ReadingQuest Strategies | Semantic Feature Analysis

Strategies for Reading Comprehension
Semantic Feature Analysis
[Johnson & Pearson, 1984]

What Is It?
With a Semantic Feature Analysis chart or grid, one can examine related concepts but make distinctions between them according to particular criteria across which the concepts can be compared.

How Does It Work?
A set of concepts is listed down the left side (or across the top; it doesn't much matter which) and criteria or features are listed across the top (or down the side). If the concept is associated with the feature or characteristic, the student records a Y or a + (plus-sign) in the grid where that column and row intersect; if the feature is not associated with the concept, an N or - (minus-sign) is placed in the corresponding square on the grid. For instance, consider types of government: democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, and republic. What might be the characteristics of governments that might be associated with various types?

Help Me Visualize A Semantic Feature Analysis Chart.
Got a good graphic for me?

	FDR	JFK	Nixon	Reagan	Clinton
Democrat	+	+	-	-	+
War Time President	+	-	+	-	-
Congress of Same Party	-/+	+	-	-/+	-/+
Re-Elected	+	-	+	+	+
Served in Congress	-	+	+	-	-
Won Majority of Popular Vote	+	-	-/+	+	-

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This site was created and is maintained by Raymond Jones.	This page was last updated on Sunday, 26-Aug-2012 04:42:00 EDT.
	URL for this page: http://www.readingquest.org/strat/sfa.html.