This paper analyzes the relative contributions of general reading comprehension and domain knowledge to subject matter text learning. The paper points out the limits of each factor in explaining text learning and summarizes some recent studies that support the complementary role played by each factor. A two-factor account of text learning (general…

Reviews models of reading performance as an organizing framework for understanding findings from empirical studies of text and reader factors. Reviews numerous empirical studies of text design and reader variables and their effects on comprehension. Aims to help readers understand this research and its implications in document design decisions.…

This paper (1) examines textbooks in group performance of literature to determine how they describe the use of stage light in production; (2) explicates the four qualities and five functions of stage light; (3) explicates the four structural tensions of a text as defined by J. H. Maclay (1972); (4) considers their application to the production of…

Argues that in the last 10 years the field of cognitive science has added much to the understanding of how to promote text comprehension. Focuses on the role of questions, text structure, and causal network theory as an approach to comprehension enhancement. (RS)

Explores issues related to quality in document design. Gives an overview of the quality movement, discusses alternative definitions of quality, analyzes dominant approaches to measuring quality, presents results of a survey showing that consumers value quality in document design, offers examples showing that it is cost effective, and appends an…

Compiles a list of strategies (culled from 46 postsecondary reading textbooks) that can prove useful as instructional aids when teaching developmental college readers how to deal with considerate and inconsiderate text. Notes that many of the strategies included in the textbooks were vague, incomplete, and lacked a real instructional component and…

Offers a review of research conducted on reading comprehension, focusing on studies of the cognitive processes involved in the comprehension of the meaning of the microstructures and macrostructures of a text. (DMM)

Presents a review of the literature on reader-focused text evaluation. Gives an account of the document characteristics that can be evaluated and considers the possible functions of evaluations making a distinction between verifying, troubleshooting, and choice-supporting research. Presents an overview of methods appropriate for the various…

This paper addresses the role of prior knowledge in the comprehension of narrative and expository text, two major categories of discourse. The paper reviews some of the differences in the essence of prior knowledge required to comprehend each text type and then examines research on prior knowledge and conceptual change that deals with both text…

Discusses how readers process text and the implications this processing has for technical writers. Presents guidelines for designing documents so that readers can better understand and apply what they have learned from text. (JAD)

A literature review traced a major theoretical shift in the understanding of how people read--from the passive reader who receives and decodes information to the strategic reader who actively chooses what, when, and how to read, reads interpretively, and interprets a text (such as a newspaper article) as an organized structure. The result is a…

To analyze the appropriateness of textual media in the construction of meaning, this paper first provides a review of the psychological research on semiotics and multiple intelligences that supports a broadened notion of text. The paper next reports on preliminary research on the construction of non-print texts in disciplines other than…

Examines composition research in the annotated bibliographies appearing from December 1984 to May 1989 in the journal "Research in the Teaching of English." Considers the question of what has been learned from this large corpus of research. Focuses on topics on which little research has been done and areas in which enough work has…

Analyzes the use of graphic aids in electronic texts by using four conceptual differences distinguishing printed and electronic texts. Proposes that these four differences can act as a theoretical framework informing the use of such graphic aids. Discusses the need for and the ramifications of such a theoretical model. (HB)

Examines 14 studies involving the effectiveness of comprehension strategies (advance organizers, graphic organizers and mapping, structured overviews, and use of text structure) for developmental college students. Finds that many of the studies concluded that the strategies were not effective for promoting comprehension. Discusses several…