THE ROLE OF MACROSTRUCTURES IN COMPLEX INFORMATION REDUCTION

Abstract

Complex information reduction refers to the recapitulation of the salient facts from a long text or discourse. It is akin to writing a summary. This paper therefore, examines the role of macrostructures in producing summaries. Macrostructures are said to be the global textual structures that form the global meaning of a text. They deal with the overall topic, the theme and the schematic organization of discourses or texts, they represent the gist of an entire text. Macrostructures are obtained by the application of transformational rules on the micro propositions of a text. These transformational rules are called macro-rules and they include: deletion, use of super-ordinate terms, selection and invention. These rules represent the cognitive operations that occur in complex information reduction. Developing the skills for writing summaries is very important. The skills are needed in school for general academic work and for research purposes. The skills are also needed in most professional fields in life after school. This paper submits that effective summary skills can be developed if the principles underlying macrostructures are followed. The paper is hinged on macrostructures of discourse, a model for summarization proposed by kintsch and van Dijk in 1978, and later expanded by Brown and Day in 1983.