Voice to Text Task 3

I created the output for this voice to text task on Seesaw, an learning portfolio application that I use with my students. I created a journal entry through the Seesaw app on my iPad that uses Apple’s speech to text functionality.

A couple of summers ago I had a really scary experience. There was a large group of us probably between 12 and 15 people who were side-by-side and quitting and dirt biking back into a remote area to go fishing for the day we travelled for probably an hour and a half to two hours stopping for a quick lunch when we finally came to the spot that we were looking for it was a deep fishing hole with, a stream on either side of it as soon as we arrived, my son decided that he was going to head off to the other side to fish off the bank. Everyone else was getting up getting lawn chairs out find a fishing gear, but Sheldon had already had out to the other side , he gets to the other side and steps up onto the land. I noticed that a bear was in the bush and had stood up on two legs was about 12 m away from the bear and the bear hadn’t noticed my son yet so and I was so in shock that I couldn’t even get the word bear out of my mouth all I could do was in a quiet voice say Sheldon back up Sheldon back up , I knew exactly what I how I wanted this to play in my hat. I wanted Sheldon to slowly back away get back on this side of the water and for the bear to not even notice him however shot and looked at me like I was crazy and like what  And then someone from the group finally finally saw the bear and said Bear and Sheldon started to back away without panicking, however instead of running away as we expected Bear to do dropped down all four and started centring towards my son at this point someone in the group yells run and Sheldon drops his fishing gear into the water and gets turned around and starts running the best he can in waste deep water  Away start to walk towards the Bear because we don’t know how this is all gonna play it. I was freaking out. I picked up a rock not sure what it was gonna do with. It didn’t know what was gonna happen. Someone in the group airhorn and blast that off and it enough that he changes course and takes off running into the forest , my son seemed to the whole experience saying it was no big deal. However it is changed the way that I feel about being in the forest forever. I was never afraid of bears before. I always thought that they would leave us alone every time we go hiking or camping , I am that person who is terrified that we are going to come across the bear 

How does the text deviate from conventions of written English?

This text was created using the dictation feature on my iPad. I noticed that it attempted to include some punctuation and even adjusted as I spoke. However, it missed several places where there should have been commas or periods. Additionally, it didn’t include quotation marks around direct speech. For example, it should have read, “Sheldon, back up, Sheldon, back up.” The structural organization is also lacking due to the absence of paragraphs.

What is “wrong” in the text? What is “right”?

There are many places in this text where things don’t make sense. It doesn’t reflect exactly what I said. For example, quitting should have been quadding, had out should have been headed out, play in my hat should have been play out in my head, and centring should have been sauntering. Some of these “mistakes” are so drastic that it might be hard for a reader to figure out what was actually meant. For instance, where it reads, “…even notice him however shot and looked at me …” it should be: “…even notice him. However, Sheldon looked at me …”

Additionally, there are missing words, such as get up which should be getting set up, and the phrase my son seemed to the whole experience is missing the word indifferent, which is crucial to the story. Some words are also misspelled in context; for example, waste should have been waist.

What’s right, however, is that there are no outright spelling mistakes—the technology correctly spells all the words it thinks it hears.

What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes”?

The most common mistake in this text is the lack of periods and commas. These are mistakes because the absence of punctuation affects the flow of the text. It doesn’t reflect how I spoke the words, and it makes it harder for the reader to break the information into manageable chunks. This, in turn, negatively impacts readability and comprehension.

What if you had “scripted” the story? What difference might that have made?

If I had scripted the story, I probably would have spoken more slowly and with greater emphasis on each word. Instead of focusing on what I was going to say next, I would have paid more attention to speaking each word clearly. This might have made the text more accurate, but I still think it would have been far from perfect.

A scripted version would likely have been more thought out and organized. There would have been more details, and I’d probably have used more adjectives and adverbs. I would have taken time to carefully consider each word choice and thought about which phrasing sounded best.

In a way, oral storytelling also follows this process: as a story is told repeatedly, it can improve, much like how written work is edited before being shared. The key difference is that with oral storytelling, the improvement comes through spoken repetition, while written work can be edited silently.

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling? 

Oral storytelling is an art form in itself. Storytellers possess a unique talent to captivate audiences and pass on knowledge. However, it is inherently inconsistent—each telling can vary slightly. As Ong notes when discussing oral cultures, “They can tell you the story accurately, they can use formulas, but every time they tell it, it’ll be a little bit different” (Abe Adound, 2014, 2:54).

In contrast, written storytelling tends to be more consistent. While it allows for more precision, it can lack the tone, cadence, and tempo that oral storytelling naturally enables. This is especially true when written by less experienced storytellers who may not focus on the rhythm and flow of their words.

References

Abe Aboud. (2014, September 8). Walter Ong – Oral cultures and early writing [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvF30zFImuo