| Many qualities of writing are considered important in business communication. Little research in business communication, however, documents the effects of these qualities on reader understanding of the message.; This study was framed as a critical test of two competing hypotheses. The first hypothesis, derived from schema theory, states that a reader's background knowledge provides the meaning and understanding in a message. The second hypothesis derived from the theory that all meaning is embedded in the text and that the textual qualities are the major key to reader understanding. The writing quality, coherence, represented the textual quality for the second hypothesis.; Two groups of students, 57 business students (high background knowledge) and 82 non-business students (low background knowledge), were each divided so one-half of each group read a coherent version of text and the other half read a non-coherent version of the same text. The students then took a test designed to assess their comprehension of the text material. The students were selected from non-random, intact classes. Original instruments were developed and consisted of the text reading material, a test of background knowledge and a test of the effects of coherence. Results were analyzed using Analysis of Variance and Duncan's Multiple Range Test.; The findings of this study indicate that background knowledge affects a reader's ability to understand business communication. Coherence, however, does not affect the reader's ability to understand the text. These results were interpreted to mean that without the appropriate background knowledge, readers may not understand business communication text even if it is well written. |
