The authors suggest that writing should be conceived of not only as a verbal activity but also as a visuospatial activity, in which writers process and construct visuospatial mental representations. After briefly describing research on visuospatial cognition, they look at how cognitive researchers have investigated the visuospatial dimension of…

This research explores the ways in which normative structures organize experiences and representations of identities. It reports on two groups, one in which the members identified as rural and heterosexual and the other as urban and lesbian. Both participated in literary reading and response practices organized by a literary anthropological…

Provides evidence (based on studies of college-entrant essays) that readers form definite impressions of the writer's personality from the text, that these impressions have an important effect on the acceptance of the writer's message, and that information about the reader's perception of the writer's personality can play a critical role in…

Finds that respondents (working in a medium-sized federal government agency) reading high-impact reports did not make significantly better decisions than those reading bureaucratic reports. Shows that context factors (perceived work roles, job design, organizational structure, report genre expectations, and organizational language norms) caused…

Shows that organizational metaphors have a significant effect on the way writers think about readers and compose written reports. (SR)

Investigates whether changes in the written structure of a proposal will affect the reader's attitudes. Maintains that writers can help readers of proposals by providing the information, detail, and structure the reader expects. (SR)

Examines the impact on proofreading accuracy of setting text in monospaced typewriter faces and proportionally spaced typefaces. Finds no significant differences. Notes that proofreading suffered when an irregularly spaced typeface was used. Suggests that text may be checked more thoroughly if its format suggests provisionality. (RS)

Reviews recent theory and research on the place of purpose in technical communication. Offers a case study to illustrate the interaction of three aspects of document purpose: textual, reader-based, and contextual. (SR)

Investigates whether an increased use of techniques of visual design in technical communication improves instructional materials intended for novice writers. Finds that instructional materials incorporating basic visual design principles are more effective than those that are primarily verbal, and that less-capable writers benefit most from…

Reports on a study of the use of metaphor and analogy in scientific writing to determine whether the author's analogical style affected the media attention a brochure received and whether it improved the reader's understanding of the content. (FL)

Examines patterns in the responses of eight second- and third-grade students as they constructed meaning from fiction and nonfiction when asked to respond in writing to different instructional tasks. Suggests that both the task and the text influence children's responses. Demonstrates that young children are capable of providing rich written…

Finds that textbook prefaces are used by authors both to help the audience use the book and to convince them of its value, which accounts for relevant features of prefaces: the frequent use of textual metadiscourse and the pervasive presence of evaluation. Discusses evaluative criteria used in prefaces and how they are related to the audience's…

Considering that some feminist critics have recently been approaching composition theory from a preconceived feminist perspective, the issue of maintaining an analytical bias while conducting research is once more emerging. By imposing an analytical model on a body of data, scholars run the risk of ignoring conclusions or focusing on those which…

Studies the speech act strategies of indirectness in professional letter writing through an analysis of statements which were evaluated by college seniors. Discusses indirectness strategies from the perspectives of (1) value index; (2) writer/addressee orientation; (3) linguistic characterization; and (4) location within sentences. Suggests that…

Examines how writing features influence recruiters' assessments of resumes. Finds that if resumes of technically well-qualified applicants contain grammatical errors, recruiters rate their resumes lower than resumes listing less experience, but containing more accurate writing. (MM)