Intended for use by both producers and evaluators of textbooks and other print instructional materials, this review of the literature focuses on the effectiveness of illustrations for motivation and for learning, and such typographical variables as readibality, legibility, standard typographical conventions, and format and layout. Areas examined…

Guthrie, Bennett, and Weber (1990) have proposed a transformational model of procedural document processing. They suggest that successful completion of written instruction occurs when sources of information are combined with certain cognitive processes. Optimal combinations of information and cognition include the following: using the exposition…

The current textbook series used in the compulsory cycle's English instruction has been the subject of much criticism, including the suggestions that it is too structurally oriented, contains little interesting or motivating material, has little functional or communicative content, is not Jordanianized but has only a surface Jordanian element, is…

Simplification of reading materials for lower-level English for special purposes (ESP) instruction may make texts comprehensible, but it may not make them much different from texts written 50 years ago. What will make them different is their authenticity, an approach characteristic of ESP, even at the lowest levels. However, authenticity is often…

Examines some traditional instructional strategies used to improve textual materials for learning at a distance, including advance organizers, overviews, pretests, objectives, and inserted questions, together with devices in typography and graphics. Research in each area is reviewed and guidelines are given for using each strategy. An extensive…