Explores how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk behavior. Explains two developmental aspects of adolescent egocentrism: personal fable and imaginary audience, along with individual difference variables. Concludes the deep elaboration message was partially effective in changing message perceptions and adolescents'…

Argues that technical writing instructors teaching audience awareness should introduce students to a variety of pedagogical strategies. Describes four common strategies for teaching audience awareness, ranging from instructions to "consider your audience" to real rhetorical situations. (MM)

Examines six challenges that face teachers interested in developing alternative assessments of literacy: (1) clarifying goals; (2) clarifying audiences; (3) selecting and developing assessment techniques; (4) setting performance standards; (5) establishing methods of management; and (6) integrating assessment and instruction. (SR)

Defines "hedging" as linguistic strategies that qualify categorical commitment to express possibility rather than certainty. Suggests that hedging is central to effective argument in scientific writing. Identifies the major forms, functions, and distribution of hedges in a corpus of 26 molecular biology research articles and describes…

Recalls how theater in the United States celebrated the Bicentennial by offering "Yankee Doodle" by Aurand Harris. Explains that although the characters were considered to be quite progressive, the absence of a larger female and minority contingent means that the target audience remains the white male. Concludes that it is important to…

Describes a writing assignment in a business communication class in which students, in previously designated study groups, discover for themselves the complex interaction between a writer and an audience by becoming the president, vice president, and manager of operations of a company, and solve a problem that they can handle only through memos.…

Describes a technical writing assignment in which students write two different papers on the same topic--one directed toward a lay or executive audience, and the other toward an operator or technician audience. (SR)

Maintains that writing teachers, and thus also their students, have become obsessed with revision as an end in itself. Suggests that the writer-computer relationship is displacing the writer-audience relationship in the rhetorical situation and may often function to isolate writers. (SR)

Shows that organizational metaphors have a significant effect on the way writers think about readers and compose written reports. (SR)

Suggests that readability formulas are methodologically flawed and inappropriate measures of the readability of materials written for adults. Argues that the cloze procedure is preferable because it assesses the readability of material by its intended audience. Notes that possible users of the cloze procedure include school systems, government…

Discusses how advertisers use information (i.e., how they organize and present words) and suggests similarities with educators who try to attract attention, impart information, and foster retention of that information. Positioning in marketing is explained; and educational implications are discussed, including focusing on the audience and studying…

Describes the creation and eventual demise of a technologically advanced distance-learning facility. Concludes that it is critical, especially in an expensive high-tech environment, to listen to the customers and use their feedback to constantly improve service. (SR)

Offers a case study of a child who used school writing activities to perform rather than simply to communicate. Finds that, although the child's language resources contributed greatly to his success with written language, they did not always fit comfortably into the writing workshop used in his classroom. (PRA)

Describes how a high school journalism teacher approached the problem of building minority participation in high school journalism as a public relations campaign, identifying the publics involved (students and school administration) and addressing their interests and needs. (SR)

Public speaking techniques for enhancing the delivery of professional presentations are offered. Specific suggestions are made for body movements and style of body language, use of voice (breathing, phrasing, projection, volume, transitions, pauses), hand gestures, and controlling the audience through eye contact, attention to individuals,…