Another Look at Paragraphs in Technical Writing

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Oct 1980

Another Look at Paragraphs in Technical Writing

Jack Selzer

Abstract

Because of doubts about the status of paragraphs after World War II and the influence of readability formulas which emphasize sentence length and word length, technical writing teachers and texts have not been concerned very much with stylistic matters, especially at the paragraph level. However, recent research advances in the fields of linguistics, discourse analysis, cognitive psychology, and readability all redirect our attention to matters beyond the sentence in technical writing. A familiarity with such advances—including an understanding of cohesion elements, the “given-new contract,” and tagmemics—can enable technical writing instructors to improve student writing.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 1980-10-01
DOI: 10.2190/pbbb-uv17-hxhx-y8j5
Topics: discourse analysis technical communication

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Cites in this index (3)

Harris (1979)

Applications of Kinneavy's Theory of Discourse to Technical Writing

College English
Beaugrande (1978)

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Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Braddock (1974)

The Frequency and Placement of Topic Sentences in Expository Prose

Research in the Teaching of English

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