Students' abilities to formulate exhaustive titles as a key to comprehending arguments

Abstract

AbstractTitles are used to find and express the main idea of a given text. This study examines the ability of 357 eleventh‐grade high school students to formulate meaningful titles for argument paragraphs. Additionally, the link between the ability to provide proper titles and the ability to recognize the argument claim is examined. The study relates to three types of argument structures. The results reveal that most students failed to convey the main idea in all three argument structures. Moreover, even students who succeeded in indicating the main claim, failed to suggest exhaustive titles. Analysis reveals seven different types of inaccuracies in titles students formulated, and reasons for such are offered. Ten recommendations for teaching are suggested in conclusion.