Putting it All Together

By Doug Buehl,
Madison East High School teacher
Member, Wisconsin State Reading Association

December 2002

"And now, the moment of truth.”

You’ve lugged the box in from the car, unpacked the contents, and arrayed the obligatory hodge-podge of tools around you. A do-it-yourself project, long overdue, is finally scheduled to be tackled. Another installment in home improvement is imminent.

So where do we start? Ah yes, the directions. From amidst the clutter of bubble wrap and obscure-looking unassembled parts, you snatch the product booklet. And inevitably, your blood pressure starts to rise.

Hmm . . . Assembly and instructions, Turn of the Century ceiling fan . . . canopy and down rod . . . slot of hanger ball snapped into chip of bracket . . . the motor blue wire and tangerine wire attached to . . . Wait! Tangerine wire? Goes where? Who ever heard of tangerine wires?!

The Strategy
Eventually, the task described above is satisfactorily accomplished, but most of us probably encountered frustrations along the way. We realize that for our efforts to be successful, we have to engage in a special kind of reading – technical reading – that contrasts with the our normal reading routines. Technical reading is undertaken for a very pragmatic purpose: step-by-step guidance for how-to-do-it tasks. Hands-on projects require hands-on reading.

As adults, we recognize the need for technical reading strategies in a variety of daily contexts. Directions for filling out tax forms, care and maintenance instructions in product manuals, “help” sites for computer software all mandate reading for pragmatic purposes.

Students encounter technical reading demands frequently in school. Following steps in a classroom procedure, such as a science lab, involves technical reading. So does much of the reading in applied technology, computers, business education, family and consumer education, and health and fitness courses.

Step 1: Previous columns this year have emphasized teaching various forms of non-fiction as discrete literary genres. Technical non-fiction also needs to be introduced as a special category of text genre. Technical non-fiction tends to exhibit the following characteristics:

• Technical texts are usually very terse. Because it is assumed that an individual is reading only to act on the information, little background tends to be provided. Technical texts generally follow a “just the facts” approach.
  
  
• Technical texts usually follow a goal/action/outcome text organization. That is, the reader is usually provided with a clear goal for reading (for example, to bake a lemon meringue pie, to integrate visuals into a word processing document, or to build a cedar chest). The reader is then presented a sequence of steps to follow. Typically some description or illustration of the expected outcome is also included.
  
  
• Technical texts are usually laden with a heavy dose of content-specific vocabulary. Because these texts are very direct and concise, terminology may be used without definition or explanation.
  
  
• Technical texts tend to be highly visual. Diagrams and illustrations frequently accompany the written information.
  
  
• Technical texts rarely contain any consideration for motivating or entertaining the reader. Language is chosen to be as precise and straightforward as possible. As a result, technical texts strike readers as dry, impersonal, and blunt.
  

Step 2: Given the nature of technical non-fiction, readers need to adopt reading strategies specially tailored for comprehension of technical material. Begin by brainstorming with students problems that readers typically experience with technical non-fiction.

Students will likely comment that the texts are difficult to understand, they make extensive use of terms that are not well known, they are not clearly written, the visuals are hard to decipher, and they don’t provide enough useful information.

Finally, students may comment that they despair of making sense from some of these documents, so they may be tempted to toss the text aside and attempt to complete the project by relying on prior knowledge and common sense.

Step 3: Next, outline “hands-on” reading as a strategy for technical non-fiction. Hands-on reading assumes that readers will be “doing” while they are reading – readers will be manipulating or examining objects when these items are featured in the text.

Hands-on reading follows a start-again, stop-again approach to a written text, as readers set documents aside as they attempt to translate instructions into action, returning to the text to confirm their understandings or to transition into the next stage.

Emphasize the following steps for hands-on reading of technical texts:

• Size up the task. Start by surveying the text to obtain a general sense of what needs to be done and what the final outcome should look like.
  
  
• Clarify vocabulary. What key terms are used in the text? What aids does the text provide to assist a reader with key terms? What can a reader do if the text does not adequately elaborate critical vocabulary?
  
  
• Scan the visuals. Examine any visual information provided. The visual information should help the reader visualize the process to be followed.
  
  
• Look out for cautions. Some projects will be ruined if the steps are not followed as exactly prescribed.
  
  
• Read and apply. Begin reading and undertaking the task in phases. Read the first segment, clarify the message, and apply the information. Re-read to confirm the actions taken or to clarify misunderstandings, continue to read the next segment, and so forth.
  
  
• Collaborate. Hands-on reading usually requires a degree of problem-solving. Therefore, a major component of this reading strategy is interaction with fellow learners.

Posted November 15, 2002