Text-to-Speech Editing

Personally, this is not an editing process I would have ever considered. I am typically a fast and concise writer.. It's never been something I've struggled with. This is not to say that I am a perfect writer or that I couldn't implement a better editing system for myself, just simply... that it is not one I consider necessary for myself. I did not enjoy hearing what I had written read aloud on the computer. 

I remember, though, as a child, reading what I had written to my parents or them reading it to me and understanding the importance of this phase of the editing process. Hearing what you have written really enables you to understand the importance of complete sentences and punctuation. 

I do believe that text-to-speech editing is a major milestone in the editing process. It shows that we have officially made a digital leap and that the majority of papers are being written on computers, not paper, and are able to qualify to utilize a text-to-speech app/feature on a word processing system. 

For children, I think this is especially unique and wonderful as they are so interested in technology. In the article "Look What I Did!," you really see the strengths of using this editing process. Hearing what you have written is so different than simply reading it off the page.. The eye can miss certain mistakes or skim over important missing information (punctation, run-on sentences, etc). Listening to what you've written, however, you are able to HEAR the errors. 

Young, Chase & Stover, Katie (2013). “Look What I Did!”: Student Conferences With Text-to-Speech Software. The Reading Teacher, 00(0), 000–000. doi: 10.1002/TRTR.1196