GENRE AND TEXT TYPE

Prof. Márcia Costa Bonamin

 WHAT IS A TEXT ?

PEOPLE SHOULD WEAR MASKS

People should wear masks, according

to Dr. Santos, epidemiologist from
Einstein Hospital

I’M SORRY
I’m sorry Mr. Smith is not here right now
What is the function and the social use of these texts ?

FUNCTION : instruct, give advice, inform, persuade, narrate, describe

(1) People should wear masks, according to Dr. Santos, epidemiologist

from Einstein Hospital
Function:
Function give advice

(2) I’m sorry Mr. Smith is not here right now

Function:
Function inform

SOCIAL USE : Recipe, Safety Leaflet, Newspaper Article, Advertisement

1
2
 WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF A TEXT ?

persuade, inform, describe, instruct, present arguments

These functions are called TEXT TYPES

.
A LETTER FROM SCHOOL might inform you about something.

A NOVEL might describe somewhere or someone to you.

A CAR MANUAL might instruct you how to do something to your car.

An ADVERT might try to persuade you to buy something

HOW CAN THESE FUNCTIONS HAVE A SOCIAL PURPOSE?

TEXTS THAT HAVE SOCIAL PURPOSE ARE CALLED GENRES

GENRES CAN HAVE ONE OR MORE TEXT TYPES

.
A LETTER FROM SCHOOL might inform and warn

A NOVEL might describe, narrate

A CAR MANUAL might instruct and describe.

An ADVERT might inform, describe, persuade

 WHAT ARE THE TEXT TYPES OF
ITEMS 1, 2 AND 3
description, narration, argumentation, exposition,
persuasion, instruction

1. Visit Rome, capital of Italy and ancient capital of the Roman Empire,
which is blessed with splendid ruins, delightful markets and intriguing narrow
streets that appeal to the adventurous explorer.

2. This car has an aluminium body to resist rust and bumper shields
that can absorb an impact of up to 7 mph without distortion.

3. You should not park where you see these signs and markings: ‘No
Parking’, ‘Clearway’,double yellow lines beside the curb, double white lines
in the middle of the road.
 WHAT GENRES DO THEY BELONG
TO?

1. Visit Rome, capital of Italy and ancient capital of the Roman Empire,
which is blessed with splendid ruins, delightful markets and intriguing narrow
streets that appeal to the adventurous explorer.

2. This car has an aluminium body to resist rust and bumper shields
that can absorb an impact of up to 7 mph without distortion.

3. You should not park where you see these signs and markings: ‘No
Parking’, ‘Clearway’,double yellow lines beside the curb, double white lines
in the middle of the road.
 WHAT IS A GENRE?

A genre is a type of text, defined by its

social purpose and intended audience
and identified by its format, style and
language.

Example: An advertisement, a report,

an e-mail, a job interview, a chat are all
examples of genres.
 GENRE X TEXT TYPE

GENRE TEXT TYPE

Recipe, Manual Instruction
Journalistic Report Narration
Advertisement Persuasive
Review Argumentative
Formal Letter Exposition
WHAT IS TEXT TYPE (description narration, And the
argumentation, expositions, persuasion, instruction…… GENRE?
WHAT IS TEXT TYPE AND GENRE?

T
O
S
H
I
B
A

M
A
N
U
A
L
 WHAT IS THE TEXT TYPE/GENRE

1. Don’t leave your bags unattended when you are at the airport.
Make sure you have all the documents requested by local
authorities. Never carry dangerous producs inside your bag

2. The place we stayed was just perfect. The main bedroom was
roomy with lots of natural light coming from a huge bay window. I
would recomend it for anyone who wants to relax and enjoy
nature.

3. The lady entered the bank to cash a check. She was heading for
the teller when she noticed some strage movement at the main
entrance. It took her a couple of minutes to realize it was a bank
robbery.
 ASSIGNING A TEXT TO A GENRE

Social Purpose

Discourse community
Intended Audience

Communicative Purpose Format (identifiable

components)
Rhetorical Organization (parts)

Style
formal/informal/technic
al/academic

CRITICAL Language
ANALYSIS (vocabulary, grammar)
 HOW HELPFUL CAN BE A GENRE
FOR TEACHING?

Reading, Writing, Speaking

1.Analyze some samples

2.Observe the layout (how many parts is it
made up)
3.Check specific vocabulary
To know more about text types and genres, check:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LULx42tOA4
 TASK 1

1. In your group: In the project about the

Corona Virus, what kind of Genre could
student produce as a final assignment?
 TASK 2
What kind of genre is that? What are the text types it has?