Abstract

English Language Learners (ELLs) are in urgent need of instruction and tools to support their academic writing in English, which is essential to achievement in every academic subject and to overall school success (August & Shanahan, 2006). This chapter assesses the potential of speech recognition (SR) software, which through advances in research and development fueled by myriad commercial applications, now holds promise for new application in the classroom. SR has been studied for use in general education and by students with learning disabilities for academic writing. However, few studies to date have analyzed the impact of SR on ELLs’ writing. This study shows that SR software supported student pronunciation skills, which in turn may impact word fluency and text production. In addition, students used the software along with other semiotic tools (language, document-based questions, and other curricular material) to enhance their writing during the New York State Education Department Examination in Social Studies, which scores students’ essays for how they utilize higher level thinking skills and the extent to which they support their ideas with facts, examples, and details. Finally, this chapter explores how the constraints and affordances of the SR technology as a scaffold transformed with the students’ mastery of spoken language and literacy.

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