| This study focuses on the difference between scientific and non-scientific written discourse. The distinction between the two modalities of discourse is studied quantitively and qualitatively by examining two major features, cohesion and interactivity, in discourse. Cohesion is investigated with reference to anaphora while interactivity is examined against features related to the reader; features related to the writer; features of coordination and subordination; and counter-interactive features.; Six different texts representative of the two modalities of discourse are analyzed. Civil Engineering, Physiology, and Zoology texts are used for the scientific group, and History, Philosophy, and Politics texts are used for the non-scientific group. The excerpts, selected from textbooks used at Michigan State University in the related fields, are analyzed against the same criteria, and examples are used to support the discussion.; The results of the analysis of this study indicate that non-scientific written texts are more cohesive, interactive, and consequently more readable and intelligible than scientific written texts. |
