Processing Different Kinds of Expository Text: An Investigation of Students’ Strategy Use in Postsecondary Education

Abstract

Students’ strategic processing is foundational to reading and success and can inform reading and instruction in postsecondary education. The present study explored students’ strategy use when reading different kinds of expository text. Participants included 12 postsecondary students. Sixty verbal protocols were collected and coded using codes drawn from prior research. Analyses of Variance and correlations revealed differences in students’ use of strategies when reading biography, exposition, narrative nonfiction, persuasive text, and procedural text. An expanded focus on postsecondary students’ strategic processing of different kinds of expository text and investigation of the effects of using different strategies in instruction are now needed.

KEYWORDS:

• comprehension
• disciplinary learning
• expository text

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Brooke Langston-DeMott and Linda Martin for their contributions during the data collection, analysis, and writing of this manuscript. Thank you for your invaluable support.

Additional information

Funding

This study has been funded in part by the University of North Carolina Greensboro's New Faculty Grant.