TOP‐LEVEL STRUCTURE OF EXPOSITION: DO BEGINNING COLLEGE STUDENTS REALLY USE IT?

Abstract

Drawing on the rhetorical theory of Frank D'Angelo and others and on the discourse structure analysis techniques of Bonnie Meyer and others, this study was based on a notion of the top‐level structure of exposition as a hierarchy of main ideas represented by a thesis and paragraph topic sentences. The study attempted to add to the body of knowledge about college readers by asking the question, “Do entering college freshmen at a western state university use top‐level structure as an organizing strategy for exposition?” Strategy use was measured in four specific contexts: producing, reading, recalling, and verbalizing. Data were gathered using a writing task, a macro‐cloze task, a free recall task, and a questionnaire. Results led to the conclusion that it appears that this sample of entering college freshmen do not use the top‐level structure strategy.