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Transcript
A complaint letter.
Multiple Audiences
Multiple Audiences--what to consider?
GOALS OF READING
Different readers read for different reasons to extract different kinds of information. Goals of reading can be classified in terms of jobs that characterize the readers who will use the information.
Classification of Readers and their Goals/Interests:
1. Managers and Executives
- conclusions
- interpretations
- recommendations
business and administrative specifics
2. Researchers and Scientists
- raw data
- methods
- theoretical calculations
- scientific explanations
3. Technicians, Engineers, and Equipment Users
- step-by-step procedures practical details about assembly, maintenance, or operation
READING ABILITY
The lower the reader's measured reading ability level, the less the reader will understand and remember of the text. If the client does not specify the audience's reading level, you can estimate the level by the reader's educational level (i.e., the reader may read at an 8th grade level or 12th grade level, etc.)
When the reading ability level varies, aim at the lowest level, or consider writing two documents.
For low-ability readers
1. use appropriately shorter words and sentences
2. use familiar formats (like personal letters, fairy tales, games)
3. use stories to define terms, concepts
4. use examples and analogies to illustrate points
5. break text into smaller chunks
6. use "orienting devices" like headings, adjunct questions, maps, or icons to "preview" the text
7. use accurate transitions between sentences to make relationships cohesive and clear
8. use graphical highlighting and font attributes to draw attention to text that is important to remember
9. use "pointers" like "NOTE" and "CAUTION" to define certain more crucial kinds of information
10. use preview and summary statements to put the text into a "nutshell"
11. consider alternatives to text (audio, visual, demonstrative aids)
Multiple Audiences
While research can include reader characteristics, it mainly revolves around how the goals of the document.
Multiple Audiences
READING TASKS Reading tasks are the cognitive processes used to extract information from a text.
- Serial readers read to learn and remember important information. Serial reading depends heavily on the brain's memory processes.
- Research readers read to find an answer. Research reading requires scanning and search processes.
- Performance readers read to carry out a set of procedures. Performance reading uses processes of planning and translating concepts into action.
TO IMPROVE SERIAL READING
1.simplify language to ease memorization
2.use expository prose paragraphs and clear transitions to show logical links between ideas
3.use hierarchical structures (like initial summaries or statements of learning objectives) to orient the reader and generalize detailed sections into smaller, digestible chunks
4.organize content by topics and concepts
TO IMPROVE REFERENCE READING
1.cross reference materials
2.organize reference materials around key words, and with wide use of headings, captions, indexes, and other aids to search and retrieve information (such as numbered sections and paragraphs)
TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE READING
1. use flowcharts and other forms of algorithms to show sequences of procedures
2. use numbered steps to detail procedures
3. organize procedural performance by tasks
Single Audience--what to consider?
A single reader/audience
Research on how to construct a document can focus largely on the reader that will be reading it.
Professional/Organizational, Situational/Contextual Background (how is the reader defined by the context, the organization, the job)
- Organizational title (what does the name of the job tell you about the reader's needs?)
- Function within the organization (given the reader's function, what does the reader need to know from you? What can you say to help the reader do his or her job better?)
- Operational concerns (what is the reader concerned with most on a daily basis? How does that affect you and your choices of content?)
- Areas of experience (Can the reader's experiences, such as previous work and schooling, tell you more about what he or she knows and needs to know?)
- Relationship to you: distance (how formal will you need to be?)
Educational Background
- Educational level (extent and nature of education)
- Technical level of expertise in the subject
Personal Background
- Personal likes or dislikes
- Strong biases, pro & con
- Age
For Monday
No readings. We will work more with rhetorical strategy.
A report
Explaining graduate level chemistry curriculum
All writing, but particularly technical writing, is about making a series of predictions...
A manual on how to put together a bicycle
anyone
an avid cyclist
- What does the reader need?
- How do they read?
- How do they interpret meaning?
- In what ways can language (writing) best serve the reader?
- What do they want and need to know?
A recently hired professor in a
chemistry department
a undergraduate (junior) interested
in the grad chemistry program
Writer's do not actively think about these
things. However, all good technical writers do. All. The. Time.
Due, in class: Rhetorical Strategy Analysis
Is there a difference in the ways content is written?
A description of
3D-Printed Human Embryonic Stem Cells
The public
The technical/scientific community
Things we know and understand already:
1. Technical writing is largely, if not completely, a self-less act.
2. It is very difficult to assess the way people understand language.
3. The abilities of readers vary...
Agenda
1. Let's talk about audience
2. Writing for single/multiple audiences
3. Letter to an appraisal company
4. What's coming up?
Audience and Rhetorical Strategy