Saturday, December 30, 2017

Layout Changer on the Virtual Writing Tutor Grammar Checker

Check out this new feature on the Virtual Writing Tutor grammar checker at VirtualWritingTutor.com. You can now change the layout to see the feedback on the right while you correct your grammar on the left.



Wednesday, October 18, 2017

A Grammar Checker that Talks to You

An ESL Grammar Checker

You may already know that the VirtualWritingTutor.com website provides corrective feedback on common English Second Language errors for free. What you probably don't know yet is that the VWT can speak.

By using text-to-speech, the VWT can explain and suggest corrections orally. The exciting part is that there is evidence that hearing corrective feedback may be more effective than reading it. 

For example, Sobhani and Tayebipour (2015) found that unfocused oral feedback on students' writing errors was superior to unfocused written feedback. Since the VirtualWritingTutor.com does not restrict feedback to specific target structures, the feedback it gives is by definition unfocused.

In an earlier study, Jordan (2004) found that the combination of oral feedback with written comments on students' exams was more comprehensible and encouraging than written feedback alone on written exams. While it is doubtful that learners will find it more encouraging to listen to corrective feedback generated by a voice synthesizer on the Virtual Writing Tutor, listening to feedback might indeed make it more comprehensible.

To explore this exciting possibility in computer-assisted ESL pedagogy, we added a text-to-speech button next to each corrective feedback message. The steps you need to follow to try it for yourself are below.

Steps

You will need to create an account on the VirtualWritingTutor.com. It is 100% free to create an account and membership entails no obligation.

 Enter some text and click "Check Grammar."

Finally, click on "Text-to-Speech" to hear it read to you.

Please share and like the VirtualWritingTutor.com on your favorite social media sites if you like this new feature.

References

Jordan, J. (2004). The use of orally recorded exam feedback as a supplement to
            written comments. Journal of Statistics Education, 12(1), 20-27.


Sobhani M. and Tayebipour F. (2015).The Effects of Oral vs. Written Corrective
          Feedback on EFL Learners’ Essay Writing, Theory and Practice in
          Language Studies, 5, (8).

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Virtual Writing Tutor Grammar Checker iFrame

Free Grammar Checker

Avoid embarrassing mistakes by checking your writing for common grammar mistakes and punctuation errors using this free grammar checker. Embed the Virtual Writing Tutor on your website or blog with this grammar checker iframe code

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Error Correction Game on the Virtual Writing Tutor ESL Grammar Checker

Hypertext template

Start here or see the diagram.

It all started like this.

Write the beginning of your story here. After reading this, your reader will have to make a choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 1
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 23
Choice 3: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 45






























Scene 1.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 2
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 9
Choice 3: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 1






























Scene 2.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 3
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 6






























Scene 3.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 4
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 5






























Scene 4.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 5.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 6.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 7
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 8






























Scene 7.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 8.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 9.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 10
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 13






























Scene 10.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 11
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 12






























Scene 11.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 12.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 13.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 14
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 15






























Scene 14.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 15.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 16.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 17
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 20






























Scene 17.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 18
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 19






























Scene 18.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 19.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 20.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 21
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 22






























Scene 21.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 22.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























_______________________________________________________________________

Scene 23.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 24
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 31
Choice 3: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 38






























Scene 24.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 25
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 28






























Scene 25.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 26
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 27






























Scene 26.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 27.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 28.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 29
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 30






























Scene 29.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 30.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 31.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 32
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 35






























Scene 32.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 33
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 34






























Scene 33.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 34.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 35.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 36
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 37






























Scene 36.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 37.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 38.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 39
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 42






























Scene 39.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 40
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 41






























Scene 40.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 41.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 42.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 43
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 44






























Scene 43.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 44.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























_______________________________________________________________________

Scene 45.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 46
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 53
Choice 3: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 60






























Scene 46.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 47
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 50






























Scene 47.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 48
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 49






























Scene 48.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 49.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 50.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 51
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 52






























Scene 51.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 52.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 53.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 54
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 57






























Scene 54.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 55
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 56






























Scene 55.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 56.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 57.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 58
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 59






























Scene 58.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 59.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 60.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 61
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 64






























Scene 61.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 62
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 63






























Scene 62.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 63.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 64.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was and then develop the story some more. After reading this part, your reader will have to make another choice.
Choice 1: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 65
Choice 2: Write a choice that will take the reader to Scene 66






























Scene 65.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Scene 66.

You decided something which brought you here. Briefly say what the choice was, provide closure, and end the story.
Start again: Write a sentence that will take the reader to the beginning again.






























Diagram

Return to the start.

Hypertext narrative template for digital ESL literacy

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Learn How to Pronounce Difficult Words with the Virtual Writing Tutor Grammar Checker

English is filled with silent letters and strange spellings, making it difficult to predict how to pronounce unfamiliar words. Help is here. Try the Virtual Writing Tutor's pronunciation checker to learn how to say this difficult to pronounce sentence.
  text-to-speech.png
  1. Go to the Virtual Writing Tutor.
  2. Copy + paste the sentence below into the textbox.  (1)
  3. Click on the text-to-speech button. (2)
  4. Learn the pronunciation.

A psychologist on the island of Montreal would slice a salmon with a knife instead of a sword, but a psychiatrist would listen to you laugh and cough on his couch. 

You can download an MP3 of this or any text by clicking on the download button.

Speech Recognition and the Best Free Grammar Checker

5 New Features on the My Profile Page of the Virtual Writing Tutor Grammar Checker

New Features

Check out the new features on VirtualWritingTutor.com. Here are five for members only, but we haven't stopped adding them yet. There are many more on their way. Remember that membership is free.

1. Saved Texts

The most recent addition is the "Saved Text" feature on the VirtualWritingTutor.com.  Whenever members use the Virtual Writing Tutor to check grammar, the system saves the text to the member's profile. That way you never lose a draft, and you can go back to see the changes you made. If you want to delete a text for whatever reason, now you can. Notice the little hot link on the right hand side of the My Profile page, on the "Saved Text" tab. Click it to remove a text from the list.

2. Change Your Password

You can easily change your password for your VirtualWritingTutor.com account. Click on the "Change Password" tab and enter your new password twice and your old password once. 

3. Recover Your Password

If you have forgotten your password, you can now have a copy of your password sent to your email address. Since only you can access your email inbox, only you can recover it. 

4. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to Our Newsletter

We don't want to pester your with emails you don't want, so you can unsubscribe from our newsletter mailing list anytime and subscribe again just as easily.

5. Error Correction Game

We have a cool new way to improve your revision skills. It is coming soon to your "My Profile" page. Stay tuned. You'll love it!

Report Bad Feedback and False Alarms with a Single Click

Nobody likes to see bad feedback or false alarms while using the Virtual Writing Tutor. These little annoyances waste our time and mental energy. That's why I put a lot of energy into reducing the number of false alarm messages the VWT generates. I do my very best to make sure you get only useful feedback. I'm making progress, but I can't imagine all of the sentences that users might write, so I can't eliminate all of these problems on my own.
I need your help!
That's why I added a "Report" button next to every feedback message the system generates. 
If you receive bad feedback or a false alarm, click it! Here's what happens next for members. An alert will show asking you to confirm your decision to report the problem. Click OK. 
The system will let you know if your report was successfully submitted for review. 
Then, the report is stored in my Administration Panel so that I can review reports and make the changes necessary to eliminate the false alarm or fix the feedback.
I can then delete old reports and update the system so that you do not see that problem again. 
Please use the "Report" button as often as you feel it is necessary. It is a big help to me, and you help all of the other users of the VirtualWritingTutor.com by improving the feedback that everyone gets on their texts.

Using the Virtual Writing Tutor to Find Field Related Vocabulary

Introduction to My Blog

In this blog you will learn about me and my adventures in my program.