MS Word Bells & Whistles Part 1: Using Grammar and Spell Checkers Effectively Ashley J. Velázquez Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Let’s Discuss 1. How do you use Microsoft word? 2. Is MS Word ever wrong when it marks an error or offers a suggestion? 3. What trouble do you usually have when using MS Word to write a paper?

First things first… 1.Contrary to popular belief, MS Word is not all-knowing! Nor is it smarter than your instructor. 2.MS Word only analyzes at sentence level. 3.Long sentences, though correct, confuse MS Word. 4.A lack of highlights from MS word is not an indication of an error-free paper.

Grammar Settings

Punctuation Check What’s wrong with this picture?

Subject-Verb Agreement S/V agreement is a common error in ELL papers for various reasons, but maybe one of those is because we don’t check our papers since we think MS Word is the Seer of All Errors. Let’s look at an example.

WHAT ABOUT SPELLING ERRORS AND AUTOCORRECT? Is that what you really meant to say?

One of the major areas of concern when using MS Word is the spell-checker. Computers don’t have the same social intelligence as people. Spell Checker

Let’s Look at Some Examples

Practice Editing MS Word’s Errors with these Student Examples

YOUR WRITING, YOUR WORD PROCESSOR, YOUR MEANING Proofing your papers

1. Print your paper out! 2. Read aloud: 2-3 second pause after every period – helps choppy, fragmented sentences. 3. Read backwards. 4. Read one sentence at a time. 5. Check a dictionary before choosing a word that MS suggests. 6. Switch papers with a friend and read each others’ and ask questions. If MS Word isn’t foolproof, then what? Proof-read!

Let’s practice!

Settings: How to Turn These Things Off

The OWL is also Helpful There are many resources on the OWL’s website, one of which is about proofreading. Here’s the link: e.edu/owl/resource/561/ 01/ e.edu/owl/resource/561/ 01/

The End MS Word Bells and Whistles Part 1: Using Grammar and Spell Checkers Effectively Ashley J. Velázquez Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab