Journal: Region - Educational Research and Reviews DOI: 10.32629/rerr.v8i6.5532
Abstract
Drawing on Iser's response-inviting structure as an analytical framework, this study examines the English popular science text "More Bioengineering Experiments to Save the World" from a reader-oriented interpretive perspective to investigate how textual gaps operate in popular science discourse. The analysis reveals that semantic gaps in the title, logical discontinuities, and evidential gaps in the body of the text constitute a multilevel structure of cognitive invitations. At the same time, the negation of cognitive premises, genre expectations, and the presupposition of scientific certainty forms a compound mechanism of negation. Together, these mechanisms create a progressive chain of invitations that encourages readers to move from passive information reception to active meaning-making. The proposed analytical approach based on cognitive gaps extends the explanatory scope of the response-inviting structure to popular science discourse.
Keywords
Iser; response-inviting structure; cognitive gaps; negation; popular science discourse; text interpretation
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[3] Lei X. The stylistic relationship between popular science discourse and scientific discourse: A case study of two texts by Hawking on black holes[J]. Foreign Language Education, 2020, 41(6): 54-59.
[4] Liu Y N. Teaching English popular science discourse: Current practice and strategies for improvement[J]. Teaching and Administration, 2013(9): 147-148.
[5] Duan Y L, Qin C Q. Functional differences between English and Chinese popular science texts and translation strategies: Implications of functional translation theory for popular science translation[J]. Foreign Language Education, 2011, 32(1): 104-107.
[6] Iser W. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response[M]. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.
[7] Zhu L Y. A brief discussion of the response-inviting structure of literary works[J]. Academic Monthly, 1988(8): 43-49.
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