Argues that the accidents of reading a hypertext (changing your destination, forgetting your point of departure, or getting lost along the way) are not the effects of inappropriate cues, misinterpreted reference or poor design, but the general condition of the hypertext as text, amplified by the narrative turns of the link. (SR)

Constructs a discourse (through argument, analysis, and reading) concerning conceptual changes that might expand ideas of hypertext rhetoric. Applies those changes by combining conventions of traditional print discourse with conventions of hypertextual writing. (NH)

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)

Presents a study in which ads in simulated telephone directory pages were highlighted in red, green, and blue colors. States that the pages were presented to subjects in order to be recalled and recognized among other ads. Finds that red and green highlighting increases recallability and recognizability whereas blue decreases it. (PA)

Explores the notion that genres not only help define and organize kinds of texts, they also help define and organize kinds of social actions. Investigates the role genre plays in the constitution of the contexts of texts, including the identities of those who write them and those who are represented within them. (NH)

The present study examined the unique contributions of readers' goal and text structure on comprehension. In Experiment 1, participants read procedural and descriptive passages to perform the procedures, summarize the passages, or to answer questions. The perform goal showed highest comprehension, with no difference due to text type. In Experiment…

This study examined the influences of reading decoding skills and world knowledge on third graders' comprehension of narrative and expository texts. Children read a narrative text and an expository text. Comprehension of each text was assessed with a free recall prompt, three cued recall prompts, and 12 multiple-choice questions. Tests from the…

The aim of this study was to go further than considering only cognitive factors to extend the understanding of the complex, dynamic underlying knowledge revision processes. Fifth graders were assigned to 2 reading conditions. Participants in 1 condition read a refutational text about light, whereas participants in the other read a traditional…

This paper underscores the effect of text cohesion on EFL reading comprehension. 160 EFL (n = 80) and non-EFL (n = 80) university students took two versions of a cloze test based on a passage of 750 words length one developed with every nth word deletion and the other with cohesive word deletion. The results of analyses of variance indicated that…

We compared 56 eighth-grade students who, 28 months previously, had received instruction in strategies for planning and revising their writing, with 21 students of similar academic ability from the same school who had not experienced the intervention. Both groups wrote an expository essay whilst logging their writing activities and completed…

A study examined the ways in which children recall structured text. Subjects, eighty-eight 12- to 13-year-old children, studied a short passage for five minutes which was printed in either a "chunked" format (where phrases are segmented or presented on separate lines) or a "traditional" one. The children were then asked to…

This paper presents some aspects of polyphonic theory, which contests the idea of the unique speaking subject and claims that several voices can be manifest in one utterance. The theory is related to the analysis of a coherent text consisting of several utterances. The notions of enunciator, speaker, enunciation, and utterance are defined in…

The use of readability formulas is spreading into the courts and legislatures as one objective measure to protect the basic rights of citizens. Court cases and legislation involving the readability of Federal Government forms and correspondence, materials concerning criminal rights, consumer product labeling, ballot measures, and warranties and…

One of the central problems in the study of fictional prose is that of distinguishing between mere linguistic regularity, which in itself is of no interest to literary studies, and regularity which is significant for the text in which it is found. General criteria for determining whether any particular instance of linguistic prominence is likely…

Describes how letter writing, especially business letters, was influenced by Greek and Roman oral rhetoricians. Discusses three precepts of oral rhetoric--inventio, dispositio, and style--and notes that the classical theories' reflection in written communication can be seen in selected Italian, German, and English epistolographic works. (MM)