The Effect of Inductively Versus Deductively Organized Text on American and Japanese Readers      

When document designers localize documents for readers in other cultures, they should consider what text organization will best suit those readers. The study presented here examines American and Japanese readers’ comprehension of and preference for expository text that contains a thesis and is organized either inductively or deductively. The results revealed that while Americans performed equally well with either organizational structure Japanese readers recalled more information from inductively organized text. The implications for document designers in English and Japanese speaking countries are discussed.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Waka Fukuoka. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Language>Rhetoric

The Effect of Text Structure on Text Comprehension of Japanese and American Readers  

This paper presents the preliminary findings from a study that sought to determine whether Japanese and American readers’ comprehension of expository text is similarly affected by text organization. Results are presented and discussed with regard to their implications for technical communicators.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Waka Fukuoka. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Language>International>Writing

Guidelines for Authoring Comprehensible Web Pages and Evaluating Their Success    

The guidelines presented in this article should enable authors to create Web pages that their readers can understand. They should also enable evaluators to judge the comprehensibility of Web pages. The guidelines are explained and supported by an examination of relevant research and usability studies.

Spyridakis, Jan H. Technical Communication Online (2000). Design>Web Design>Writing>Usability

Heading Frequency and Comprehension: Studies of Print Versus Online Media  

This paper describes a study that examined the effect of heading frequency on comprehension and perceptions of information presented in print versus online text. Results indicated that heading frequency did not differentially affect the comprehension of readers of print text while it did differentially affect the comprehension of readers of online texts who had considerably lower comprehension scores with text that had high frequency versus medium frequency headings.

Spyridakis, Jan H., Laura D. Schultz and Alexandra L. Bartell. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Document Design>Writing>Usability

The Influence of Text Factors on Readers  

The objectives of the research study presented here are to increase the discipline's knowledge about reader performance with technical documents, help writers and editors better allocate their efforts, and explore multivariate studies of text variables. For this study, subjects read and recalled one of two technical texts. Their recall protocols were analyzed for syntactic and semantic characteristics. Preliminary results suggest that information has a greater chance of being recalled if it is in clauses, independent clauses, more important idea units, or the first paragraph of the document. Additional results will be discussed at the conference.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Carol S. Isakson. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Editing

Nominalizations and Their Impact on Readers  

The study presented here examined the effect of nominalizations in technical documents on readers’ recall and comprehension. Subjects read one of two technical passages in either a nominalized or denominalized form, and took recall and comprehension tests. Results indicate that denominalized passages can help readers retain more information when the original nominalizations are critical to the readers’ understanding of the passage.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Carol S. Isakson. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Writing>Grammar