Documents displayed on the display screen are generally proofread by “ Silent Reading, ” whereby literal errors tend to be overlooked frequently. In this research, two types of proofreading methods were examined: the “ Reading Aloud ” method, and the “ Mouse Drag ” (MD) method, where proofreading is performed while dragging sentences with the mouse of the computer. Error detection accuracy for these methods was compared with the usual Silent Reading method. The results revealed that the Reading Aloud and MD methods were more effective than the Silent Reading method for detecting errors. Movement of vision was also measured for the Silent Reading, Reading Aloud, and MD methods using an eye movement measurement device. It was observed that, with the Reading Aloud and MD methods, letters and characters were frequently “ read back ” and the reading speed was slower compared to the Silent Reading method. Therefore, it was concluded that the Reading Aloud and MD methods were more effective for error detection than the Silent Reading method presumably because the subjects subconsciously “ read back ” the letters and characters while proofreading.
View full abstract