Discourse Comprehension

Discourse Comprehension

Author: Charles A. Weaver

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0805815341

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First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


Discourse Processing

Discourse Processing

Author: A. Flammer

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2000-04-01

Total Pages: 625

ISBN-13: 008086662X

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Research on discourse (or text) processing has only recently come into its own. It builds on the work of text analysis which has a long and distinguished history, but modern developments in psychology (e.g. memory research), artificial intelligence, linguistics and philosophy have contributed to this emergence in the last decade as a lively and promising research area.This book contains 46 selected and edited contributions from the International Symposium held in Fribourg in 1981, and represents a truly international overview of the developments in research on written and oral discourse. The contributions have been grouped according to problem area and not according to methodology, with the intention of focusing on the important issues in the field of discourse processing and of showing how diverse approaches contribute to a better understanding of the problems involved. The main themes are: text structure, coherence, inference, memory processes, attention and control, goal perspectives, and educational implications.


Topic Continuity in Discourse

Topic Continuity in Discourse

Author: T. Givón

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1983-01-01

Total Pages: 498

ISBN-13: 9027280258

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The functional notion of “topic” or “topicality” has suffered, traditionally, from two distinct drawbacks. First, it has remained largely ill defined or intuitively defined. And second, quite often its definition boiled down to structure-dependent circularity. This volume represents a major departure from past practices, without rejecting both their intuitive appeal and the many good results yielded by them. First, “topic” and “topicality” are re-analyzed as a scalar property, rather than as an either/or discrete prime. Second, the graded property of “topicality” is firmly connected with sensible cognitive notions culled from gestalt psychology, such as “predictability” or “continuity”. Third, we develop and utilize precise measures and quantified methods by which the property of “topicality” of clausal arguments can be studied in connected discourse, and thus be properly hinged in its rightful context, that of topic identification, maintenance and recoverability in discourse. Fourth, we show that many grammatical phenomena which used to be studied by linguists in isolation, all partake in one functional domain of grammar, that of topic identification. Finally, we demonstrate the validity of this new approach to the study of “topic” and “topicality” by applying the same text-based quantifying method to a number of typologically-diverse languages, in studying actual texts. Languages studied here are: Written and spoken English, spoken Spanish, Biblical Hebrew, Amharic, Hausa, Japanese, Chamorro and Ute.


Aspects of Literary Comprehension

Aspects of Literary Comprehension

Author: Rolf A. Zwaan

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 1993-01-01

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 9027222177

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Given the fact that there are widely different types of text, it is unlikely that every text is processed in the same way. It is assumed here that for each text type, proficient readers have developed a particular cognitive control system, which regulates the basic operations of text comprehension. The book focuses on the comprehension of literary texts, which involves specific cognitive strategies that enable the reader to respond flexibly to the indeterminacies of the literary reading situation. The study relies heavily on methods and theoretical conceptions from cognitive psychology and presents the results of experiments carried out with real readers. The results are not only relevant to research problems in literary theory, but also to the study of discourse comprehension in general.


Teaching Reading to English Language Learners

Teaching Reading to English Language Learners

Author: Kristin Lems

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 2009-11-20

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1606234706

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Written specifically for K–12 educators, this accessible book explains the processes involved in second-language acquisition and provides a wealth of practical strategies for helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed at reading. The authors integrate knowledge from two fields that often remain disconnected—linguistics and literacy—with a focus on what works in the classroom. Teachers learn effective practices for supporting students as they build core competencies not just for reading in English, but also for listening, speaking, and writing. Engaging vignettes and examples illustrate ways to promote ELLs’ communicative skills across the content areas and in formal and informal settings.


Rethinking Reading Comprehension

Rethinking Reading Comprehension

Author: Anne P. Sweet

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 2003-04-30

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9781572308923

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This practical book grows out of a recent report written by the RAND Reading Study Group (RRSG), which proposed a national research agenda in the area of reading comprehension. Here, RRSG members have expanded on their findings and translated them into clear recommendations to inform practice. Teachers gain the latest knowledge about how students learn to comprehend texts and what can be done to improve the quality of instruction in this essential domain. From leading literacy scholars, the book explains research-based ways to: *Plan effective instruction for students at all grade levels *Meet the comprehension needs of English-language learners *Promote adolescents' comprehension of subject-area texts *Understand the complexities of comprehension assessment *Get optimal benefits from instructional technologies *And much more!


Comprehending Oral and Written Language

Comprehending Oral and Written Language

Author: Rosalind Horowitz

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-10-16

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 9004653430

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Written by respected researchers in their field, this book is about the skills beyond basic word recognition that are necessary for the processing and comprehension of spoken and written language. The major topics presented are as follows: language and text analysis; cognitive processing and comprehension; development of literacy; literacy and schooling; and, factors influencing listening and reading.


Discourse and Knowledge

Discourse and Knowledge

Author: Teun A. van Dijk

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-07-17

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1107071240

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Both 'discourse' and 'knowledge' are fundamental concepts, but they are often treated separately. The first book to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to studying the relationship between these concepts, Discourse and Knowledge introduces the new field of epistemic discourse analysis and uses a wide range of examples to illustrate the theory.