Modern day errors: Lunsford and Lunsford

Andrea and Karen Lunsford attempt to duplicate research that was done twenty two years ago.  The computer age has both helped and hindered grammatical errors. Their findings seem to add nothing to what has already been established in similar studies. The difference is that students no longer handwrite anything, and the computer has in some ways, reinvented the wheel.  I found this part of the research interesting because it sheds light on a whole new genre. Spell checker does not catch everything (believe me I know) and words that sound similar also contribute to modern errors. The major shifts that they discovered during their research were the papers had become a bit longer. They averaged 4.15 pages. According to their findings, students write longer than they did twenty years prior. I’d like to think it’s because of the accessibility of computers, and this means people no longer have to spend hours in a noisy lab. In the end, they said that students are making the same amount of mistakes as students did a hundred years ago. That is refreshing news.