Traditional instruction in technical writing was given to 29 students and 29 were instructed via the World Wide Web. Examination scores and Group Embedded Figures Test results showed the Web class had significantly higher achievement and attitudes toward writing. No correlation was found between learning style and achievement or attitudes. (SK)

Builds on arguments in risk communication that the predominant linear risk-communication models are problematic for their failure to consider audience and additional contextual issues. Argues that "risk" is socially constructed. Argues for an approach that involves the public in fundamental ways at the earliest stages of the…

Presents a review of the literature on reader-focused text evaluation. Gives an account of the document characteristics that can be evaluated and considers the possible functions of evaluations making a distinction between verifying, troubleshooting, and choice-supporting research. Presents an overview of methods appropriate for the various…

Analyzes the results of using focus groups for the evaluation of a safety manual for a large chemical company. Discusses the main advantages and disadvantages of focus groups. Describes how this method was applied in the specific situation and discusses the value of the method. (SG)

Explains how revising patient-education materials provided for undergraduate technical communication students a review and reinforcement of principles they had studied all semester, such as accessible organization of information, audience analysis, use of formatting and graphics to enhance communication, and clear sentence structure and diction.…

Investigates French and German undergraduate engineering and computer science students' comprehension of phrasal verbs. Concludes that phrasal verbs may make texts less accessible to non-native speakers of English. Indicates there are features of Plain English that are less applicable when the intended audience consists of non-native speakers of…

Proposes "technicisation" theory with five central hypotheses to account for various aspects of foreign students learning Technical English (TE), including its linguistic, learning, experiential, cultural, and motivational dimensions. Suggests that the fundamental hypotheses are applicable to TE learning but they may, mutatis mutandis,…

Offers a personal view of some developments in science and technology studies. Argues that the field has emerged from laboratory studies to engagement with broader issues of power and change. Explains that frameworks developed in the sociology of scientific knowledge have been applied to the analysis of things, of social boundaries, and of…

Defines the literacy needs of a growing population of aging and disabled workers and recommends innovative educational strategies to meet those needs. (SR)

States that participants in a qualitative case study of nonacademic R&D authors thought their reports were more informative than persuasive. Describes how three definitions of "persuasion" emerged. Concludes that most of the participants felt they owed a greater debt to their subject matter rather than the audience; some participants…

Discusses various brambles that ensnare educational researchers and their reports. Several identifiable problems include allowing methodology to drive research questions, stressing results over meaning and interpretation, disguising researchers' voice and identity, and paying too little attention to composition and style. Remedies are suggested.…

Explains how teachers can help their students better understand their textbooks. Describes five textbook writing styles, such as linear time sequence style or a cause-effect style, and activities related to the style. Provides hints to help students develop an understanding of their textbooks. (CMK)

Proposes that readability formulas cannot predict text difficulty. Presents results of an experiment designed to demonstrate that "text difficulty" is determined by individual differences (perception) and not by the objective qualities of a text. (NH)

Discusses how a writing/design (service learning) assignment in a technical writing class offered an opportunity to investigate differences and similarities in evaluation criteria between the classroom (instructors) and the workplace (clients outside academe). Finds considerable overlap between what instructors and clients emphasized, and large…

Recounts the author's educational experiences between 1991-1995 as a university writing teacher and tutorial assistant for scientific papers at the secondary level. Presents a methodology integrally developed in four steps that can be applied to different levels of teaching and a series of conclusive theses about the subject. (BT)