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Wright, David – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 2008
This study investigates the link between the linguistic principles of implicature and pragmatics and software documentation. When implicatures are created in conversation or text, the listener or reader is required to fill in missing information not overtly stated. This information is usually filled in on the basis of previous knowledge or…
Descriptors: Computer Software, Comparative Analysis, Pragmatics, Content Analysis
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Campbell, Kim Sydow – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1991
Suggests that cohesion is best understood as a general perceptual phenomenon rather than a purely semantic one. Discusses three types of structural cohesion based on an analysis of technical texts: cohesion produced through thematic progression, parallelism, and graphic devices. (SR)
Descriptors: Cohesion (Written Composition), Higher Education, Technical Writing, Text Structure
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Dorrell, Jean T.; Darsey, Nancy S. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1991
Describes a study in which 30 letters from corporation executives to shareholders were examined for readability and writing style. Concludes that letters written by executives who were viewed as successful fell into accepted levels of readability. Observes that opening paragraphs tended to be equivocal or positive. Suggests study of shareholder…
Descriptors: Administrators, Business Communication, Letters (Correspondence), Readability
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Runquist, Mark – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1992
Investigates the role that ethos takes in the scientific papers of American glacial geologists. Analyzes the rhetorical strategies of five articles spanning the time period from 1839-1988. Discovers a coherent evolution of rhetorical strategies over this time period. (HB)
Descriptors: Communication Research, Geology, Higher Education, Rhetoric
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Warren, Thomas L. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 2001
Looks at a sample of instructional documents using Restricted and Elaborated Code and metadiscourse analysis to determine how easily users can read and understand the material. Suggests that the documents do not send a clear message to authors and editors and can be stylistically hard to understand and consequently, the approved standards…
Descriptors: Discourse Analysis, Higher Education, Readability, Reader Text Relationship
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De Jong, Menno; Schellens, Peter Jan – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 2001
Explores how participant characteristics affect the feedback collected during a reader-focused evaluation of brochures. Notes highly educated participants focused more strongly on the structuring of information. Suggests that it may be more fruitful to investigate the influence of more specific participant characteristics that are more univocally…
Descriptors: Educational Attainment, Higher Education, Reader Response, Sex Differences
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Harmon, Joseph E. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1992
Discusses the typical form and content of 40 theoretical scientific papers chosen from the most-cited papers in the "Science Citation Index." Demonstrates that the form of these papers is similar to that of experimental and methods papers but that the content differs substantially. (HB)
Descriptors: Communication Research, Content Analysis, Higher Education, Research Reports
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Teklinski, Bill – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1992
Quantifies specific elements of technical writing style in five award winning technical manuals where combined averages for the style elements are calculated. Compares these results to common criteria of good technical writing. Claims that wide variations among these manuals show that defining "good" technical writing is difficult. (HB)
Descriptors: Business Communication, Content Analysis, Guides, Higher Education
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Ramsey, Shirley – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1995
Uses content analysis to compare two community newspapers for indices of elaboration identified through various theoretical sources. Traces the relationship of economic development and technological growth to use of elaborative elements in text describing science and technology. Concludes there were strong correlations for breadth and depth in the…
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Content Analysis, Economic Development, Journalism Research
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Williams, Thomas R.; Butterfield, Earl C. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1992
Investigates whether advance organizers facilitate the acquisition of subordinate information from text. Examines the influences of reader's background knowledge, advance organizers, relative importance of idea units, and idea units' position within a text structure on the recall of textual information. (SR)
Descriptors: Advance Organizers, Higher Education, Prior Learning, Reading Comprehension
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Wenger, Michael J.; Spyridakis, Jan H. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1993
Studies empirically the effects on reader performance of reduced text structure in technical writing texts. Reveals that removal of cues to local coherence produced reliable decrements in reader performance. Discusses results with regard to questions of information design. (HB)
Descriptors: Higher Education, Reader Response, Reading Comprehension, Reading Research
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Spyridakis, Jan H. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1989
Investigates the role of signaling (structural cues that announce or emphasize content or reveal content relationships) in helping good readers comprehend expository text. Finds that signals do improve a reader's comprehension, particularly comprehension two weeks after the reading of a passage and comprehension of superordinate and superordinate…
Descriptors: Content Area Reading, Context Clues, Expository Writing, Higher Education