Investigates the role that ethos takes in the scientific papers of American glacial geologists. Analyzes the rhetorical strategies of five articles spanning the time period from 1839-1988. Discovers a coherent evolution of rhetorical strategies over this time period. (HB)

Investigates how interest and importance interact to affect the strategy use and recall of skilled readers. Finds that readers acted strategically, except when they encountered seductive details: subjects spent a great deal of time on seductive details, even though they considered them highly memorable and unimportant. (RS)

Finds that children who are deaf use textual schemata (rather than content schema activated through thematic organizers) for comprehension processing while reading narrative text. (SR)

Examines the components of text that predict reading times and recall in skilled and less skilled college readers. Finds that sensitivity to the structure of the text was not a source of reading-ability differences in reading times and recall. Suggests that reading-ability differences result from word-decoding factors and the efficiency of…

Studies error detection by Swedish children. Finds that the sixth-grade children were better at the task, that errors were easiest to detect while listening, that errors were easiest to detect from paper copy, but that fourth graders detected more errors when reading from the moving window. (RS)

Discusses Julia Kristeva's notion of text--the tension between the semiotic and the symbolic--and how the tension can be made visible through typeface variation and other shaping techniques possible with word-processing software. Shares ways the author encourages students in first-year English classes to explore possibilities for incorporating…

Focuses on the nominal expressions in the discourse on management. Finds that these nominals recursively delete not only agent roles but also those of experiencer, object, and goal, and at the same time conflate the interests of researchers and managers. Suggests that management nominals are a particularly intense expression of modernity itself.…

Evaluates several types of text used for beginning reading instruction (texts based on high-frequency and phonetically regular words, as well as the trade books of current literature-based reading programs) by examining the tasks each poses for young readers. Examines for each particular type of text what a beginning reader needs to know about…

Describes the design and construction of Resume Automatique a Fragments Indicateurs (RAFI), a system of automatic text summary which sums up scientific and technical texts. The RAFI system transforms a long source text into several versions of more condensed texts, using discourse analysis, to make searching easier; it could be adapted to the…

Discusses a need for "post picture books" (which do not contain an orderly progression of story elements) to be evaluated and understood using different criteria. Considers how literary theory provides a structure for ordering the chaos. Discusses how new metafictive books reflect new literary codes and a new dynamic reading process of…

Argues that discourse knowledge (knowledge readers have of the way a text or story is organized) can be taught from the earliest grades using authentic contexts and quality children's literature as well as the children's own writing. Suggests specific books and specific strategies to foster the students' knowledge of three patterns of…

Notes that teachers and students with and without disabilities often struggle to use history textbooks effectively. Explores current concerns (e.g. text structure, readability) regarding history textbooks and provides recommendations for modifying instruction to improve students' acquisition of history knowledge. Reports adaptations in content and…

Evaluates four middle school geography textbooks to examine readability levels, knowledge forms, intellectual operations, instructional objectives, and activities associated with before-, during-, and after-phases of instruction. Finds the texts to be generally inconsiderate of poor readers and to be dense with factual information. Discusses…

Examines the process of review as a method of formative evaluation of texts. Bases the description on three empirical studies of professional writing practices including the goals of review, the actors involved in the process, the moments in the text production process that review is taking place, and the procedures followed. (SG)

Describes the differences in organization between print and electronic documents, methods of providing structure in hypertext, and their implications for technical communicators, designers, and instructors. Notes that web designers may need to consider rhetorical issues differently when creating hypertext documents than they would when composing…