PaperRater Grammar and Spelling Check

"PaperRater.com is a free resource, developed and maintained by linguistics professionals and graduate students. PaperRater.com is used by schools and universities in over 46 countries to help students improve their writing" (About PaperRater, ¶1, 2014.03.04).

Screen snapshot of graphic on the PaperRater site

This post frames a comment that I posted today on the Digital Mobile Language Learning blog (Writing Tools for the Self-directed Learner Part 2, 2014.01.19), after trying out PaperRater, which provides, among other free services:

• Spelling and grammar checks,
• Style and word choice analyses, and
• Readability statistics (PaperRater: Features).

After trying a Google+ post that was too short to ... [get] feedback on many of the categories, I gave Paper Rater (PR) another spin on a working paper I ... [had written] a while back. The whole paper turned out to be too long for free assessment, so I cut the sample back to the end of the first section: 719 words per PR's count, 777 per Microsoft® Word 2008 for Mac. 

PR results, as Dan [Ferreira] suggested they would be, were quite interesting: 

+/- The spell check flagged one word apparently broken in the PDF from which I'd copied the sample, but also returned a false positive on the word conflate.  

+ Grammatical analysis revealed no errors. 

+ The numerical score for inappropriate word choices was, I guess, low (0.998). 

+/- The feedback on style in the web display focused mostly on sentence length (the longest: 53 words), but mistakenly indicated that more than half of the sentences were passive. I checked by hand, but found only one passive clause–in a quotation. 

-/+ Though the feedback on style in the PDF output was different, focusing on transition words, the PDF included general tips for using such words. 

+/- The vocabulary score seemed high (96), yet the feedback included only a subset (9 of 20) sophisticated words counted. Paper Rater did not mark such words in the sample. 

The numeric grade from the auto-grader bore a note to the effect that it was "based on [a] college grading scale," which was followed by a stronger one indicating that PR "does NOT examine the meaning of your words, how your ideas are structured, or how well your arguments are supported" [(Auto Grader, NOTE, ¶1)].

All in all, PR looks like it's worth asking students to try, as long as they can grasp its limitations.

I'm looking forward to trying it out with students soon.

[413 words]

Examples of Quotations and Ellipses

In this post, there are examples of quotations from an article on a website, and from a report published online in portable document format (PDF). Some longer examples include ellipses, or removals of words. There are short references in parentheses in the body of this post, and complete references at the end to point out the sources of the quotations.

Quotation within a quotation

In the passage below that I've quoted from the article on a website, Clark (2012) had quoted parts of the report (EF English First [EF], 2012). I've highlighted in yellow the parts of the report that Clark had quoted, both in my quotation from the website (below) and in another quotation from the original report (farther below).

". . . English will maintain and grow its dominance, moving from 'a marker of the elite' in years past to 'a basic skill needed for the entire workforce, in the same way that literacy has been transformed in the last two centuries from an elite privilege into a basic requirement for informed citizenship'" (Clark, 2012, ¶1, after EF, 2012).

Please note that Clark had combined phrases from two sentences in the original report into a single sentence structure of her own. The ellipsis, three spaced periods (". . . "), at the beginning of my quotation from the website (above) shows where I've shortened Clark's sentence.

However, I have replaced double quotation marks that were in the passage from Clark's article above with single quotations to show the beginnings and ends of Clark's quotations within my quotation (above). Replacing double quotation marks with single quotation marks indicates quotations within quotations.

• Double quotation marks show the beginnings and ends of my quotations from the webiste (above) and from the report itself (below).
• Single quotation marks within the double quotation marks above show the beginnings and ends of the parts of the original report that Clark had quoted.

Long quotation of the original

In the following quotation of the original passage from the EF report, and in the quotations with ellipses below that, please note that there are only double quotation marks.

"Today English proficiency can hardly be thought of as an economic advantage at all. It is certainly no longer a marker of the elite. Instead it is increasingly becoming a basic skill needed for the entire workforce, in the same way that literacy has been transformed in the last two centuries from an elite privilege into a basic requirement for informed citizenship" (EF, 2012, p. 12).

Original with ellipses

In both of the shortened quotations below, please note that ellipsis still shows where I've cut words out, and that I've shortened the quotations in ways that preserve grammatical units. Please also note that square brackets show where I've added words for clarification.

"Today English proficiency . . . is certainly no longer a marker of the elite. Instead it is increasingly becoming a basic skill needed for the entire workforce, . . . [and] a basic requirement for informed citizenship" (EF, 2012, p. 12).

"Today English proficiency . . . is increasingly becoming a basic skill needed for the entire workforce, . . . [and] a basic requirement for informed citizenship" (EF, 2012, p. 12).

Bits of the original recontextualized

In a message for prospective students that I prepared yesterday, I shared EF's assertions that English is not only "a basic skill needed for the entire workforce," but also "a basic requirement for informed citizenship" (EF, 2012, p. 12).

References

Clark, Dorie. (2012). English - The Language of Global Business? Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/10/26/english-the-language-of-global-business/

EF Education First [EF]. (2012). EF English Proficiency Index 2012 [PDF]. [n.p.]: EF Education First. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://www.ef.com/__/~/media/efcom/epi/2012/full_reports/ef-epi-2012-report-master-lr-2

[625 words]

Comments on essay prep. posts

This quick comment collection is to remind everyone what to put in their essay prep. posts, and what not to.

Numbers of movies to watch

pab2012年12月3日 13:13

Hi A...,

I suggest that you all plan to watch at least two two of the movies, if not all three of them (when you make the third choice), so you'll have a solid basis for comparisons.

Cheers, PB

pab2012年12月3日 13:48

Hi K...,

Please note, and let your teammates know, that teams of three need to watch three movies that are related either by stars in them or similar stories.

Cheers, PB

Bases for selections, foci for planning

December 3, 2012 1:20 PM

Thanks for the info., M....

Now what's the connection among those films?

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:29

Hi 'A...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please ...? You also should all plan to co-write about all three movies.

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:32

Hi M...,

I hope you'll consider not only differences but also similarities from the get go (from this early planning stage onward). [emphases added]

Cheers, PB

Too much personal info.

2012年12月3日 13:29

Hi 'A...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please trim your teammates' family names back to their initials? You also should ....

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:37

Hi M...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please trim your teammates' family names in your post back to their initials?

Cheers, PB

[207 words]

A few more comments and reflections

The comments I've collected in this post represent three sorts of suggestions that many bloggers other than the immediate recipients of the comments should heed in their own posts:

1. Choosing and using labels (again [Labels..., again?!? {Yes, labels, again!}];-),
2. Creating paragraph divisions to improve readability, and
3. Summarizing for a variety of reasons.

pab さんは書きました... Hi Y..., Better labels for this post (three or more for every post) might be: "animals, birds, chicks, dogs, gardens, ..." (comma-spaced values without quotation marks). Some of those you also could use on your next post. Cheers, PB 2012年6月18日	General recommendations: 1) Use topic labels that you are likely to use again and again. 2) If the labels are countable nouns, use their plural forms. Choice of suitable labels is important for several reasons. First and foremost, if the labels you use are both accurate and appropriate, they can help blog visitors find the kinds of posts they want to read, compare, or comment on (such as essays: drafts and revisions), as well as special topics they want to read about. Next, depending on how many times you use appropriate topic labels, the numbers of times you use particular labels may indicate both to you and to your readers which topics interest you most, as well as which you may want to write more about. Last (today;-), but not least, reflecting on the topics in your posts as you choose labels may help you decide where and when you should divide your posts into paragraphs, and perhaps even see where you might reorganize your paragraphs to make your ideas easy for readers to follow.
pab2012年7月12日 Hi A..., It is interesting to hear of your fondness for mystery stories, especially those written by Jirou Akakawa. However, this post summarizing one of his stories, recently dramatized on TV, probably would be easier to read if you divided it into paragraphs clearly separated by blank lines (no indentation necessary). Cheers, PB	Remember: White-space is golden! Divide large blocks of text into paragraphs to make them easier to read. Single blank lines between paragraphs orient readers' eyes towards topic shifts, if not to topic sentences, at the beginning each subsequent paragraph.
pab2012年7月12日 Y..., Would you please (re-)read the following post on the Writing Studio Blog, paying special attention to the illustration of summarizing, where the yellow part becomes green? FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012: Incorporating quoted passages Then please summarize the message from (a) member(s) of your host family in a similar fashion, using your own words. Cheers, PB	Summarize the writing of others, in this case, for three main reasons, namely to: 1. Avoid copying; 2. Present only key points, and mainly your own ideas; and 3. Avoid publishing personal correspondence without the authors' permission.

[424 words]

Another comment collection, 2012.06.05

This post displays another collection of recent comments from individual blog posts..., with brief explanations for everyone about:

• labels on posts (again and again!),
• sharing and learning with classmates and peers,
• location of Word Counter gadgets, and
• modified APA-style citations.

Comments	Notes
pab2012年5月14日 9:02 Hi K..., I note that you've changed your blog title, and started posting frequently. Now I'd like to ask you to do me a favor. Would you please reserve the label "free-writing" for "essay prep." assignments that I give leading up to composition of complete essay posts? You can use "homework" or "studies" for a third label on this post. Cheers, PB	For labels on posts, please follow the instructions in the Google spreadsheet in the Labels and Links page on the Writing Studio Blog,
pab2012年5月14日 9:05 PS: Please also share what you learn from this comment about labels with your classmates (1C) and peers (1A). Cheers, PB
pab2012年5月20日 11:58 Hi S..., I definitely recommend getting into healthy eating habits early on. Regarding labels, would you please reserve "essays" and "free-writing" in particular for specific writing assignments that I give in class? Suitable labels for this post would be "food, habits, [and] health" (without the quotation marks or the word in square brackets). Cheers, PB	For labels on posts, please follow the instructions in the Google spreadsheet in the Labels and Links page on the Writing Studio Blog.
pabMay 30, 2012 9:15 AM Hey, Y...! Putting this Word Counter in a page that you can reach from a tab at the head of your blog is a great idea. What an handy place to have it! PB	Great idea for location of Word Counter gadgets!
pab3 June 2012 19:03 Hi K..., This book review needs a complete APA-style reference citation, with the publisher's location (city) and name. Please see the ... BR posts on the Writing Studio Blog for models. You also need to publish BR 1-03 & BR 1-04 before 1-05, AND label ALL of your book reviews with the labels "books, reviews, ..." and at least one other suitable label for each. Cheers, PB	APA-style citations need four (4) parts, punctuated by periods: Authors' names: Family, Given; Years of publication (in parentheses); Titles in italics, AND in Title Case, NOT all capital letters; Places of publication: ...[Names of cities] and publishing company names[, separated by colons and single spaces]. See the model BR posts on the Writing Studio Blog for examples:  BR 1-01, and BR 1-02 (Apr. 18, 2012).
pab2012年6月3日 20:42 Hello, H... Would you please reserve the label "free-writing" only for "essay prep." posts that I assign in class? More suitable labels for this post could include "clothes, fashions, hobbies, ..." (all plural forms). Cheers, PB	For labels on posts, please follow the instructions in the Google spreadsheet in the Labels and Links page on the Writing Studio Blog.

Recent collections are in posts on May 9th and May 22nd.

[429 words {+ 8}]