Increasing literacy levels by the use of linguistic prediction

A predictive text input system, PAL, was introduced into a school environment with a group of 17 children representing a wide range of special educational needs. The group included non-speakers and also children with severe spelling and language problems. In all but one of the cases, this system was found to be very successful in improving the quantity and quality of the written work which the pupils produced. This work shows that, not only can predictive systems be used as an acceleration technique for physically-disabled people, they can also be of great benefit both as a prosthesis and a training aid for children with a wide range of spelling and language dysfunction.