Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
LE11 3TU
+44 (0)1509 263171
Loughborough University

Loughborough University Institutional Repository


Title: Improving children's written grammar and style: revising and editing with HARRY
Authors: Holdich, C.E.
Chung, Paul Wai Hing
Holdich, R.G.
Keywords: Hypermedia systems
Elementary education
Improving classroom teaching
Teaching strategies
Evaluation methodologies
Issue Date: 2004
Publisher: © Elsevier
Citation: HOLDICH, C.E., CHUNG, P.W.H. and HOLDICH, R.G., 2004. Improving children's written grammar and style: revising and editing with HARRY. Computers & Education 42 (1), pp. 1-23
Abstract: Children usually improve their writing in response to teacher comments. HARRY is a computer tutor, designed to assist children improve their narrative writing, focusing particularly upon grammar and style. Providing assistance involved identifying aspects of grammar and style on which to concentrate, including ways to enable the computer to detect weaknesses and then present information concerning how to make improvements. HARRY delivers general, conversational style suggestions for how to revise a text during composition, followed by editing suggestions targeting specific grammar and style weaknesses detected in the text. Finally, spellings and technical errors are corrected in MS Word. Evaluating a writing intervention strategy is problematic, as paradoxically, attempts by children to improve texts, can result in a deterioration in some aspects of writing quality. Four case studies are presented to demonstrate the effects of the HARRY writing system upon children's grammar and style. Each child wrote a control and a HARRY assisted story. HARRY's effectiveness at improving written grammar and style is demonstrated through analyses made of the narratives by CHECK TEXT, a utility tool which calculates and interprets quantitative data. Separate analysis of each stage of the HARRY assisted stories reveals the idiosyncratic pattern of improvement exhibited by each child.
Description: This article was published in the journal, Computers & education and is also available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09507051
URI: https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/2349
ISSN: 0360-1315
Appears in Collections:Published Articles (Computer Science)
Published Articles (Chemical Engineering)

Files associated with this item:

File Description SizeFormat
ComputersAndEducation_vol42_pp1-23.pdf326.74 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


SFX Query
