten modules review skills in punctuation, grammar, and usage. Each one offers brief instructional material and then shows a passage containing some errors. The student moves the pointer to a line containing an error and is prompted to type in a correction. Hints and right answers are given on request, and explanations accompany the credits for correct answers.

The visual design is pleasant and the interface is easy to use, though it requires many keystrokes to complete each choice. The sample sentences and prose passages are journalistic (not academic) in subject and tone. The review screens are clear but simplified to fit onto two or three screens for each section, referring students to the excellent Troyka book for further explanation. They concentrate on L1 problems of nonstandard usage (he don't, they is) and sound-alike terms (except/accept, all right/alright). The program sticks to basics of sentence structure, offering nothing about advanced topics such as subordination or parallelism, or about matters of precise word choice or academic tone.

Moderately competent students, including advanced L2 students, could score well on this program, and might gain some confidence by doing so. Students whose problem is using nonstandard dialect might learn some points of usage by working through the program along with the Troyka book, though less than by using either of the print workbooks (L1 and L2) that go with that book.

[Top] 

Comtext. Alan Bailin, Department of Effective Writing, University of Western Ontario (519-679-2111, Ext. 5799). IBM, 4 disks. $150 for set of 3 programs, $300 for site licence for one location, less for each of multiple locations. See also Alice the Generator and Verbcon.

This is a three-part collection of exercises to develop students' sense of correct language patterns. The first part gives multiple-choice options for correcting sentences, covering standard problems such as fragments and misused commas, and also articles, prepositions, and parallelism. Brief help screens are available, and the right answer brings up a screen justifying the choice. Explanations use both meaning clues and grammatical terms. Sample sentences and passages are interesting pieces of journalistic prose.

The other two parts are cloze exercises, requiring the student to fill in missing words, thus testing recognition of standard patterns. Part two asks for a specified part of speech (including prepositions), or lets the student choose combinations of parts. Part three gives a nearly blank screen with spaces marked off for specific words, and the student guesses by trying common words or morphemes. The help prompt supplies partial words and correct answers at request. Passages are from good journalistic writing.

These programs provide amusing drill in editing skills, vocabulary, and spelling. Because they can accept only preset answers, the exercises seem rigid in depicting correct usage. Verbcon would provide the most to students who already have some knowledge of grammatical terms or are willing to learn them (see Alice). The programs show some attention to the needs of ESL learners.

[Top] 

*Electronic Composition Workbook, Constance Rooke, Department of English, University of Guelph. IBM, 1 disk; being converted to Mac at Scarborough College. Contact William Barek (416 287-7505) or Dean Melba Cuddy-Keane (416 287-7566) for information on site licensing for U. of T.

This program, like Comtext part 1 and Verbcon (below), offers instruction and exercises, with differing feedback for correct and incorrect responses and access to review screens during exercises. It is designed to focus attention on sentence construction. The beginning sections on distinguishing phrases from clauses, for instance, are also intended to reinforce recognition of subject/verb agreement. Later sections strongly emphasize punctuation to develop an understanding of the way sentences are built. The sample sentences and passages sometimes refer to literary subject matter. Students could work through the entire program of 36 modules, each with a substantial number of exercises, or use only modules related to specific problems in their writing. Six scored quizzes are included.

The program is used at Guelph in literature/composition courses, both for student review and for training of marking assistants; it is also used in the Windsor and Ottawa writing labs in conjunction with workshops and tutoring in writing. It is presently available to students using the Computer Centre at Scarborough College.

The interface is simple to use. This program provides thorough practice on its chosen topics, but it gives no special attention to ESL matters; the writer is considering adding ESL help screens.

[Top] 

* Heath Grammar Review Software (Heath). By Intentional Educations, Inc. 1 disk, IBM or Mac, free with adoption of Holt textbooks. Contact: Richard Ludlow, 416 977-1345.

These grammar and punctuation exercises concentrate on identification of parts of speech and correction of standard usage. The program includes a diagnostic test and keeps score of correct answers for all exercises. Online help is available during exercises, but right answers are not displayed. Answers required are not always correct or unambiguous (Only a few students knew what an iambic foot is; was not accepted). Except for the inclusion of the test, this program offers no advantages over others available.

[Top] 

* Sentences and Paragraphs: Developmental Writing Software (Heath). By Intentional Educations, Inc. 1 disk, IBM or Mac, free with adoption of Holt textbook. Contact: Richard Ludlow, 416 977-1345.

This is a small word processor with built-in "guides" to encourage correct writing. One guide offers a set of sentence formulas for students to use in their own documents or for practice. They require considerable grammar terminology. The online explanations of these formulas are pleasant in tone, but too brief for students working outside a course in grammar.

[Top] 

Verbcon. Alan Bailin, Department of Effective Writing, University of Western Ontario (519 679-2111, Ext. 5799). IBM, 1 disk. $50 for single disks, $100 for site licence for one location, less for each of multiple locations. See also Alice the Generator and Comtext.

This program offers extensive practice in correcting verb errors. It consists of a review screens outlining thirteen elements of verb form (tenses, aspects, moods, voice), each with brief examples, a sequence of exercises reviewing some of these points, and then passages in which the student is asked to replace infinitives with inflected verb forms. The screen design here is plain and linear. The user can exit to help screens at any time; hints are sometimes given for wrong answers, and wrong verb forms are identified. The onscreen prompts display a few flaws in punctuation and tone.

Verbcon deals with an important and difficult topic for both L1 and L2 students. Some problems in level are evident. Sample wrong sentences tend to be obvious (everybody have gone), but explanations for correct usage are sometimes obscure (the conditional is "used to discuss actions, events, and occurrences which are contingent upon other states-of-affairs"). The sets of exercises test only the simplest points reviewed (not the conditional or subjunctive). Though more than one answer is sometimes allowed for, some "right" answers seem arbitrary or awkward (The woman who has worn the bright red dress is my mother). The sentences and passages are usually personal statements or examples from student essays; the three final passages are difficult pieces of academic prose.

This program could introduce or reinforce topics covered in a composition or language class.

[Top] 

* The Writing Tutor III (Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, 1991). 3 disks, IBM, individual or networked. Free with adoption of any HBJ-Holt Handbook. Contact: Judy McArthur, 416 255-0177 #959.

This program also offers brief review of basic topics of sentence correctness, then sets of exercises for drill. An innovation is that some exercises ask the user to compose a sentence using specified words. No help is available during the exercises, but correct answers are supplied after two wrong attempts.

Many problems of operation are visible. The program sometimes refuses right answers, and once requires a wrong one (he laid down for a nap). It gives credit for correctly composed sentences when the user simply lists the required words. The sample sentences are nearly all personal narrative or journalistic prose, and many were clichéd or banal (Television never ceases its relentless barrage). They contain some spelling errors and ambiguous pronouns.

This program is too flawed to be usable even for the limited drill function it attempts.

[Top] 

Online Handbooks

Potential advantages of this form of software:

Potential disadvantages:

[Top] 

* English Online (Prentice-Hall, 1993). To accompany Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers , 3rd ed., Lynn Quitman Troyka. 2 disks, IBM; also available for Mac. See also Bibliotech. Contact: Allan S. Gray, 905 839-3586.

This "pop-up" handbook is called up from within a word-processing program. From a menu of nine topics, each with branching subtopic menus, the user can get brief screens of advice adapted from the excellent but huge handbook and giving references to it. Retrieving any one entry requires a number of keystrokes. The user would need to know the structure of the handbook to distinguish among menu entries (e.g., Understanding Grammar, Writing Correct Sentences, Writing Effective Sentences). There is no overall Index to look up specific topics.

Entries are sensible but overly brief. On difficult matters, users are merely referred to the handbook. A number of the entries are on such general points that a miniature screen gives space only for banalities (e.g. on plagiarism, Document sources accurately and completely; a thesis statement states the position that you present in the essay).

This program would offer little to a student working without the handbook. Even with the handbook, it is inefficient to use.

[Top] 

* Little-Brown On-Line Handbook (Fifty-Third Street Handbook) (Daedalus Group, 1991). IBM and Mac versions. Free with adoption of Little-Brown Handbook, Canadian edition. Contact: Joan Langevin, Harper-Collins, 416 431-3446.

This "pop-up" handbook can be called up from within a word processing programj. The "hot keys" bring up a title page of general topics, an index of specific topics, or the previous screen used. Entries are keyed to the US version of the large handbook, though they can be used without it. The structure requires some knowledge of terms. There is no search capacity in the long and repetitive Index. Once found, the entry can be reduced to a half-screen overlying the word-processing screen, but in the IBM version the user must exit from the entry in order to perform actions in the word processor. Moving among entries is relatively easy, with a prompt bar at the bottom of the screen. Screen design is readable though slightly crowded; the use of quotation marks around words being discussed is confusing. The highlight did not work for the Topic Index on my disk.

Entries cover many technical points of sentence structure, usage, and mechanics, including citation format. They offer definitions of terms as well as sensible advice, and are complete in themselves, though they give cross-references to sections of the print handbook. The writing is notably clear, concise, and usable. Samples are usually from non-narrative prose, sometimes with a literary bent (e.g. Mencken, Highet). No specific attention is paid to ESL matters (e.g. the use of articles) or to international differences (e.g. in shall/will , one , punctuation, spelling).

This program could be recommended to conscientious students as an alternative or addition to a print handbook. The Mac version is more usable than the IBM one because it allows double-tasking, letting the user continue writing with the entry onscreen.

[Top] 

Bibliography Generators

Potential advantages of this kind of software:

Potential disadvantages:

* Bibliotech: Works Cited (Prentice-Hall, 1992). Daniel E. Speers. 1 disk, IBM; comes with English Online handbook (see above). Contact: Allan S. Gray, 905 839-3586.

This subprogram helps set up bibliography lists in new MLA, APA, or CBE styles by prompting the user to enter pieces of information in the order needed. It deals only with books, and does not correct errors in underlining or capitalization. Sample files show correct formats, but without underlining. Prompts have typos. Moving around in the program is awkward. My copy exited involuntarily a number of times during use. The DOS shell did not work.

This program needs many more capabilities to be worth using, and it needs to be reworked for reliability and accuracy.

[Top] 

EndNote Plus, version 1.2, 1993, Niles and Associates, 2000 Hearst St., Berkeley CA 94709, 510-649-8776. For WordPerfect for DOS and Windows. Demo copy at Centre for Computing in the Humanities; contact Claire Smith, 416 978-6391. For sale at UTCC at special price of $210; contact Evelyn Ward, 416 978-4990.

This is a database that can be called up from within WordPerfect to create a bibliography list and to insert and retrieve entries. The individual entries allow notes on content and keyword labels for later searching. The capacities for searching and cross-referencing are impressive, though they require many keystrokes and some confusing moves among documents. For students, one feature is especially useful: the guides to thirteen different format styles, and the capacity to transform a list into another format. Oddly, a few necessities for academic entries are not supported (no eds. for plural editors, no listing by title if author not available). It does give Greek characters and diacritical marks. Highly recommended for experienced computer users who need to keep track of large numbers of references.

[Top] 

* Reference Manager (Research Information Systems, 1994) DOS or Windows, student edition available commercially for about $80 Canadian.

Another integrated database program, designed especially for biomedical sciences. Individual entries allow for searching and reformatting according to more than 100 journal styles, including MLA and APA as well as biomedical journals. It can "capture" items from online services. This program requires less switching between files than EndNote Plus, allowing bibliographies to be generated from within the document you are writing or from a file retrieved online.

[Top] 

"Process" Programs for Invention and Editing

Potential advantages of this kind of software:

Potential disadvantages:

* Connect, W.W. Norton, 1993. Expansion of Norton Textra word-processing software. Myron Tuman and Ann Arbor Software, developers; information from Fred McFarland, (800) 533-7904, e-mail WWN@cornellc.cit.cornell.edu. IBM $31.95 US, network version more.

A sophisticated combination of word-processing and e-mail for use in electronic composition classrooms and for online distance education. A split screen allows text to be sent back and forth among instructor and students for interactive commenting and drafting. The program includes a good online handbook and the capacity to create notes and a Works Cited list.

If this were commercially available, the combination of word processing and handbook might be attractive to students setting up their first computers. The full multi-use program would be a good choice for institutions with networked computer classrooms.

[Top] 

* Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment (St. Martin's Press, 1993). Daedalus Group Inc., 1993. IBM and Mac. Site licence $149-249 US for IBM, $199 to 299 for Mac; buyer may take only some modules. Contact: Jeff Wallace, Nelson Canada, 905 842-0574.

This program links students and instructors in a networked classroom, and also provides invention activities and editing exercises based on the user's own writing. It is the most advanced of all programs considered, integrating all the different kinds of programs considered here (even a bibliography-generating capacity on the Mac version). The screen display on my demo copy did not work properly.

The invention and editing exercises are explicitly based on applications of rhetorical theory, including that of Aristotle and Kenneth Burke. The prompts phrase these ideas clearly, using first- and second-person pronouns (I want you to . . .). The instructions for revision make a sensible distinction between global and local revision. The networking capacity would make online peer commenting easy (as with Connect, above).

This program has received excellent reviews in the US, though some users say that the networking capacity is the only real advantage over paper-based activities of prewriting and commenting. Writer's Prologue is a stripped-down version of similar invention and editing exercises. See below for description.

[Top] 

* Edit! For DOS. Tom Waldrep, Robert Oakman, Collin Baker, McGraw-Hill, 1990. Contact David Stover 905 257-3287.

This is a miniature word processor along with some invention exercises and some editing help. It gives four screens of sensible basic questions about audience, purpose, focus, form and style, and then asks the user to enter a statement of intentions for each of these categories. After writing the text, the user then can ask to have it checked for various problems of style and structure.

The operation of this program is clumsy. The invention screens allow no real interaction. The usage checkers simply point out every instance where a problem might arise, but cannot indicate whether the user's text is correct. Help screens are available, but the program cannot check accuracy. It can count sentence lengths and reproduce opening and concluding sentences of paragraphs, but gives no guidance on appropriateness. In my testing, Edit! missed many mechanical errors and flagged some right usages. The program has no spell checker. For students with access to WordPerfect or Word, this program offers no advantages.

[Top] 

* SEEN: Tutorials for Critical Reading (Conduit Educational Software, University of Iowa, 1989). Helen Schwartz. IBM and Mac. Single user $110, more for network. Call 1-800-365-9774 or write Conduit, University of Iowa, Oakdale Campus, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.

This program leads the user through a series of questions to exercise skills of reading and interpretation. The network version lets the instructor and classmates see and comment on each user's answers. The Teacher Utilities also lets the instructor modify supplied tutorials or create new ones.

Storyspace: Hypertext Writing Environment, Jay David Bolter, Michael Joyce, and John B. Smith. Eastgate Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 1307, Cambridge MA 02238, 800-562-1638. For Macintosh computers in a network. Demo copy available at Centre for Computers and the Humanities; contact Claire Smith, 416 978-6391.

This is a system allowing students with the right equipment to create text in either Hypertext or linear form, to link notes and drafts, and to share files with each other and the instructor for commentary and editing. It is notable for its ease of use, even for students inexperienced with file structure and naming. It contains no instructional prompts, but allows the instructor to build in help screens, prompts, or exercises. This program has been highly praised by U.S. composition instructors in networked classrooms. It would have real potential for encouraging classes to write creatively and read each other's work.

[Top] 

* Writer's Helper II (Conduit Educational Software, University of Iowa, 1988). William Wresch. IBM, DOS or Windows. Call 1-800-365-9774 or write Conduit, University of Iowa, Oakdale Campus, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.

This was the earliest of the invention programs. It offers a large set of activities to lead up to the writing of general-composition essays, and employs some style-checking functions to encourage specific kinds of revision. It includes a small word-processing program, but can be used in tandem with any word processor. The program is easy to move around in, with options well-marked in a menu line. The exiting and re-entries for word processing are cumbersome.

The prewriting activities set out various kinds of brainstorming and game-playing in attractive formats. All are intended for use with composition essays, not academic or analytic ones. None mentions any preliminary reading or use of sources. The revising tools use counts of vocabulary and sentence forms to gauge stylistic level, then make sensibly limited suggestions about choices.

This would make an amusing adjunct to a composition course, especially at the high-school level, though most of the exercises could be done without computer. It has few uses for students writing academic essays.

[Top] 

* Writer's Prologue (St. Martin's Press, 1993). Daedalus Group, Inc. IBM and Mac versions: $24.95 for single copy, more for site licences. Contact Jeff Wallace, Nelson, 905 842-0574. See also Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment, above, for a more advanced version.

This program combines prompts for prewriting activities with a junior word processor and then more prompts for commentary and revision. The interface allows some windowing and is easy to use, though the resize function would not work in my copy. My copy had a number of blank spaces in the text and tended to scramble characters after movement between screens.

Instructions are purportedly based on current rhetorical models, but the prompts phrase the ideas in banal and obvious terms (Consider whether the thesis is too vague). The examples given in the "explain" windows are also bland. All exercises ask students to write from personal opinions, with no reference to sources and little sense of rigorous logic. An authoring capacity lets the instructor rewrite the activities if desired.

This program could be used only by students in composition classes, and is not as thorough or original as the older Writer's Helper or the more advanced Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment.

[Top] 

Historical Note

Writing this report was one of my first tasks in the new job of Coordinator of Writing Support for the University of Toronto. It helped me respond to a question I heard often in my first days on the job: can't computers do the work of getting students to write better?

Yes, I wanted to say, computers can help (see my advice file Using the Computer to Improve Your Writing), but not necessarily through specialized software. This report offered a number of caveats to explain that last phrase.

Many of the programs discussed here are no longer in production, in part because of the scrutiny brought by analyses like this. Others have become standard, even (like the style-checkers now built into wordprocessing programs) exempt from scrutiny. So although this report is now outdated, I leave it here as an historical document.

[Top] 
Written by Dr. Margaret Procter, Coordinator, Writing Support, University of Toronto.
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
U. of T. Writing Home
Site created by Dr. Margaret Procter, Coordinator, Writing Support,
and administered by Jerry Plotnick
  
Site Credits
Last modified September 11, 2007
Home | FAQs | News | Writing Courses | Writing Centres
Advice | Books | For Faculty