Chapter 7, page 139
Using text structure. Effective learners use text structure to facilitate text comprehension much
more successfully than ineffective learners do (Meyer, Brandt, & Bluth, 1980; Meyer & Rice, 1984;
Williams, 2005). Text structure refers to the overall organization of the text. The structure of a text
indicates how the ideas are organized into main ideas and supporting ideas. For instance, a persuasive
essay arguing for government-provided universal health to may be organized as a claim (the U.S.
government should provide universal health care) with supporting arguments, along with reasons why
common arguments against government-provided universal health care should be rejected. The text
structure of a passage in a textbook may be organized as a main idea (e.g., the statement that New Zealand
has diverse geography) with several paragraphs of supporting details discussing different specific
geographies in New Zealand (rain forest, desert, lowlands, etc.). Another textbook passages may be
structured as a sequence of steps in a process (e.g., a step-by-step presentation of how a bill becomes law.)
Authors typically provide many cues to text structure when they write. Some of the most commonly
used cues are:
y topic sentences
y headings
y underlined and boldfaced type to mark important ideas
y transition words such as but and except for
These cues are intended to help readers understand the way in which the ideas in the passage are organized.
To see how cues to text structure can help readers, consider the two passages in Figure 7.4. The texts
are identical, except that the passage on the left (Figure 7.4b) includes a number of cues to text structure of
the passage, whereas the passage on the left removes all such cues. The cues include headings,
subheadings, words in bold, and transition words such as but, then, and in addition.
Figure 7.4a : Biology Passage With Text Structure Cues
Chordates--the most complex form of animal life. The phylum Chordata contains the most
complex animals that have ever lived on this earth. This phylum has four subphyla. The
largest and most important subphylum is the Vertebrata. This subphylum includes fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. All chordate embryos have a rod of connective
tissue along the length of the dorsal side of their bodies. This rod is called a notochord.
Primitive chordates have a notochord their entire lives. So do some lower vertebrates, such as
the lamprey. The notochord of the lamprey becomes surrounded by cartilage parts of the
spinal column. In other vertebrates, the notochord appears only in the embryo. But early in
life, it changes into the vertebral column, or backbone. All chordates have a tubular nerve
cord. It lies just above the notochord on the dorsal side. The anterior end of this nerve cord
develops into a brain. The remaining part becomes the spinal cord. The brain and the spinal
cord together make up the central nervous system. All chordata have paired gill slits at some
time in their lives. These gill slits form openings in the throat. Fish and the more primitive
vertebrates have gill slits throughout life. The higher vertebrates, including reptiles, birds, and
mammals, lose their gill slits very early in life.