Uses an error detection paradigm to examine the ability of college students of different reading proficiency levels to evaluate their understanding of texts. Finds that good readers were more likely than poor readers to detect inconsistent sentences. Finds that students rated passage understanding high regardless of whether they detected…

Offers a definition of explanatory text, and summarizes research on why abstract concepts and principles are difficult for lay readers to understand. Describes a three-week unit for composition classes on spotting difficult ideas, diagnosing the type of difficulty they pose, and selecting the text features most likely to make them less difficult.…

Argues that in the last 10 years the field of cognitive science has added much to the understanding of how to promote text comprehension. Focuses on the role of questions, text structure, and causal network theory as an approach to comprehension enhancement. (RS)

The article reviews the research on composition and transcription writing skills conducted with elementary-aged learning-disabled students and published during the last five years. Conclusions are drawn concerning the influence of: text production method, specific interventions, text structure knowledge, word presentation form, and…

Offers an interpretive frame for viewing children's growth as creators of imaginative worlds. Suggests that writing development depends not only on children's discovery of cognitive and linguistic strategies but on children's discovery that writing can help authors create coherence in their worlds beyond texts. (MS)

Research on text processing is reviewed including the role of text structure and summarization ability. Implications for the instruction of learning-disabled students include strategy instruction and instruction in such text processing skills as identifying main idea and identifying text structure. (DB)

Text similarity measurements are used to determine relationships between natural-language texts and text excerpts. The resulting linked hypertext maps can be broken down into text segments and themes used to identify different text types and structures, leading to improved information access and utilization. Examples are provided for text…

Extends an earlier study by using different materials, ratings for familiarity, and more stringent experimental controls. Finds concreteness effects in two experiments using undergraduate students. Suggests that familiarity and concreteness contribute separately to recall. Supports a dual coding theory. Discusses implications for text design. (RS)

Suggests that readers need to be encouraged to use the text structure when identifying information in a text for later review. They also need to be advised to make summary statements in the margins of their texts when the important information is not explicitly stated in the text. (SR)

Finds two general types of intertextual links: (1) links among ideas, events, and people; and (2) social, cultural, political, and historical connections. Notes that the eight high-school students adopted various discourse stances, reflected in the ways they positioned themselves in relation to the passages, and that they used textual resources in…

Describes three "generate" strategies for seeking information in text when expected clues are missing. (SR)

Suggests that understanding the "tools of rhetorical analysis" in relation to persuasion can help business communication teachers better incorporate the concept of consensus building into their courses. Discusses incorporating rhetorical techniques (using metaphors, calling on readers' schemata, and using narratives) into a business…

Describes the main premises underlying the model. Briefly outlines the main tenets of second-language reading research. Shows how the model of second-language reading can be made a component of a communicative English as a second-language syllabus. (RS)

Uses inconsistent expository and narrative passages presented one at a time. Finds that good readers were better able to verbally report on passage consistency following reading; students were more likely to look back at inconsistencies in narratives but not expository passages; and students were less able to recall expository passage information.…

Discusses conceptual differences between electronic and printed texts using a literature review that categorizes studies as convergent (i.e., electronic text as conceptually the same as printed text) or divergent (i.e., electronic text as conceptually different.) Four differences based on theoretical positions and findings from divergent studies…