BACKGROUND QuikScan (QS) is an innovative design that aims to improve accessibility, comprehensibility, and subsequent recall of expository text by means of frequent within-document summaries that are formatted as numbered list items. The numbers in the QS summaries correspond to numbers placed in the body of the document where the summarized ideas are discussed in full. AIM To examine the in...

The present study examined possible memory and metacomprehension benefits of using a combined question self-generation and answering technique, relative to rereading, as a study strategy for expository passages. In the 2 question self-generation and answering conditions (detail or conceptual questions), participants were prompted on how to generate questions of a particular type (detail or conc...

This study examined how prior knowledge and working memory capacity (WMC) influence the effect of a reading perspective on online text processing. In Experiment 1, 47 participants read and recalled 2 texts of different familiarity from a given perspective while their eye movements were recorded. The participants' WMC was assessed with the reading span test. The results suggest that if the reade...

Is Skim reading effective? How do readers allocate their attention selectively? The authors report 3 experiments that use expository texts and allow readers only enough time to read half of each document. Experiment 1 found that, relative to reading half the text, skimming improved memory for important ideas from a text but did not improve memory of less important details or of inferences made ...

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of critical thinking (CT) versus brainstorming (BS) as pre-writing stage activities on English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-intermediate learners’ expository writing. To achieve this aim, 100 pre-intermediate level participants studying at Naft Language Center in Ahvaz were selected based on convenience sampling method. They took part in Ox...

Introduction: Successful language comprehension in elementary school is a key predictor of long-term educational outcomes, and requires adequate skill in both narrative and expository genres (e.g. stories versus science/history material). Historically, expository comprehension has received lower attention in the classroom, resulting in a performance gap between expository and narrative in grade...

This report describes an investigation of the workings of expository technical texts with the goal of being able to automatically acquire and use some of the knowledge that they contain. The motivating question is: How does the presentation of material in college-level physics textbooks make it possible to solve problems based on that material? My hypothesis is that a lot of what is needed to s...

This cross-sectional study investigated the spoken expository discourse skills of children and adolescents elicited in generation and retelling conditions. There were three groups of participants: young school-age children (M = 7.0 years; n = 64); intermediate-school-age children (M = 11.3 years; n = 18) and high-school-age students (M = 17.6 years; n = 18). Participants were asked to generate ...

Each "Communication Corner" essay is self-contained; however, they build on each other. For best results, before reading this and doing the exercise, go to first "How an Ugly Duckling Became a Swan," then read succeeding essay. This based article originally published in 2012. Although aimed specifically at journalists, it contains considerable good advice for all expository (non-fiction) writer...