Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 1989

Signaling Effects: A Review of the Research—Part I

Jan H. Spyridakis University of Washington

Abstract

This article reviews previous research on the effects of certain structural cues, called signals, that affect a reader's comprehension of expository prose. It concludes that the inconsistent results of many studies may be due to inadequate methodologies that have failed to control for confounding variables, such as text length and difficulty, reader familiarity with the topic, and timing of comprehension tests. Further, accepted signal types (headings, logical connectives, and previews) have not been sufficiently examined for their individual effects, perhaps creating unidentified disordinal interactions that could preclude the possibility of researchers identifying significant effects. This article concludes with recommendations for more valid research methodology to be used in prose assessment studies. The next issue of this journal will present Part II of this article, which details a new study of signaling effects for readers of expository prose, a study that is based on the refined methodology suggested in this article.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1989-07-01
DOI
10.2190/ua49-pq9k-h1mn-dyk9
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
assessment affect and writing book reviews
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

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  1. Williams et al. (1992)
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CrossRef global citation count: 35 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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