UNIT 31. TEXT AND CONTEXT. TYPES OF TEXT. CRITERIA FOR TEXTUAL CLASSIFICATION. REGISTER.

The topic selected for this official competitive exam is topic number 31. In order to provide a
coherent development of its content, we have followed the name of the topic and have divided it
into four parts. The first one deals with some basic notions on the field of text and context, and the
different cohesive devices to achieve coherent texts. Secondly, we will be looking at the structure
of texts and their thematic variations. Next, we will review the characteristics for analysing texts and
some of the most common types. And finally, the different types of registers in English will be
explained and exemplified. We will put an end to this topic with a conclusion, the didactic
implications that this topic has in the secondary classroom, and the bibliography consulted for its
elaboration.

Before starting to analyse the most relevant concepts in this topic, we would like to justify why it is
worth writing and reading. In this paper we will see the importance of this area in the teaching of a
foreign language, highlighting the significance of language as communication. If we follow the
current legislation, we are told through the objectives for the stage that the ability to learn a foreign
language is paramount in today’s society. As teachers it is our duty to ensure that our methodology
achieves this objective. This topic sheds light on the fact that, as teachers, we have to go beyond
units larger than words and sentences and set as a teaching objective that our students work with
texts and acknowledge the different types of text in the target language, also what criteria we use
in order to make a text fall into one category or another. Also, the notion of register as to what kind
of language to use when and where. It is important that students acquire the notion that different
situations and places require a different kind of language.

Bearing in mind that this topic deals with text and discourse and the different features that can be
found in a text, the content of this topic is closely related to topics 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36, and it also
turns out useful for us, candidates, as it covers concepts that are eligible for the practical exam.

1. INTRODUCTION

Within our general topic, we shall concentrate on the special area of what in linguistics is referred
to as a text, but always with emphasis on the situation, the context. The traditional concern of
linguistic analysis has been the construction of sentences, but in recent years there has been an
increasing interest in analysing the way sentences work in sequence to produce coherent sketches
of language. Halliday based his work on the concept of context, and he developed an analysis in
terms of field, tenor, and mode. In order for the communication to work, it has to be placed in
context.

The term ‘text’ is used in linguistics to refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length,
which forms a unified whole. There are certain features which distinguish a text from a disconnected
sequence of sentences, that is, it has to function as a unity with respect to its environment. This unity
is given by three factors: cohesion, texture within the sentence, and texture of discourse. There are
features which are characteristic of texts and not found otherwise that we shall attempt to identify
in order to establish what the properties of texts in English are.

In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in analysing the way sentences work in
sequence to produce coherent stretches of language. Two main approaches can be considered:
discourse analysis, which focuses on the structure of spoken language such as conversations,
and/or interviews; and the text analysis which focuses on the structure of written language as found
in essays, notices, road signs, etc. A text has several types of cohesive factors which bind together,
and they are called cohesion. When we face a particular text in order to interpret It in relation to its
context, we assign it to some register.

2. TEXT AND CONTEXT

Basically, a ‘text’ can be taken to mean a stretch of language that can form the process of
communication. This can be made either through a linear pattern of sound waves (speech) or a
linear sequence of marks on paper (writing). This communication must make coherent sense in the
context of its use. The linguistic form is important, but it is not itself sufficient to give a stretch of
language the status of a text.
A text is regarded as a semantic unit not of form but of meaning. Thus, it is related to a clause or
sentence not by size but by realization. A text that is functional is made of meanings, that is, it is a
semantic unit, a product, something that can be recorded or studied, a form of exchange because
it can be related to interaction among speakers. Therefore, unity is an attitude of a text, and
structure is a source of textual unity. This structure is related to the context of situation.
In order for the communication to be successful, the message that is received by the addressee
has to be identical to that which is sent by the addresser. However, this in itself is no guarantee for
success, since the sender should also take care over how he sends the message. It should, in the
words of Grice, be: TRUE, BRIEF, RELEVANT AND CLEAR. Not only that, but, as we said before, the
text has to be received within its correct context if it is to be understood properly.
The context of a text takes into account the intention of the meaning and how that intention is to
be interpreted by someone. This is deeply affected by the environment in which the message is
delivered, as well as by the previous or assumed knowledge of the receiver.
In the same line, Halliday (1985) proposed three headings for describing how the situation
determines the kinds of meaning that are expressed, that is the purpose of choosing the right words:
- ‘field’ is what the content; what the message is about. For instance, in a foreign language
lesson, it would be the language study, a defined area of information about the language.
- ‘tenor’ refers to the role in the interaction, the social relations among the participants
involved. For instance, in a foreign language lesson, writing a formal letter would be different
 to writing a text message to a friend; the interaction between speakers is different so we
need to adapt the tone and register to the audience and the context.
- ‘mode’ is the medium of communication, which divides fundamentally into speech and
writing. While the spoken mode is coded in sounds the written mode is coded in symbols and
the two codings bring with them significant features such as the structure, composition, and
organization.

2.1 COHESION

Cohesion is a semantic concept which refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and
it occurs where the interpretation of some element is dependent on that of another. In other words,
an element in the discourse cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it, and, when it
happens, a relation cohesion is set up. For instance, the word ‘them’ has no cohesive force unless
there is some explicit reference for it within reach so that a relation is set up between the two.
Cohesion accounts for formal factors that create a feeling of unity in stretches of language, namely
cohesive devices. According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), there are four devices through which
cohesion is achieved in English:
- Reference: it ties one part of the text to a previous or a forthcoming part, whether it refers to
other words in the text (endophoric reference) or to elements in the context which are clear
for the participants (exophoric reference). There are reference devices that can be
considered, for instance: personal pronouns (“He really enjoys his job”), demonstratives (“This
is the reason why I did this”), or comparatives (“The same happened to me”). Reference uses
anaphora and cataphora to refer to words that are mentioned somewhere else in the text.
o Anaphora refers to something that has been mentioned before: “When you’ve read
the magazine, put it back on the shelf”.
o Cataphora points ahead to something that has not yet been mentioned: “When
you’ve read it, put the magazine back on the shelf”. The effect of this can be to add
end-focus, placing the stress or the importance on the part of the sentence that
comes at the end.
- Substitution: it is a method of referring to a class of items, rather than something more specific,
such as is the case with reference: “Did you find the blankets? Only the blue ones”. In this
example we can see that ‘ones’ refers not to the blankets alone, but to the ones that are
blue.
- Ellipsis: it refers to omissions, which are clarified by the context or by the previous information.
Look at the following example: “Were you calling me? No, I wasn’t”. Here, the short answer
‘no I wasn’t’ doesn’t need ‘calling you’ to be added as the context makes it perfectly clear.
- Conjunctions: these are used to help the listener or the reader to be able to interpret the
relationship between clauses. The most general categories are those of opposition (or,
 however, conversely), addition (and, likewise, moreover), variation (well, anyway, by the
way), time (formerly, then, last), or cause-condition (so, because, as a result).

3. TEXTURE WITHIN THE SENTENCE AND TEXTURE OF DISCOURSE

Theme and Rheme come from the terminology of the Prague school of linguists and are used
favourably by Halliday (2004) in his theory of Systemic Functional Grammar. In short, the sentence
can be split into two parts: ‘theme’ as the starting point and ‘rheme’ as aboutness which develops
the theme. The flow of information in a sentence from Theme to Rheme is crucial in achieving
communicative effectiveness in a message.
Due to the SVO (subject-verb-object-adverbials) structure of a typical English sentence, the theme
is often the subject of the sentence; however, passive voice violates this rule, or some elements
could be brought to the front (fronting) because the speaker/writer decides the framework or the
point of departure as well as what he/she wants to convey about the theme. Nevertheless, only the
basic elements of this structure can become topic themes: the process (verb), participants (subject
and object), and circumstantial factors (adverbials).
Apart from this, theme and rheme are also used to organise the information in the text since the
rheme in one sentence becomes the theme in the following, being this called communicative
dynamism. Furthermore, there is also a thematic organization of the paragraph. In English, the first
sentence of a paragraph is also its theme, namely ‘topic sentence’, whereas the following
sentences have a rhematic value, called ‘supporting sentences’, which develop the idea proposed
by the theme.
The information systems are those concerned with the organization of the text into units of
information expressed, in English, by the intonation patterns, and it is a feature only of spoken English.
On the other hand, in written English, punctuation can be used to show information structure
although it cannot express it fully since it could be a compromise between punctuating according
to the intonation or to the grammar.
The exchange of information between successive Theme and Rheme pairings in a text is called
Thematic Progression (Eggins, 1994), and it contributes to the cohesive development of a text, that
is to say, in a cohesive text the distribution of given and new information needs to follow certain
patterns.
Finally, the final component of texture is the structure of discourse, the structure that is inherent in
concepts such as narrative, prayer, ballad, formal correspondence, a sonnet, instruction, or a soap
opera. The ‘macrostructure’ of the text combines with structures and cohesion to provide a
passage of language with texture, that is, the property of being a text.
 4. Text typology & criteria for the classification of text types

Text typology is concerned with the identification of the criteria leading to the classification of texts.
Depending on the criteria adopted, there are several possibilities:
- Functional classification satisfies the diverse communicative needs of the society members
according to the type of the dominant illocutionary act (Searle, 1969). Texts from this
perspective may be:
o Assertive: telling people how things are by stating
o Directive: trying to get people to do things by commanding or requesting
o Expressive: expressing our feelings and attitudes by thinking, forgiving, or blaming
o Commissive: committing ourselves to some future action by promising or offering
o Declarative: bringing about changes by causing correspondence between the
content and reality through naming, appointing, sacking, etc.
- Situational classification sorts out texts according to:
o The sphere of activity (private, official, or public)
o Form of communication (dialogical and monological, spoken or written)
- Strategic classification deals with the topic and its expansion:
o The purpose of narrative texts is to tell a story. Storytelling is a means to entertain and
inform readers and allows writers to express themselves creatively and imaginatively.
There are many types of narrative text, including myths, fables, traditional tales, novels,
short stories, etc., to name but a few. There are many narrative text types, but broadly
speaking, they all begin by establishing the setting and introducing characters. A
problem or complication is then introduced, which serves as the driving force behind
the ensuing events. After the rising action reaches a dramatic high point or climax, a
resolution is achieved, and the story ends.
o Description lists typical features of an object or topic described in an orderly fashion.
The descriptive text can play a part of the narrative text because it is possible that any
of the characters within the story or the narrator may wish to provide a description of
something or someone. The descriptive text is used as a means of expression for the
feeling of the characters towards the setting in which they find themselves. In the case
of fiction writing which describes, the reader will notice the writer using lots of sensory
details in the text. Our senses are how we perceive the world, and to describe their
imaginary world, writers will draw heavily on language that appeals to these senses.
In both fiction and nonfiction, readers will notice the writer will rely heavily on
adjectives in his/her writing.
o The purpose of a discussion text is to explore more than one point of view on a given
subject in order to reach an informed opinion or to make a decision on an issue.
Generally speaking, discussion texts will begin by providing background information
on the issue before introducing the central area or areas of contention. At this point,
 the text will then begin to explore the various arguments for and against with an
examination of the supporting evidence. The conclusion will summarise both sides of
the argument before giving a recommendation based on the writer’s evaluation of
those arguments. Some of its features is that the title is often in the form of a question,
it is written in the present tense, generic statements are followed by specific examples,
and arguments are sometimes supported by diagrams, illustrations etc
In the classification of text types, according to J.M. Adams in ‘Types of Elementary Sequences’, texts
do not appear as belonging to a type, proposing ‘sequence’ instead. He considers that a text is a
unity made up of a certain number of sequences inserted one into another. There is always a
sequence which dominates the text, whether by its recurrence or by conventions of a contextual
nature. Adams establishes five types of textual sequences related to the classification of speech
acts: utter, convince, order, predict, and ask. Hence, seven types of sequences can be derived
from them: narrative, descriptive, expositive, argumentative, instructive, conversational, and
poetic.

5. The register

Register can be defined as a configuration of meanings that are typically associated with a
particular configuration of field, tenor, and mode. But since it is a configuration, a register must also
include the expressions, and the lexico-grammatical and phonological features that accompany
these meanings. Martin Joos (1961) describes five styles in spoken English:
- Frozen: The wording remains unchanged in this style, so it includes things like quotations from
Shakespeare, some written signs such as The management accepts no liability for ... etc.
Often this style is written but it does occur in spoken language less commonly.
- Formal: This is most familiar in the form of lectures and monologues where interruption is not
allowed and technical, precise language is at a premium.
- Consultative: This is the sort of thing that occurs between, e.g., doctors and patients, teachers
and students, counsellors and clients, service providers and customers etc. It allows for two-
way communication, but shared knowledge is not essential.
- Casual: This is such as happens in communications between friends. It is characterised by
lots of slang and some in-group language, plenty of interruption and a good deal of assumed
knowledge so a lot can be left out or left unsaid.
- Intimate: This occurs between family members and very close friends and is characterised
by a good deal of non-verbal communication and some 'private' vocabulary. It is not
commonly adopted in the public domain.
We can see, however, that in all the different types of register, what we say and how we say it is
determined by the context that we find ourselves in. Registers and dialects are two sorts of a variety
of language. A register is characterised by a distinctive use of the language according to the social
context, whereas a dialect is characterised by the distinctive features that a community of speakers
shares. A dialect is spoken habitually and depends on where the person comes from, either
geographically or socially speaking.

6. CONCLUSION

Reading and writing are very complex skill sets that make heavy demands on our students. Beyond
the challenges of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, students need to understand the
conventions and structures of the many different text types or genres. Each time we put pen to
paper, we set off with the intention of completing a specific task. That is, we begin with a purpose
we wish to accomplish with our writing. There are lots of different reasons that can spur us to begin
writing. For each of these reasons, there are general conventions or criteria that students must
understand and incorporate into their work if they’re to achieve their purpose effectively.
Therefore, it is important to provide learners with sufficient input of sentences with different word
orders so that they become familiar with fronting as a resource to highlight adverbials or objects.
Moreover, they must be able to choose the themes of their sentences, as the organisation in the
sentence depends on that. For language production, it is important to be aware of the concept of
communicative dynamism as a way of organising the text. Moreover, for language reception and
interpretation, the acknowledgment of the theme-rheme distinction may help in skimming, not only
at the sentence level but also at the text level.

7. Didactic implications

According to LOMLOE 3/2020 and (autonomous community decree), the content of this topic
highlights textual aspects and would be of great support in order to help students with the processes
of understanding and producing texts. In that sense. It is also connected with the content blocks of
‘communication’ and ‘multilingualism’ mentioned in Royal Decree 217/2022. Moreover, the
content of this topic promotes the Linguistic Communication Competence, and it is connected
with its descriptors CCL1, CCL2 and CCL3, following the aforementioned RD.
The personal proposal to work on the content of this topic, specifically the register, in the classroom
would be as follows:
The students first are going to watch two videos with formal and informal registers. After that, we will
discuss about the characteristics of each one, its vocabulary, expressions, etc. and teacher will write
them in the whiteboard. Then, a brief introduction to register will be shown and a worksheet will be
given to them so that they can reflect on their knowledge. Groups are asked to select a scenario
and script different dialogues that might occur between a teen and a teacher, or friends. As a
closing activity, groups might act out their dialogues.
8. Bibliography

- Text, Discourse and Process. Robert Beaugrande. Longman. 1980

- Cohesion in English. Halliday and Hasan. Longman. 1976.
- Introduction to Text Linguistics. Beaugrande and Dressler. Longman. 1994.
- Language, Context and Text. M.Halliday. Oxford University Press. 1985.
- R. Searle (1985). Speech Acts. Cambridge University Press
- Discourse and Context in Language Teaching. Celce-Murcia & Olshtain. Cambridge
University Press. 2000