Type of Texts

Narrative

Purpose:
To amuse or entertain

To deal with actual or imaginative experiences in different ways

Text Organization of Narrative

Orientation
Complication
Resolution

Language Features of Narrative

·         Focus on specific and individualized participants

·         The use of material process (action verbs)

• The use of some behavioral and verbal processes
• The use of relational and mental processes
• The use of past tenses
• The use of temporal conjunctions and circumstances

Descriptive

Descriptive texts are the texts which are used to describe about a particular place, person or thing. Descriptions are almost the same as report text. A descriptive text focuses on a specific thing and its specific features. A report usually deals with things in general. Descriptions can be used in textbook, encyclopedias, scientific magazines, historical texts, factual reading book, magazines etc

A. Generic Structure of Descriptive text

1. Identification: identifies the phenomenon to be described

2. Description of Features: describes features in order of importance

• Parts/ things, it is about physical appearance

• Qualities, it can be the degree of beauty, excellence, value or worth

• Characteristic, it can be prominent aspects that are unique

NOTES:
1. Difference between descriptive and reports can be seen as follow: descriptive texts talk about one specific person, place or thing, e.g. “My Car” and reports classify and describe a whole class of thing, e.g. “Cars” (in general). In short, reports deal with general classification and description of thing while descriptive texts describe a particular thing.
2. The description can cover the facts about various aspects of an object (parts, color, shape, habits, behavior, personalities etc

B. Generic Features of Descriptive

1. Descriptive texts usually use Simple Present Tense

2. Frequent use of Passive sentences.

3. Use of be (is, am, are, was, were) for the identification and showing qualities

4. Use of verb “Have” (have, has, had) in order to give detail description of the object’s features.

5. Use of action verbs related to the topic, especially when describing behaviors or personalities (for persons)

6. Use of adjectives in describing especially the qualities.

Discussion

Social Function:
To present (at least) two points of view about an issue.

Generic structure:
1. Issue
consists of statement and preview
2. Arguments for (pro) and against (contra) or statements of different point of view
consists of point and elaboration
3. Conclusion or recommendation

Language features:
1. The use of general nouns
e.g. abortion, formalin, alcohol, smoking, cloning etc
2. The use of relating verbs
e.g. is, am, are etc
3. The use of thinking verbs
e.g. think, feel, hope, believe etc
4. The use of additive connectives
e.g. in addition, furthermore, besides etc.
5. The use of contrastive connectives
e.g. although, even if, nevertheless etc
6. The use of causal connectives
e.g. because, because of, due to etc
7. The use of modalities
e.g. must, perhaps, should etc
8. The use of adverb of manner
e.g. hopefully, deliberately etc

Spoof

Spoof has a social function. It retells an event with a humorous twist.
The generic (schematic) structure of a spoof text is below:
1. Orientation: sets the scene
2. Event(s): tell what happened
3. Twist: provide the punch line

Language features:
· The use of action verbs
(e.g. walked, laughed, ran away etc)
· The use of connectives
(e.g. first. Then, finally etc)
· The use of adverbial phrases of time and place
(e.g. in the garden, two days ago)
· The use of the simple past tense
(e.g. he walked away from the village)

Notes:
Material processes are verbs that show activities which can be seen, e.g. write, eat, walk etc
Material processes consist of DOING and HAPPENING.
DOING : create, make, build, develop, send, throw, strew, pour, dissolve etc
HAPPENING : move, fall, rise, come, go, soften, harden, melt etc

RECOUNT

Recounts tell the reader what happened. They retell a past event e.g. a visit to a farm two months ago.

Recounts begin by telling the reader who was involved, what happened, where this event tool place and when it happened. This is called the orientation.

Generic Structure of Recount Text

1. Orientation: an introduction that provides the setting and introduces participant

2. Events: account that tells what happened, in a sequence

· Event 1

· Event 2

· Event 3

· Etc

3. Reorientation (optional): Closing of events

B. Generic Features of Recount text

1. The recount focuses on a sequence of events all of which relate to a particular occasion

2. It introduces specific participants

3. Frequent uses of Simple Past Tense

4. Past continuous tense is sometimes used

5. Temporal sequencers are also used in the sentences to show the events. They are listed below:

· Before

· After

· When

· While

· … until …

· During …

· As …

· At that time …

· At that moment …

· After that …

· After then …

· Firstly …

· Secondly …

· Finally

Etc

ANALYTICAL EXPOSITION

Purpose: to persuade by presenting arguments
to analyze or explain ‘how’ and ‘why’

Text Organization:
A thesis
Arguments
Reiteration or Conclusion

Language Features:
Emotive words (e.g. worried, alarmed etc)
Words that qualify statements (e.g. usual, Probably etc)
Words that link arguments (e.g. firstly, However, therefore etc)

Anecdote

1. Social Function: to share with others an account of unusual, uncommon or amusing incident.
2. The text organization or generic structure of anecdote is
  a. ABSTRACT: signals the retelling of unusual, uncommon or amusing incident
  b. ORIENTATION: introduction or sets the scene
  c. CRISIS: provides details of unusual, uncommon or amusing incident
  d. INCIDENT: reaction to the CRISIS
  e. CODA: (OPTIONAL), a reflection or an evaluation of unusual, uncommon or amusing incident
3. The language features of anecdote text are:
  a. using exclamation (e.g great!, what a bad day!, a very strange incident! etc)
  b. using of rhetorical questions (e.g what do you like to do when you make wrong thing? , oh no, it is a   stupid thing, isn’t?)
  c. using intensifiers (e.g very, so + adjective , much etc)
  d. using material processes (e.g protected, employed, spoke etc)
  e. using temporal conjunctions (e.g then, afterwards, ever since, while, before, after etc).

NOTES:
Exclamations, rhetorical questions and intensifiers are used to point up the significant of the events or incidents. And Material processes and temporal conjunctions are used to tell what is going on or happened.
Material processes are verbs that show us what happened and what someone do or what is done.
Temporal conjunctions are conjunctions that show the time sequence of events.

Explanation

Purpose: To explain the processes involved in the formation and working of natural or socio cultural phenomena

Text Organization/ structure:

1. A general statement to position the reader (introductory paragraph)

2. A sequenced explanation of why or how something occurs

3. Closing or concluding statement/ paragraph (optional)

Language Features:

· Focus on generic, non-human participants

· The use of general and abstract nouns

· The use of action verbs

· The use of simple present tense

· The use of passive voice

· The use of conjunctions of time and cause

· The use of noun phrases

· The use of complex sentences

· The use of technical language

HORTATORY EXPOSITION

Purpose: to persuade the readers or listeners that something should or should not be the case.
Text Organization:
A thesis
Arguments
Recommendation

Language Features:
•The use of emotive words (e.g. worried, alarmed etc)
•The use of words that qualify statements (e.g. usual, probably etc)
•The use of words that link arguments (e.g. firstly, However, therefore etc)
•The use of compound and complex sentence
•The use of modals and adverbs (e.g. may, must, should, etc)
•The use of subjective opinions using pronouns I and we

News item

Social function/ aim or purpose of the text:

To inform the readers, listeners or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important?

Generic structure:

· Newsworthy event(s): recount the event in summary form

· Background event(s): elaborate what happened, to whom, in what circumstances

· Sources: comments by participants in, witnesses to and authorities expert on the event

Significant language features:

· Short, telegraphic information about story captured in headline

· Uses of material processes to retell the event. (mental process is ….)

· Use of projecting verbal process in sources stage

· Focus on circumstances

Procedure

Purpose:

Procedures help us do a task or make something. They can be a set of instruction or direction

Text Organization:
1. Goal: Title of the text (especially for a recipe)
2. Materials: Optional, not for all procedural texts
3. Steps: a series steps oriented to achieving the Goal

Language Features:
1. The use of Simple Present Tense, often in an imperative form e.g. Add some sugar, prepare it,.
2. The use mainly of temporal conjunction (or numbering to indicate sequence especially in written text)

a. As the sentence introducers (sequencers) especially in spoken text:
First … Firstly …
Second … Secondly …
Then … Thirdly …
After that … Afterwards …
Finally … Lastly …
e.g. Firstly, prepare some water!

b. As time introducers, especially in written text
… before …
After …
When …
While …
… until …
During …
e.g. While you are boiling the water, grind the chilies, onions and salt

REPORT
Social Function:
To describe the way things are, with reference to a range of natural, man-made and social phenomena in our environment.

Schematic Structure:
General statement/ classification: introduces the topic of the reports
Description : provide details of topic such as physical appearance, behaviour, landform and uses (typically organized in paragraph)

Notes:
1. Simple Present Tense is mostly used in the report text either in active sentences or in passive sentences.
2.The use of Relational process, such as: is, consist of, function as, derive from, to be classified into, to be identified as etc.
3.The use of special nouns that denotes the characteristics of the thing such as: features, forms, functions, species etc.
4.The use of special technical terms such as: the parts of the body (e.g: brain, vein, vascular), the parts of the tree (e.g: stem, root, leaf, branch), the parts of machine (e.g: gear, screw, bolt etc).
5. No temporal sequences are used. If there is (e.g: first, second, third, the last etc). it only indicates numbering not an event.