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The aim of this article is to give an overview of the nature of current lexicographic user guidance devices and to suggest a possible classification or taxonomy to serve as a guideline for future compilations of such tools to assist users in communicative and cognitive situations, especially in text production, text reception and computer assisted...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... if, for example, a French sentence occurs in an English text, and the reader needs to have this sentence translated into English, (s)he highlights the sentence, which is then passed on to Bing Translator, which opens in a separate pop-up window. Bing Translator usually automatically recognises the language, and provides a translation, as in Figure 7 below. ...
Citations
A detailed user study and observations by lecturers indicate that the correct compilation of sentences in the eight verbal moods as well as for a number of similar grammatically complicated constructions in Sepedi poses a challenge in any text production situation. Feedback from target users indicated that there is a need for a computational writing assistant for the compilation and verification of correct constructions. To address this need, an extended computational sentence builder for verbal moods, adjectives and possessive constructions in Sepedi was designed and built to assist in text production and to serve as a model for other African languages. This article introduces a prototype of such an extended computational sentence builder for verbal moods, adjectives and possessive constructions in Sepedi. The emphasis throughout is on the grammatical complexity of Sepedi and how the Sepedi Helper can assist users to produce correct sentences. In contrast to typical traditional grammars of Sepedi, the tool also provides the required cognitive information through basic clickable help screens. The Sepedi Helper is a dynamic lightweight tool aimed at combining user knowledge with a text production tool, i.e. user-involved, step-by-step production of Sepedi phrases. The emphasis in the design is on simplicity.
The copulative construction in Sepedi is very complex, as is evident from the detailed and lengthy discussions that occur in standard grammar reference works of Sepedi. This article proposes a decision tree format to guide users through binary or multiple choices at various levels to choose the correct options and eventually arrive at the correct copulative construction. After a brief introduction to writing tools, the complexity of copulative constructions in Sepedi is discussed in detail, illustrating this complexity by means of examples. Thereafter, the prototype decision tree structure is discussed, illustrating the visual presentation of the system through a number of screen captures. The system focuses on text production, i.e. someone who intends writing a text. It presupposes a very basic knowledge of the copulative. If the user is unsure about terminology or content, the option exists, at each node, to drill down and obtain more information, including example sentences. The system therefore provides information on demand, and does not overload the user with information that may either be known or that may not be required to solve the specific information need in context. A detailed usability study will be undertaken as future work.
This article reports on an evaluation of the Sepedi Helper (http://www.sepedihelper.co.za/), an online writing assistant. The focus of the evaluation is on the verbal moods in Sepedi (Northern Sotho). The evaluation takes the form of a user study, and data collection was done by means of a questionnaire, administered to 81 first- and second-year students at a tertiary institution who do not have Sepedi as their strongest/home language. Analysis of the data includes identification of the most problematic moods and constructions and typical errors made by the students, and an evaluation of the contribution made by the Sepedi Helper. This writing assistant is a work in progress, with the developers’ ultimate aim being to compile a complete online grammar for Sepedi. The results of the evaluation indicate that the Sepedi Helper meets its stated aims, namely to confirm correct responses, correct errors, and identify the most common errors made by learners of Sepedi.
