Year: 2010
Type: review
Abstract: The proposed multilevel framework of discourse comprehension includes the surface code, the textbase, the situation model, the genre and rhetorical structure, and the pragmatic communication level. We describe these five levels when comprehension succeeds and also when there are communication misalignments and comprehension breakdowns. A computer tool has been developed, called Coh-Metrix, that scales discourse (oral or print) on dozens of measures associated with the first four discourse levels. The measurement of these levels with an automated tool helps researchers track and better understand multilevel discourse comprehension. Two sets of analyses illustrate the utility of Coh-Metrix in discourse theory and educational practice. First, Coh-Metrix was used to measure the cohesion of the text base and situation model, as well as potential extraneous variables, in a sample of published studies that manipulated text cohesion. This analysis helped us better understand what was precisely manipulated in these studies and the implications for discourse comprehension mechanisms. Second, Coh-Metrix analyses are reported for samples of narrative and science texts in order to advance the argument that traditional text difficulty measures are limited because they fail to accommodate most of the levels of the multilevel discourse comprehension framework.
Source: Topics in Cognitive Science
Authors: Arthur C. Graesser, Danielle S. McNamara
Institution: University of Memphis
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: NSCC/LA: Collaborative Research: Modeling Discourse and Social Dynamics in Authoritarian Regimes, G1476689794, AutoMentor: Virtual Mentoring and Assessment in Computer Games for STEM Learning, Coh-Metrix: Automated Cohesion and Coherence Scores to Predict Text Readability and Facilitate Comprehension, Guru: A Computer Tutor that Models Expert Human Tutors, Acquiring Research Investigative and Evaluative Skills (ARIES) for Scientific Inquiry, G4237611823, Inducing, Tracking, and Regulating Confusion and Cognitive Disequilibrium during Complex Learning, An Implementation of Vicarious Learning with Deep-Level Reasoning Questions in Middle School and High School Classrooms, G6290013319, ITR: Monitoring Emotions while Students Learn with AutoTutor
OpenAlex ID: W2087016971