Writing instructional texts in science

Non English-speaking Science students studying in §English often have difficulty understanding written §course material, particularly in distance education. §Course writers should employ reliable design §principles for instructional texts. This book deals §with students' language and cultural §barriers, writers' awareness of their problems and §the effectiveness of design principles in improving §understanding.§§The findings show the effects of using design §principles to modify science course material which §improved student understanding of the modified §texts. The design principles identified are: make §the meaning of problematic words transparent; §provide accurately formulated descriptions; explain §and acknowledge cultural and historical allusions; §clarify cause and effect relationships; use §appropriate text structuring devices; use elliptical §expressions and reference cohesion judiciously; make §strong links between text and diagrams; avoid §complex syntactic structures; ensure uniformity of §description. §§This is for writers of scientific texts, §instructional designers, editors, writing workshop §facilitators and writers of instructional writing §guidelines.