MATERIAL FOR THE FIRST UNIT - PART 1

UNIVERSITY OF CARABOBO

EDUCATION SCHOOL

MODERN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

SUBJECT: READING AND TEXT PRODUCTION

THEORETICAL

ISSUES

By María T. Vázquez C.

11.150.619

Bárbula, 6 August 2007

UNIVERSITY OF CARABOBO

EDUCATION SCHOOL

MODERN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

READING AND TEXT PRODUCTION

By Maria T. Vázquez C.

"THE TEXT"

ELEMENTS AND CLASSIFICATION

What is a text?

Several definitions given by important linguists can be considered in order to have a general view of what a text is.

Kenneth Goodman (1996) answers this question by taking into account the definition provided by Halliday and Hasan (1975). He affirms that a text is the “basic unit of meaning in language.” It is not just a group of sentences constructed appropriately and formed with words or morphemes. For him, a text must have unity and must transmit a coherent and cohesive message.

Sanchez (1992) says that a text is a perceptible entity characterized by certain formal, semantic and functional properties. She adds that it is not a static object produced by an individual. On the contrary, it is the result of a dynamic process of construction of meaning, at a specific place and moment, between a speaker and a listener or between a writer and a reader.

Regarding written texts, Grabe and Kaplan (1996, p.40), define them as “a structural equivalent of language in real use which conveys meaning… and which suggests a topic of discourse.” These linguists state that writers have both specific purposes and certain information to convey when they produce a text. In addition, they explain that this kind of text is structured to transmit information within “certain accepted linguistic, psychological, and sociological principles.” Briefly, they express that a text is “a multidimensional construct” due to all these components involved in it.

Now, classifying texts may seem to be an easy task. It might be thought that to achieve this people just have to observe the kind of sentences and vocabulary used, the way the text is organized or the content it develops. However, Martinez (2005) argues that there is a great imprecision, and therefore, complexity in the classification

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of texts due to the big diversity of factors, theoretical principles and orientations that take part in their production. To support her arguments, she presents three different proposals for classifying texts by four important linguists.

First, she provides Plantin’s classification, which includes the old rhetoric based on three original genres: the political deliberation, the discourse of the Court, and the discourse of censure or praise. In addition to these, he identifies the discourse of religious exhortation of the Christian era, the epistolary genre of the Middle Ages, the discourse of the publicity and the media of the Contemporary era and the ideological propaganda as well as the computer discourse at the current times.

The second classification that Martinez shows is the one presented by Charaudeau, in “Analyse des discours. Types et genres: communication et interpretation”. He proposes four criteria for classifying texts. The first one is according to the places where the discourse takes place or the sphere of action that produces it, so he talks about political, religious, legal, scientific and educational texts. The second one is focused on the functions suggested by Jakobson which include the following: emotional, cognitive, phatic, poetical, referential and metalinguistic. The third one considers the formal scheme of statements by Beneniste which includes the discourse and the tale. Finally, the fourth is the one that takes into consideration the global organization of the text: narrative, argumentative, expository and descriptive

The third classification is done by Maingueneau, and it is more extensive. He talks about thirteen criteria to identify the different types of texts: (1) regarding the sentimental content: romantic novel; (2)regarding organization: narrative, expository, argumentative; (3)concerning regularity: newspapers; (4) considering what is done with the discourse: polemic, didactic, prescriptive; (5)concerning social functions: to play (riddle), to establish or keep contact (letters, apologies), to give religious messages(lectures); (6)considering social activities: political, ethic, aesthetic; (7)regarding the communicative situation: editorials, reality shows; (8)considering spheres of action: media: television, radio, newspapers; (9) concerning big social activities: administration, health, education, scientific investigation, literature, law; (10) concerning an institutional place: hospital (recipe, medical report), factory, family, school; (11) considering the status of the participants: men, women, children, teenagers; (12)regarding ideologies: socialist, communist, catholic; (13) according to the ways of enunciation from a poetical nature: epic, tragedy and comedy (narrative and drama).

Mijail Bajtin (cited in Martinez 2004), a Russian linguist, explains that all the spheres of action of humans beings have a close connection with the use of language,

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and this fact makes it vary a lot in form and characteristics trying to adapt to and meet all the needs of the human beings. He states that we use the language through oral and written groups of statements that share a specific content, style (selection of lexis and grammar) and organization which reflect, at the same time, the particular conditions and goals of social sectors, their activities and participants. Taking this proposal into consideration, he says that each sphere constructs certain stable types of groups of statements (texts) which he calls “discourse genres”. He also believes that there is a great diversity of discourse genres because each sphere of society performs multiple activities that require a repertoire of distinctive genres that increase as the sphere develops. Despite this heterogeneity, he classifies the genres into two big groups: the primary genres (simple), which are more spontaneous like dialogues, everyday stories, family interactions, etc., and secondary genres (complex), which are the result of more complex, developed and organized communicative situations. Examples of these would be novels, plays, scientific researches, newspaper articles, etc.

Martinez (2005) just shows some examples of linguists who have tried to provide a coherent consistent classification of texts considering the needs, activities, characteristics and evolution of the users of the language. In addition to this, if a deep search is done on the net, endless possibilities for classifying them will be found. As it can be seen, there is not a clear criterion to identify and categorize the great variety of texts produced by our societies. As a consequence, in order to provide easy comprehensible criteria to study the nature and types of written texts and achieve the objectives of this course, a pedagogical classification made by Arcay and Cossé (1996) will be used in this program. A full description of this proposal is shown below.

Texts for Academic Purposes: A Pedagogical Classification

To account for the multidimentional nature of written texts (Biber, 1993; Hatch, 1992; Arcay, 1996), four criteria were selected: lexical, morphological organizational and functional. These criteria originated three major categories – form, content, and organization - and each of them is sub-divided, in turn, into several sub-categories which are open to additions that may emerge through the use and testing of the classification.

Criteria, Definition and Selection:

In this classification, criteria are defined as principles which justify text characterization under a multidimensional perspective. Four criteria are selected then:

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Morphological: because the final physical form of the text and its organization on the paper are considered. In other words, the position of the different groups of words and the use of typographic conventions according to the demands of different contexts are accounted for.

Functional: because the purpose of the text and the purpose of who produces it, together with the selected means of expression, are taken into consideration.

Organizational: because the different underlying rhetorical patterns of discourse organization are considered.

Lexical-syntactical: because the selection and usage of lexis, according to the different areas of knowledge and their variations regarding level of formality, along with sentence patterns are taken into consideration.

Categories Definition:

The three categories originated from the four criteria described above are defined as follows:

1. Form refers to the physical appearance of the text on the paper. In other words, it is how word groups are placed on the paper and how much blank space they fill. This category is divided into four sub-categories: prose, non-prose, interpersonal and poetry.

Ø Prose identifies those texts that are realised through sentences which follow one another, filling the space that exists in a typographic line, and are grouped into units called paragraphs.

Ø Non-prose identifies those texts which are realised through letters, numbers, groups of words and/or geometric figures. These texts do not fill all the blank space on a line.

Ø Interpersonal identifies those texts that are realised through sentences and/or paragraphs that show the interaction of two or more participants. The form of this type of text is recognizable through the signalling of turns with the names or identification of participants by means of dashes, colons and/or question marks.

Ø Poetry identifies those texts that are realised through words, or sentences which do not fill all the blank space that exists in a typographic line as opposed to what sentences which conform paragraphs do.

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2. Content refers to the topic or theme developed in the text. It can be subdivided into multiple subtopics according to the depth with which the topic is approached and the combination of different subtopics in a text. Because possibilities for topic selection are endless, four major subcategories are proposed: sciences, legal, fiction and current affairs.

Ø Sciences include natural, pure and social.

Ø Topics related to law are encompassed under the legal subcategory.

Ø Fiction comprises topics originated in the mind of the writer, which are not a report of real events.

Ø Current affairs deal with everyday life topics, such as politics, environment, arts, entertainment, travelling, etc.

3. Organization refers to the underlying structures or patterns of language at different levels. Three sub-divisions are proposed: discourse, register and style and variety.

Ø Discourse has to do with rhetorical patterns (narration, description, exposition and argumentation) and/or the combination of them, used to organize ideas in the text according to purpose (Kaplan, 1987;1992).

Ø Register and style have to do with syntax and lexis from which patterns and vocabulary variations, mainly due to writers´ choices and requirements originate. Academic, scientific, literary and colloquial are sub-categories proposed.

Ø Variety has to do with the selection of sentence patterns and vocabulary variations in language use, attributable to geographical areas and degrees of familiarity (formal, informal) between writer and audience.

A Pedagogical Classification of Written Texts

1. FORM

Prose

Paragraph Article Research report Recipes

Letter Journal Abstract Note

Novel Editorial Summary Manual

Short Story Essay Handbook Brochure

Biography

Non-Prose

Graph Table Diagram

Interpersonal

Dialogue: Interview

(Drama / Script)

Poetry

2. CONTENT

Sciences

Legal

Fiction

Current Affairs

3. ORGANIZATION

Discourse

Narration

Description

Exposition

Definition

Classification

Comparison-contrast

Cause-effect

Process

Argumentation

Register-Style

Academic

Scientific

Literary

Colloquial

Variety

Formal Informal

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References

Arcay, E. and Cossé, L. (1996). Texts for Academic Purposes: A Pedagogical Classification. ESP in Latin America.

Goodman, Kenneth. (1996). La Lectura, la Escritura y los Textos Escritos. In: (Comp), Textos en Contexto. Buenos Aires. Proyecto Editorial Lectura y Vida.

Grabe, William and Kaplan, R.(1996). Theory and Practice of Writing. London: Longman.

Martinez, María (2005). La Argumentación en la Dinámica Enunciativa del Discurso. Universidad del Valle, Cali.

Martínez, María (2004). Estrategias de lectura y escritura de textos. Perspectivas teóricas y talleres. Universidad del Valle, Cali.

Raimes, Ann (1983). Techniques in Teaching Writing. Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Reid, Joy (2000). The Process of Composition. Third Edition. Prentice Hall Regents. Longman

Richards, Jack and Renandya, W. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge University Press.

Sanchez, Yraida (1992). Hacia una Tipología de los Órdenes Discursivos. Trabajo de Ascenso. UPEL. Caracas.

Wikipedia (n/d). Mijail Bajtin. Online encyclopaedia. Retrieved on 1 august, 2005 from the www in http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mijail_Bajt%C3%ADn