3.1142 machined writing; noisy reading (57)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Wed, 7 Mar 90 08:16:06 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1142. Wednesday, 7 Mar 1990.
(1) Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 21:53:03 EST (21 lines)
From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM>
Subject: machined writing
(2) Date: 05 Mar 90 20:30 EST (16 lines)
From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUPCP6.BITNET>
Subject: Reading Aloud
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 90 21:53:03 EST
From: Stuart Moulthrop <SMOULTHR@YALEVM>
Subject: machined writing
"Skip" from Boise State replies to Davida Charney's critique of Marcia Halio
by observing that Halio does not advance "scientific" claims for what she sees
on her campus.
Quite so. But it's plain to any reader of the article that Halio tries to
pass off as "fact" an enormous load of untested, unverified, entirely
subjective assumptions. It's enough just to catch that section heading
"Suspicions Confirmed" to understand what's going on.
The article "confirms" nothing. But it DOES make plenty of assumptions as if
it had presented ample proof and it DOES call for some pretty strong action
(writing teachers should be warned against the "pitfalls" of friendly user
interfaces). Charney is right. This is bad scholarship and bad journalism.
Stuart Moulthrop
Expository Writing Program
Yale University
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: 05 Mar 90 20:30 EST
From: Malcolm Hayward <MHAYWARD@IUPCP6.BITNET>
Subject: Reading Aloud
Who was the first to read silently? A Taiwanese student remarked
she could not understand how anyone could read a NOVEL or a BOOK
aloud. When reading she reads by sight not by sound as I suppose
all do who read from a writing system not based on sounds. Of
course! I thought; a hundred generations of Chinese readers must
have been reading text after text before Augustine came along, with
nary a one of them moving their lips. It was an Ah ha! experience.
Malcolm Hayward MHayward@IUP
Department of English Phone: 412-357-2322 or
IUP 412-357-2261
Indiana, PA 15705