Volume 7, Issue 3 December 2011, pp. 255–270 
Post-Conference Regular Articles
Transforming digital reading with visual-syntactic text formatting
Mark Warschauer1, Youngmin Park2, & Randall Walker3
1 University of California, USA 
2 University of California, USA
3 Mayo Clinic, USA
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/jaltcall.v7n3.121
Abstract
Visual-syntactic text formatting uses natural language processing techniques to parse sentences and present them in a way that highlights meaning. Specifically, VSTF breaks sentences up at salient clause and phrase boundaries, fits each row of text into one or two fixation eyespans, uses a cascading pattern to denote syntactic hierarchies, and creates visual clusters across multiple rows to help readers retain and integrate multi-phrase images. This paper reviews the theoretical basis of VSTF and summarizes research on its impact on reading comprehension, speed, retention, and proficiency, with a focus on its use by English language learners.
Copyright
© Mark Warschauer, Youngmin Park, Randall Walker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Suggested citation
Warschauer, M., Park, Y., & Walker, R. (2011). Transforming digital reading with visual-syntactic text formatting. The JALT CALL Journal, 7(3), 255–270. https://doi.org/10.29140/jaltcall.v7n3.121
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