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| Wenger, Michael J. | 2 |
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Peer reviewedSpyridakis, Jan H.; Wenger, Michael J. – Technical Communication, 1992
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.…
Descriptors: Higher Education, Reader Text Relationship, Reading Comprehension, Reading Research
Peer reviewedIsakson, Carol; Spyridakis, Jan H. – Technical Communication: Journal of the Society for Technical Communication, 1999
Investigates the relationship of specific semantic and syntactic text characteristics to what information readers recall. Confirms that readers are more likely to recall more versus less important information and information in clauses, independent clauses, and first paragraphs. Suggests how writers can use these findings to help readers retain…
Descriptors: Reader Text Relationship, Reading Comprehension, Recall (Psychology), Semantics
Peer reviewedSpyridakis, Jan H.; Wenger, Michael J. – British Educational Research Journal, 1991
Reviews the literature on the effect of prior knowledge and text familiarity on document comprehension and usability. Discusses current methods for assessing subjects' topic familiarity. Presents an empirically based method for effectively assessing topic familiarity. Explains that the method includes use of two subject groups and reliance on…
Descriptors: Educational Research, Familiarity, Higher Education, Prior Learning
Peer reviewedSpyridakis, Jan H. – Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 1989
Reviews previous research on the effects of signals (structural cues that announce or emphasize content or reveal content relationships) on readers' comprehension of expository prose. Concludes that inconsistent results are due to inadequate methodologies that fail to control for confounding variables, such as text length and difficulty, topic…
Descriptors: Content Area Reading, Context Clues, Discourse Analysis, Expository Writing
Peer reviewedSpyridakis, Jan H.; Standal, Timothy C. – Reading Research Quarterly, 1987
Examines the effects of three text signal types (headings, previews, logical connectives) on relatively sophisticated college age readers and their comprehension of technical expository prose. Concludes that all three types can enhance comprehension, but that facilitation depends on passage length and difficulty. (FL)
Descriptors: Context Clues, Expository Writing, Higher Education, Language Usage
Peer reviewedSpyridakis, 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
