Task 3:

Voice to Text

I used the Microsoft Word Dictation feature (Microsoft, n.d.) to produce text as I told a story about my work trip to Harbour Breton, NL. The “Filter sensitive phrases” option was automatically selected, and I chose to “Enable auto punctuation.”

Several years ago, while I was working as a training specialist for our provincial Public Library system, I had to do a visit to a library in one of our world communities in Harbor, Britain. So this is a very. Sparsely populated community and I had decided that my husband was going to come along as well as my dog Ralph. So a little back story here. Ralph is a 75 LB lab mix and he is. Upon all joy, but also the biggest goofball, we joke that he has never really. Matured, to say the least. Anyway, so the three of us end up in this tiny hotel and as we’re pulling in. Tour bus, which I thought was really strained anyway, pulls up with a bunch of tourists that I guess are touring this small community of Harbor Breton which has not a whole lot of services. And so we was evening we went for a little walk to growth out. It was interesting to watch all the locals. They were very interested in who we were and why we were visiting an it was very apparent that we were not from them. So as the night went on we finished up dinner and came back to the hotel and my husband was going out to grab something from our vehicle an as he went out. He opened the door and. The dog got out, Ralph got out without a collar on, and it just so happened that that group, that tour bus. Of people, they all had their doors open ’cause they were in a number of rooms that were across from each other and next to each other. So there was about 5:00 rooms, 6 rooms along our hallway that all had doors open. So Ralph took this as an open invitation and he went dashing in to one of the rooms with the open door and there was a group of people just hanging out having a few drinks there. All I heard was a lady screeching, so apparently this woman was very afraid of dogs. I raised out of the hallway chasing after Ralph an into this room, this hotel room for people. I have no idea who they are. An icy Ralph jumping from bed to bed as this woman screeches and everyone else in the room is laughing so it takes a little finagle ING but eventually I get Ralph’s collar on an the woman continues to screech and then as soon as. Ralph’s colour is the Hun and he looks somewhat contained. The woman proceeds to tell me how afraid she is of big dogs, and how I shouldn’t have let him loose in the hotel. And what a poor owner I am. So. Turns out word till everyone else found a very funny was just this one moment who is really. Found it or took issue with that. We go back to the health hotel room in our own hotel room. Close the door. Kinda ****** ’cause you know, cousin let the dog out. Anne Ralph is pleased as. Lunch. He had so much fun leaping from bed to bed. Enjoying his time with all of these strangers. So that was a pretty eventful. Trip to Harbour Breton or in eventful incident? The rest of the trip was kind of punctuated with oddness. We couldn’t find anywhere open for breakfast the next day on a Saturday at 9:00 and. We were stopped by numerous locals. They have seen my husband hiking and even though he didn’t have a camera on him, they thought that. A lens case belonged to him. So it was just a really odd, bizarre experience. Harbor Breton with beautiful though that situated in a lovely little location and you’re right there on the water. There’s beautiful homes. I would just make sure that you have your your dog leashed in the hotel that there are motel that there and that you have. Breakfast provisions if you do visit.

How does the text deviate from the conventions of written English?

Spelling and Capitalization
I was pleasantly surprised that the dictation feature did not produce any misspelled words. However, there were numerous inaccuracies where words and phrases appeared in the text that were not present in the oral telling of the story. Capitalization was used correctly and consistently throughout the text, following a period and for names and locations.

Punctuation and Grammar
Punctuation and grammar were two areas where there were some significant deviations from what would be considered correct written English. Commas and periods were missing in some places and inserted where they shouldn’t appear. The tool correctly placed commas and periods whenever there were pauses in speech; however, some pauses were for effect or to recall the story’s events. These pauses and the resulting placement of periods and commas in the text didn’t always comply with typical written language conventions. Thus demonstrating how pace and timing are different in oral speech and written text.

What is “right” and “wrong” in the text? What were the common mistakes?

Right
The dictation tool successfully captured the highlights of my story while attempting to follow written English language conventions.

Wrong
Many of the words and, in some cases, entire phrases were wrong. For example:

Written Text	Actual Utterance
Harbour, Britan	Harbour Breton
5:00 (time)	5 (count)
raised	raced
finagle ING	finagling

These mistakes were frequent enough that they changed the details of the story. The combination of the substitution of words and misplaced punctuation makes the written version of the story challenging to follow. Many of these errors were a result of my spoken pacing and annunciation. Instead of speaking as I normally would, if I spoke slowly, focused on annunciation, and placed pauses intentionally where they would often be found in writing, the final text product would be different. I also observed that there wasn’t any punctuation to add emphasis, such as an exclamation mark.

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

It would have been much easier to read and follow the story if it had been scripted. The opportunity to recall events and methodically plan the story arc would have made a significant difference. A scripted version would also allow for richer language and details to be added. I would have had the time and space to organize my thoughts, be intentional with my word choices, and reflect or revise my story as needed – something that wasn’t possible during the oral component of this task.

There is a section at the end of the text where I ramble. If I had scripted the story, I could have used this time more effectively to embellish elements of the story or provide a clear ending. I want to think that in a scripted version, there would be fewer instances of throwaway language or filler, such as “so” and “but.” These words are apparent in speech; however, they are magnified in written text and appear more disruptive when read vs. heard.

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling?

Incorporating a tool (pen and paper, computer, etc.) makes the process and end product of written storytelling different from oral storytelling. Gnanadesikan (2008) refers to the deliberate nature of writing, its “careful crafting” (p. 5), and its permanence. These variances result in different skill sets being required. Oral and written storytelling each have different mechanisms to utilize tone and pacing to enhance the language of a story. Oral storytelling contains a greater level of spontaneity and its temporary nature results in fewer opportunities for reflection or revision. Written storytelling often has a higher level of polish and intention due to its permanence and opportunity to be scrutinized or analyzed in detail. 

References

Gnanadesikan, A.E. (2008). The First IT Revolution. In The Writing Revolution (eds D. Crystal and A.E. Gnanadesikan). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444304671.ch1

Microsoft. (n.d.). Dictate your documents in Word. Microsoft Support. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dictate-your-documents-in-word-3876e05f-3fcc-418f-b8ab-db7ce0d11d3c