The effect of the interplay of paralanguage and language on the accessibility of written texts : a study of emergency procedures
This research investigates the effect of the interplay of paralanguage and language on the accessibility of written texts. It identifies textual factors that may hinder the reader's understanding of the message. Studies of reading comprehension have traditionally concentrated on the language of texts. Many written texts, however, also rely on paralinguistic features to convey their messages, and to complement, illustrate, clarify and organise their content. Hence, it is paramount that a study investigating obstacles for reading comprehension be able to account for the complex web of paralinguistic devices present on the page. This work investigates such paralinguistic devices, focusing particularly upon the presentation of letters and words, the layout of the page, and the illustration of the written text. Parallel to the analysis of these nonlinguistic devices, language is also examined. A particular text type has been selected to provide the material for the analysis: emergency procedures. This choice was motivated not only by the fact that this text type is a rich source of paralinguistic and linguistic features, but also because accessibility in emergency texts is vital. In addition, emergency procedures
Benevides Lobianco, Terezinha Maria Folhadela
The effect of the interplay of paralanguage and language on the accessibility of written texts : a study of emergency procedures. This research investigates the effect of the interplay of paralanguage and language on the accessibility of written texts. It identifies textual factors that may hinder the reader's understanding of the message. Studies of reading comprehension have traditionally concentrated on the language of texts. Many written texts, however, also rely on paralinguistic features to convey their messages, and to complement, illustrate, clarify and organise their content. Hence, it is paramount that a study investigating obstacles for reading comprehension be able to account for the complex web of paralinguistic devices present on the page. This work investigates such paralinguistic devices, focusing particularly upon the presentation of letters and words, the layout of the page, and the illustration of the written text. Parallel to the analysis of these nonlinguistic devices, language is also examined. A particular text type has been selected to provide the material for the analysis: emergency procedures. This choice was motivated not only by the fact that this text type is a rich source of paralinguistic and linguistic features, but also because accessibility in emergency texts is vital. In addition, emergency procedures
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