A comparison of communication strategies among three Caribbean high-school biology textbooks

Five aspects of the communication strategies employed in three Caribbean high-school biology textbooks were analysed and compared. These are: questioning styles; mode of presentation of terms; types of illustrations; practical activities; and readability. The study's major findings ore as follows, Factual questions ore commonly used, while there are few probing questions. Most of the terms ore defined as soon as they ore introduced in the texts. Although a variety of illustrations are generously used in all the texts, they all have some unlabelled diagrams. Specific practical activities are the commonest, while there are few challenging practicals. The readability formulae used suggest that all the texts would be found difficult to read and understand by the target students. Generally, none of the texts surpasses the other in all aspects of communication strategies examined. The implications of the findings are highlighted.