Speaking versus typing: a case-study of the effects of using voice-recognition software on academic correspondence

This paper contributes to the discussion about the effects of new technology on writing by assessing whether or not an experienced writer's style of writing changes when a new technology is introduced. 14 typed word-processed letters from ES to JH were compared with 14 dictated word-processed letters from ES after he had changed to using a voice-recognition system (Dragon Naturally Speaking). The results showed that, although there were large differences between the methods and experience of writing with the two technologies, there were no significant differences between the average letter lengths, numbers of paragraphs written and number of sentences used in each group of letters. Nor were there any significant differences in terms of readability, or typographical and grammatical errors. However, the dictated letters did have significantly shorter sentences, significantly fewer particularly long sentences (ie, those containing more than 50 words), and used the first-person pronoun more frequently. The overall results thus indicate that using the voice-recognition software had only marginal effects upon the written products, despite the fact that it had a strong effect on ES's experience of the writing process.