What kind of influence has spell check had on our knowledge of language?
4 people said positive influence.
1 person said neutral or no influence.
1 person said negative influence.
I was the lone dissenter who chose negative influence. Even though spell-check has made our lives easier, I think it has actually decreased our knowledge of language. With spell-checker, we don't have to bother with learning how to spell words and we spend less time reflecting on our word choice, because we think that the spell-checker will catch our errors. I believe this is negatively influencing our knowledge of language.
Which influence did you choose, and why?
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5 comments:
Gack, somehow Language Nerds got kicked off my reader, I'm so behind! Now, on the subject of spelling. I never use a spell check, I am one of those lucky (note I said "lucky", not "superior" or "more intelligent") people who can just spell. I don't know if it was my teachers or my parents, but I won all the spelling bees in school and have never had an issue with it, spelling just makes sense to me. I find I ignore spell check most of the time as I use a lot of Spanish or Spanglish in my writing, use the Canadian spellings (add that "u" in "colour"!) as well as place names, so the squiggly red lines basically get ignored.
In terms of it being negative or positive, I guess that depends on the person. If spell check came along long after you graduated from any formal schooling, then it should just be a back up for all that you learned. For kids in school now, I think it can lead to them being lazy or uninterested in spelling, and therefore is negative. Remember, I went to school long before home computers were the norm(we had a Vic20 and Commodore64 in the house, but we were the odd balls in the hood) and certainly before the net. I learned how to write on paper, with a pen and eventually in high school on a "typewriter" (look it up if you're too young to remember). :) No such thing as spell check on a typewriter, if I made a mistake, it was either start the whole document again or mess around with the "correctype" tape which never seemed to work.
Oh man, I just realized I'm old and that my point of view is probably useless, lol!
CancunCanuck: "For kids in school now, I think it can lead to them being lazy or uninterested in spelling, and therefore is negative." I think that was what I was driving towards in my reasoning. I've always been very good with my spelling, but I have a few words that give me trouble, and I have a feeling that as long as I depend on spell check to correct my errors, I will never learn to spell those words. Though I do enjoy the fact that spell check considers my last name spelled wrong and gives me "Shotgunner" as one option. Like, "Hello! Amanda Shotgunner, at your service."
I've also always been pretty good with spelling. In elementary school, we had to write everything out because we didn't have access to computers like we do now. When I wasn't sure how to spell a word, I'd have to ask around and/or consult a dictionary.
Anyways, I said spell check has had a positive influence on language. I can see it having a negative influence too though...just for me, I'd say it's had a positive influence. Whenever I see red or green squiggly lines in Word, it makes me really look at the word/sentence to try to understand why it's telling me something is wrong so that I can learn how to do it right (or so that I can find out that I'm right and the computer is wrong).
I like spell check because it has immensely helped me with my time management. I have ALWAYS been very good at spelling and writing, but when my brain is tired and I am on page 8 of a 20 page thesis, it helps me stay focused and concentrate, without having to worry about whether or not my spelling is correct.
I think that spell check should only be introduced at the high school level in school, but that it really is helping kids learn how to properly spell. Of course, learning from a teacher is the best way, but sometimes not even that works all that well.
I like spell check because it always keeps me on my toes. I hate seeing those red and green lines!
Miyaunna, I like the idea that spell check should only be introduced in high schools. If that were the case, I think most children would be able to use spell check in a positive way, rather than depend on spell check to do the spelling for them. Don't get me wrong, I think that spell check is great, because it will catch not just misspelled words, but words that I mangle from typing too quickly. I just think it's important not to consider spell-check to be a "catch-all" because it's not.
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