Customizing the Grammar Checker

barclay_barrios
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Have your students use Microsoft Word (in the computer classroom, at home, or in one of the campus labs on their own). Tell them to open one of their drafts and then click Tools » Options » Spelling & Grammar tab » Settings. Word can check for a variety of grammatical and stylistic errors, though we may not want Word checking for everything it can check for. Each student should choose one of the many unchecked options. Use the handbook to research that “error” and then offer advice to the class on whether or not they should have Word look for that error: Is it a serious error? Is it easier to find on your own? Is it a question of preference and not an error at all?
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About the Author
Barclay Barrios is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Writing Programs at Florida Atlantic University, where he teaches freshman composition and graduate courses in composition methodology and theory, rhetorics of the world wide web, and composing digital identities. He was Director of Instructional Technology at Rutgers University and currently serves on the board of Pedagogy. Barrios is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and the author of Emerging.