An examination of the literature supports the view that the implications of text studies have yet to have much impact on classrooms. For example, word frequency lists have been used widely in the preparation of reading materials. However, few books come with a list of the frequency of the words they contain. Thus, the main use of comparing texts…

The effects of various discourse variables on the psycholinguistic processing of sentences within paragraphs by 36 competent adult readers were investigated. Eye movement measures were used as the dependent variables reflecting psycholinguistic processing. When all of the constraints within which the study had to be performed were examined, it…

Research findings on semantic cohesion within a sentence and its effect on individuals' performance in using the sentences illustrate how research methodology can influence research outcomes. (MSE)

This paper inquires analytically about the connotative meaning of the terms poverty and learning as they function in the language of comparative education research. In the analysis of concepts, the analytical techniques used are the techniques of definition, explication, illustration, and substitution. Four conceptions of the term learning and…

The transmission of verbal information has typically been studied within the referential communication paradigm, which has tended to use restricted tasks and simple outcome measures. In this study, new insights into the nature of communication success and failure have been obtained by the use of an approach that allows meaning to be freely…

A method was developed for characterizing and comparing the semantic content of picture-text combinations used as stimuli in research on reading procedural instructions. The written directions for assembling a toy model were analyzed, and sets of propositions in the instructions were constructed using C. H. Frederiksen's discourse analysis model.…

The first of three papers from this symposium, "If We Can't Define HRD in One Country, How Can We Define It in an International Context?" (Gary N. Mc Lean, Laird D. McLean), questions the possibility of defining human resource development (HRD) in a worldwide context. Several factors were found that influence a country's and an individual's…

Impromptu speech can be defined in different ways: in terms of situational context, linguistic characteristics, and real-time processing. These approaches are not contradictory. There are certain situations that call for rapid processing of spoken discourse, and the needs of that processing are reflected in the structure of the text. The degree of…

Arguing for a feminist appropriation of the organizational culture approach to the study of complex formal organizations, this paper contends that, far from being an alternative approach that facilitates asking radically different questions about organizational life, the organizational culture approach's radical intentions are undermined by the…