Types of text

Teachers’ Course – Language and

Didatics
What is a text?
 What is a text?

A text is a piece of writing that you read or

create.
 How to classify a text?
• What caractherizes a text? Its length? Its
purpose? Its reader?
 How to classify a text?
• What caractherizes a text? Its length? Its
purpose? Its reader?

The type of a texts depend on their purpose,

meaning, structure and language features.
Main Categories
 Main Categories
• Expository texts (1)

• Narrative texts (2)

• Argumentative texts (3)
Activity
 EXPOSITORY

• An expository text is intended to identify and

characterize experiences, facts, situations, and
actions in either abstract or real elements.
Expository texts are meant to explain, inform
or describe.
 EXPOSITORY

• An expository text is intended to identify and

characterize experiences, facts, situations, and
actions in either abstract or real elements.
Expository texts are meant to explain, inform
or describe.
 EXPOSITORY
CATEGORIES:

• description - describes a topics characteristics, features, attributes,

gives examples.
• procedure or sequence: lists of different activities in chronological
order or items in a numerical order.
• comparison: how two or more objects, events, experiences, are
alike and/or different.
• cause-effect explanation: ideas, events in time, or facts as causes
and the resulting effect(s) in time.
• problem-solution presentation: a problem and one or more
solutions to the problem.
 EXPOSITORY
Formats:

• business: reports, letters, executive summaries.

• journalism: essays, news reports, press releases, sports news.
• technical communication: user guides, technical reports or
standards.
• academic and scientific communication: textbooks, student
guides, scientific reports, scientific journals’ articles,
encyclopedia articles.
• general reference works: encyclopedia articles, or on-line,
multi-domain informative texts, as the Wikipedia articles.
 NARRATIVE
A narrative text entertains, instructs or informs
readers by telling a story.
 NARRATIVE
A narrative text entertains, instructs or informs
readers by telling a story.

• Fictional (fairy tales, novels, science fiction,

horror or adventure stories, fables, myths,
legends, etc.)
• Non-fictional (articles, newspaper reports,
historical writings).
 ARGUMENTATIVE
• Argumentative texts aim to change the
readers’ beliefs. They often contain negative
qualities or characteristics of
something/someone, or try to persuade their
readers that an object, product, idea is in
some way better than others.
 Final note

• Few texts are purely one type: expository or

argumentative texts can contain narration or
evaluative elements.
 Reference
• EXPLAIN, ‘’How to tell you what you know
well’’.

• Availabe at:
http://explainwell.org/index.php/table-of-cont
ents-synthesize-text/types-of-texts/
Last access on August, 17th, 2018.