LO DESCRIPTIVO EN INFORMES ESCRITOS DE ESTUDIANTES UNIVERSITARIOS

Abstract

This is a progress report on a study made on 90 essays written by university students. The aim is to verify the incidence of descriptive strategies used in the textual configuration of material written in this type of discourse, and to measure possible variations set off by essay type and area of discipline. To do this, texts are analyzed sequentially as well as from their global structure. Preliminary results show high frequency of descriptive sequences, common processing strategies, use of combined codes and use of similar descriptive lexicon. Also, results suggest differentiation in the use of strategies and less consistent use of descriptive functions by type of essay and area of specialization.