Focus Group on Computer Tools Used for Professional Writing and Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech

Transcription

1 Focus Group on Computer Tools Used for Professional Writing and Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Marie-Josée Goulet and Annie Duplessis University of Quebec in Outaouais Gatineau, Quebec, Canada

2 Introduction What is professional writing? The production of documents such as letters, newsletters, policies, guidelines, releases, annual reports, legal documents or procedural documents, in a professional setting (L intervention: usages et méthodes, Céline Beaudet, 1998) Which computer tools are used by professional writers? Are these tools meeting their needs? Do writers know what these tools can do?

3 Outline of presentation Report on an exploratory study on computer tools used for the production of written documents in the work place Description and analysis of LinguisTech (web site for language professional)

4 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Focus Group Number of participants: 8 Profile: 3 to 12 years experience in professional writing Sector of activity: government and parapublic, enterprise, non-profit organisation, professional association, print media Lenght of discussion: 2 sessions of 1.5 hour Recorded discussion Analysis from transcripts

5 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers

6 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Information Research and Processing Documents consulted = electronic format Personal files, intranet or internet Newspapers, annual reports, web pages, social networks Immensity of the web Duplication of documents

7 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Information Research and Processing Processing information: Using available search engine in conventional operating system Copying and pasting parts of source documents in a thematic text file

8 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Information Research and Processing Search engine: Requires research using lexical variants and synonyms Duplicate of documents = increased difficulty in processing Produces a lot of non relevant information (noise)

9 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Information Research and Processing Copy-and-paste Loss of information = difficulty in interpreting information Difficulty in organising copied parts in the target document

10 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Information Structuring Planification of ordering Using a word processor No participants use mind mapping tools

11 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Writing Use of traditional language technologies Text correction software (Word, Antidote) Electronic dictionaries (Le Petit Robert, Le Grand Robert et Collins, Word Reference) Terminology data banks (Termium Plus, Le Grand dictionnaire terminologique)

12 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Revising and Document Transmission Revising Use of Word s advanced functions (track changes, comments) Use of same language technologies than during writing

13 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Results Revising and Document Transmission Document Transmission s Use of web-based file hosting services Groupware (Google Documents) The practice of group writing is growing (Interacting with Computers, Adler et al., 2006)

14 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers Research & Processing Summary of computer tools used by participants Structuring Writing Revising & Transmitting Web search engine Text processor Text processor Text processor Text correction software Text correction software Operating system Dictionaries Dictionaries Office tools (text processor, database) *Information and document management software* Terminology data banks *Writing memory system* Terminology data banks File hosting service Collaborative platform

15 Exploratory Study on Computer Tools Used by Professional Writers General Conclusions Most important problems reported Conventional operating systems are not effective to retrieve information or documents on personal computers Access to more specialised tools such as writing memory systems is difficult Desktop is cluttered up with too many computer tools and windows Training on computer tools is needed

16 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Description of LinguisTech Launched in September, 2011 Developed by the Language Technologies Research Center (LTRC) Funded by the Government of Canada s Canadian Language Sector Enhancement Program

17 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Description of LinguisTech Toolbox for language professionals offering language technologies in both Canadian official languages (French and English) Documentation and training centre Virtual community

18 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Description of LinguisTech Toolbox (41 tools for language professionals) Free online tools Virtual desktop = software language tools already configured and installed

19 LinguisTech virtual desktop

20 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Description of LinguisTech Type of tools: office tools, search engines, text correction software, text analysis software, concordancers, dictionaries and terminology tools, translation and localization tools Documentation and training center Tutorials and exercices for tools included in the toolbox as well as for concept mapping tools and text aligners

21 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Analysis How does LinguisTech respond to professional writers needs in terms of computer tools and training material? Can LinguisTech solve any of the problems mentioned by our participants?

22 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Analysis Information Research and Processing Useful tools (ex.: Microsoft Office, Windows) Tutorials or exercices available for many of the tools No tool, tutorial or exercise related to No solution provided to meet the need for more effective information retrieval systems

23 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Analysis Information Structuring Text processor available Training available

24 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Analysis Writing Text processor, text correction software, dictionaries and terminology data banks available Tutorials and exercises available No specialised tools such as writing memory nor training material available

25 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech Analysis Revising and Document Transmission No hosting services (ex. Dropbox) nor collaborative platforms (ex. Google Documents) in toolbox No tutorials and exercices for those tools Many useful computer tools, but no interface to integrate them in an ergonomic way

26 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech General Conclusions Most of the computer tools used by the participants of the focus group when producing a written document are available on LinguisTech Need for integration of more effective information and document management systems and specialised writing tools (ex. authoring memory systems)

27 Preliminary Evaluation of LinguisTech General Conclusions Tutorials and exercises provide an effective solution to absence of training on information and language technologies LinguisTech could serve as an introduction to new tools

28 Conclusion Professional writers could not work without the computer tools they mentioned during the focus group, but they would welcome training as well as more specialised writing tools LinguisTech is useful for professional writers, but it would be better adapted for their work if it was to offer more effective information and document mangagement systems, specialised writing tools, and training material on collaborative platforms

29 References Andy Adler, John C. Nash, and Sylvie Noël Evaluating and Implementing a Collaborative Office Document System. In Interacting with Computers, 18(4): Jeffrey Allen Adapting the Concept of Translation Memory to Authoring Memory for a Controlled Language Writing Environment. In Proceedings of the Twenty-First International Conference on Translating and the Computer, London. Céline Beaudet Littéracie et rédaction: vers la définition d une pratique professionnelle. In G. A. Legault, editor, L intervention : usages et méthodes. Éditions GGC, Sherbrooke, Canada, pages Lynne Bowker, and Elizabeth Marshman Towards a Model of Active and Situated Learning in the Teaching of Computer-Aided Translation: Introducing the CERTT Project. In Journal of Translation Studies, To appear. Isabelle Clerc L enseignement de la rédaction professionnelle en milieu universitaire. In C. Préfontaine, L. Godard and G. Fortier, editors, Pour mieux comprendre la lecture et l écriture : enseignement et apprentissage. Éditions Logiques, Montreal, pages Isabelle Clerc, et al La démarche de rédaction. Éditions Nota bene, Quebec, Canada. Paul Geoffrion Le groupe de discussion. In B. Gauthier, editor, Recherche sociale: de la problématique à la collecte des données. Presses de l Université du Québec, Québec, Canada, pages

30 References Éric Kavanagh Analyse des fonctions d un traitement de texte en regard des besoins du rédacteur professionnel. In Z. Guével and I. Clerc, editors, Les professions langagières à l aube de l an CIRAL, Quebec, Canada, pages Éric Kavanagh La rédaction web : anatomie d une «nouvelle» expertise. In A. Piolat, editor, Lire, écrire, communiquer et apprendre avec internet. Solal, Marseille, pages Alex Kuhn, Chris Quintana, and Elliot Soloway Story Time : A New Way for Children to Write. In Proceedings of the 8 th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, pages , New York. Päivi Majaranta, and Räihä Kari-Jouko Twenty Years of Eye Typing: Systems and Design Issues. In Proceedings of the 2002 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications, pages 15-22, New York. John Milton, and Vivying S. Y. Cheng A Toolkit to Assist L2 Learners Become Independent Writers. In Proceedings of the NAACL HLT 2010 Workshop on Computational Linguistics and Writing: Writing Processes and Authoring Aids, pages 33-41, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Claude Morizio La recherche d information. Armand Colin, Paris. Khédija Nakbi La rédactologie : domaine, méthode et compétences. ASp, 37-38, pages Retrieved December 7, 2011 from