Material development is important for training beginner student interpreters, as it guides the direction of interpreting learning. One key principle is difficulty progression, which requires a good knowledge of the indicators of difficulty. Since text structure outweighs words and sentences in the information processing of consecutive…

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on readers' ability to integrate information about sources and content when reading multiple conflicting texts on a controversial socio-scientific issue. Using a path analytic approach with a sample of 140…

Despite the importance of source attention and evaluation for learning from texts, little is known about the particular conditions that encourage sourcing during reading. In this article, basic assumptions of the discrepancy-induced source comprehension (D-ISC) model are presented, which describes the moment-by-moment cognitive processes that…

This study investigated the effects of auditory and audiovisual text presentation on the three levels of mental representations assumed in theories of discourse processing. A sample of 106 children aged 7, 9, and 11 years listened to 16 short narrative texts, 8 of which were accompanied by a series of pictures illustrating the content.…

In this paper I analyze the role of hindsight in narrative configuration. Configuration means the grasping together of disparate elements into a coherent whole. I argue that hindsight, importantly, brings the temporal constraints on what we can know to the fore, but is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, hindsight is an indispensable tool both…

Reading comprehension in the content areas is a challenge for many middle grade students. Text structure-based instruction has yielded positive outcomes in reading comprehension at all grade levels in small and large studies. The text structure strategy delivered via the web, called Intelligent Tutoring System for the Text Structure Strategy…

Reading and comprehending content area texts require learners to effectively select and encode with hierarchically strategic memory structures in order to combine new information with prior knowledge. Unfortunately, evidence from state and national tests shows that children fail to successfully navigate the reading comprehension challenges they…

This experiment investigated whether study of a scientific text and a visual display that contained redundant text segments would affect memory and transfer. The authors randomly assigned 42 students from a university in the southwestern United States in equal numbers to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) a redundant condition, in which participants studied a…

The present study examines how changes in the amount of on-screen text will influence student learning from a multimedia instructional unit on basic concepts of coordinate geometry. The relative effectiveness of two different versions (short-text and whole-text) of the instructional unit was examined for students who differed in terms of their…

Presents evidence that indicates recognition memory consists of three separate representations: a surface representation, a propositional textbase, and a situation model. (KEH)

Textual meaning is not autonomous--not only do the meanings of texts change as contexts change but also the textual or sentence meanings change as cultural conventions change. A series of preliminary studies have established that children into the early school years believe that the speaker's intentions, especially when the speaker's belief is…

Posits that intelligibility is a persistent problem in interactive multimedia and hypermedia. Describes the Art of Memory, a visual and symbolic mnemonic method used to map new information onto familiar and symbolically different structures. Presents the Art of Memory as a way to offer insight into intelligibility. (PA)

The current study examined 24 Japanese university students' processes of negotiation in conditions of self revision and of peer revision about their English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. Analyzing their negotiation episodes and text changes, I categorized within a common coding scheme the types of negotiation from (a) think-aloud protocols…

Examines memory for visual narratives as a function of cinematic structure. Identifies two important principles (establishing shots and directional continuity) for restructuring real-world activities into coherent filmed sequences. (SR)

Suggests that (1) readers store a substantial amount of text-sequencing information; (2) memory for text-sequencing information is strongly related to comprehension; (3) memory for place on the page is very weak; and (4) memory for place-on-the-page and text-sequencing information appear to be distinct. Indicates that text-sequence information is…