A text-based approach
to language and literacy
TME303 in 2023
Week 4
Definition of Literacy
Literacy is a complex set of abilities needed to understand and
use the dominant symbol systems of a culture – alphabets,
numbers, visual icons - for personal and community
development.
In a technological society, literacy extends beyond the functional
skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening to include
multiple literacies such as visual, media and information
literacy.
Literacy touches every aspect of individual and community life. It
is an essential foundation for learning through life, and must
be valued as a human right.
CAPS on literacy
⚫ Literacy – the ability to process and use information for a
variety of purposes and contexts and to write for different
purposes; the ability to decode texts. It is part of a general
ability to make sense of one’s world. The capacity to read
and write.
CAPS on literacies
⚫ Literacies – There are various kinds of literacy:
⚫ reading and writing;
⚫ cultural literacy (understanding the cultural, social and
ideological values that shape our reading of texts);
⚫ critical literacy (the ability to respond critically to the
messages in texts);
⚫ visual literacy (the reading/writing of images, signs, pictures,
etc.);
⚫ media literacy (the reading of newspapers, magazines,
television and film as cultural messages).
WHAT is a text?
What is a text?
⚫ A text is a piece of writing (or visual), speech or gesture that
is meaningful
⚫ Texts are produced and read in social, political contexts
⚫ Each text type has associated conventions around language
and form
⚫ Text-types that share similar social purposes are grouped as
genres in a TEXT-BASED APPROACH to language
teaching and learning
What is a text-based approach?
⚫ Text-based instruction is based on Halliday‘s (1978) theory
of language as social semiotic; that is language is a resource
with which people make meanings.
⚫ Language is always used as a text in relation to a
communicative setting (Mickan, 2015)
What is a text-based approach?
❖This approach uses texts as a central aspect of the lesson
❖ Learners are exposed to a variety of texts and together the
features of the text are explored
❖ Excellent approach for making explicit the unspoken rules
of a text
❖Integrated skills and multimodality
Why a text-based approach?
⚫ Helps learners to understand how texts work;
⚫ recognize multiple text types and their purposes
⚫ literacy more meaningful;
⚫ empowers learners to become critically aware of how
messages are constructed, how they position readers – and
how they can be resisted
Central principles
❖Learners explore how texts work
❖They read, view and analyse texts
❖They write texts for particular purposes
❖Language is explored in texts, and texts are explored in
relation to contexts
❖Learners develop a vocabulary of words necessary to
describe different aspects of grammar, vocabulary,
register and genres of writing (a meta-language)
❖Teachers are mediators of learning-provide a scaffold
❖Curriculum Cycle based on Vygotsky-explicit teaching
CAPS on a text-based approach
⚫ The text-based approach and the communicative approach are both
dependent on the continuous use and production of texts.
⚫ A text-based approach teaches learners become competent, confident
and critical readers, writers, viewers, and designers of texts.
⚫ Authentic texts are the main source of content and context for the
communicative, integrated learning and teaching of languages.
⚫ The text-based approach also involves producing different kinds of texts
for particular purposes and audiences.
⚫ It is the social context in which this text is embedded that determines the
vocabulary, register, and text structure.
⚫ This approach is informed by an understanding of how texts are
constructed.
[CAPS Senior Phase English FAL 14 September 2011, p.20]
Text-based approach (1/2)
1. Texts are central to the lesson – variety of texts
2. Learners explore how texts work by reading,
viewing and analysing texts
3. Skills are taught in an integrated way
4. Multimodal texts are used
5. Learners write texts for particular purposes
Text-based approach (2/2)
6. Language is explored in texts, and texts are explored
in relation to contexts
7. Learners develop a vocabulary of words necessary to
describe different aspects of grammar, vocabulary,
register and genres of writing (a meta-language)
8. Teachers are mediators of learning – provide a
scaffold
9. Curriculum Cycle based on Vygotsky is followed –
explicit teaching
Overlaps: communicative & genre-
based approaches
⚫ Communicative purpose is highlighted
⚫ Focus on linguistic & discursive/discourse
competence
⚫ Language in context: Authentic (real) texts & tasks
are used, including multimodal texts
⚫ Integration of skills
What text types are these?
A Trip to the Zoo
⚫
Little Red Riding Hood
Yesterday my family went to the zoo to see the elephant. When
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived at
we got to the zoo, we went to the shop to buy some food to
the edge of a large dark forest. She always wore a red
give to the animals. After getting the food we went to the
coat so everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.
nocturnal house where we saw birds and reptiles which only
One day, her mother gave her a basket of food and told
come out at night. Before lunch we went for a ride on the
her to take it to her grandmother. On the way, Little
elephant. It was a thrill to ride it. Dad nearly fell off when he let
Red Riding Hood met a wolf. “Where are you going?”
go of the rope. During lunch we fed some birds in the park. In
he asked. “I’m going to my grandmother’s house”, Red
the afternoon we saw the animals being fed. When we
Riding Hood said.
returned home we were tired but happy because we had so
much fun.
Pancakes Bicycles
Ingredients: Bicycles are a mode of transport. They bring people from place to place.
• 1 cup flour • 1 tablespoon sugar They have two wheels attached to a frame, with a seat and handle bars for
• 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/4 steering. They also have brakes.
teaspoon salt • 1 egg, beaten • 1 Bicycles are made in factories and then sold in shops.
cup milk • 2 tablespoons People use bicycles to get to work and for pleasure.
vegetable oil Cycling is good exercise.
What is a Genre?
⚫ Genre analysts look for the common patterns of grammar usage,
key vocabulary, and text structure in particular text types.
⚫ Three schools of thought:
⚫ New rhetoric schools (North American School)-1st language users
of English
⚫ Swalesian school (ESP school)- additional language users of
English in university and professional contexts
⚫ Australian school (Systemic Functional Linguistics-SFL)-
additional language users of English in disadvantaged schools
contexts
Australian/ SFL’s View of language:
(a) Language is functional (i.e. it builds meaning);
(b) Language is involved in the processes by which human
beings construct social experience; and
(c) Language accomplishes its tasks in the context of the
situation which gives rise to a communicative activity -- i.e.
in a social exchange or interaction between speakers.
Thus language always occurs in a cultural and a situational
context and this contributes to the form and shape of the
text, i.e. form follows function
SFL definition of genre
⚫ Genre: “a staged, goal-oriented, purposeful and
social activity in which speakers engage as members of a
particular culture”.
⚫ staged because it usually takes more than one step for
participants to achieve their goal
⚫ goal-oriented and purposeful because it has a social
purpose to get things done
⚫ social because it involves the interaction of participants
using language
Context of communication
⚫ Consists of its
⚫ field/experiential meaning (subject matter)
⚫ its tenor/interpersonal meaning (the relationship between
participants)
⚫ its mode/textual meaning (oral or written or multimodal)
⚫ These denote the social context of a text and the ways that
language should be used.
⚫ Analyse for field/tenor/mode [next slide]
Schooling genres
Fiction Drama Folklore Poetry Nonfiction
Fairy Tale Procedures
Information
Realistic Legend Reports
Comedy
Fiction
Tall Tale Explanation
Historical Tragedy Argument
Myth
Fiction
Discussion
Science Fable
Biography
Fiction Narratives
Stories
Imaginative/Personal Factual
Fantasy Recounts
Recounts
Fiction/Imaginative/Personal
Genre Purpose Structure Language Features
Recount To tell what happened, ∙ Title ∙ use of nouns to identify people,
∙ Personal retellings, eg. retelling of events ∙ Orientation (who, where, when) animals and things
Diary, autobiography, ∙ Series of events in time-order ∙ linking words to do with time eg
personal letters ∙ Personal comment ‘later’, ‘after’, ‘before’
∙ Imaginative recounts ∙ simple past tense
∙ action verbs
∙ First person pronouns [I, we..]
∙ Personal Feelings appropriate
∙ Active voice
Descriptive To portray a person, ∙ Title ∙ elaborate use of sensory language
∙ Description of a person, place, or thing in such a ∙ Orientation ∙ rich, vivid, and lively detail
place or thing: way that the reader can ∙ Supporting descriptive details ∙ figurative language such as simile,
character sketch, visualise the topic and ∙ Summary hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism and
description of setting, enter into the writer’s personification
object experience. ∙ showing, rather than telling through
∙ poem the use of active verbs and precise
modifiers
Narrative: Stories To entertain, to teach ∙ Title ∙ defined characters
Eg fairytales, morals and values ∙ Orientation ∙ descriptive language
legends, plays, science ∙ Complications/problems ∙ Dialogue-direct and indirect speech
fiction, myths, cartoons, (main characters find ways to ∙ Punctuation: Inverted commas,
adventure stories, dramas, solve the problem) question marks, exclamations
soapies, movies ∙ resolution ∙ usually past tense but dialogues can
Factual
Genre Purpose Structure Language Features
Recount To tell what Title ∙ use of nouns to identify people, animals
∙ Factual retellings, eg. happened, to retell Orientation and things
science experiment, past events (who, where, when) ∙ linking words to do with time eg ‘later’,
historical events or Series of events in time-order ‘after’, ‘before’
biographies Personal comment ∙ simple past tense
∙ Third person pronouns [He, it, they..]
∙ Mention of Personal Feelings
inappropriate
∙ Passive voice
Information Report To document, ∙ Title ∙ generalised participants (use of plurals)
∙ topic based school organise and store ∙ Definition or description as a ∙ impersonal objective language
project information/facts general statement identifying the ∙ Descriptive language pertaining to facts
∙ tourist guide book on a topic. subject/topic such as twenty kilograms in weight and
∙ encyclopedia entry Classify and ∙ Subheadings containing facts such 200 metres long.
∙ information leaflet describe the as: habits, behaviour, colour shape ∙ Language of certainty- is/are/will
∙ non-fiction book phenomena of our ∙ Facts are grouped into topic areas ∙ timeless present tense
∙ science textbook world eg living ∙ Visuals that provide more ∙ Action verbs
things (plants, information ∙ Linking verbs (is, are, have, belong to)
animals) and non- ∙ Conclusion: topic is rounded off ∙ Technical terms
living (phones, with a general statement
clouds or oceans)
Procedure/instructions To tell how to do or ∙ Title or goal ∙ generalised participants (use of plurals)
Eg. make something ∙ List of materials ∙ use of action verbs (turn, put, add)
recipes, craft instructions, ∙ method or steps has to follow ∙ linking words to do with time (1st,
Factual
Genre Purpose Structure Language Features
Explanation To give an account -Title •generalised non-human
To of how something
explore how works or the
- General statement to participants
things work or introduce the topic
processes involved •passive voice eg ‘is driven by’
-A series of logical steps
how something in natural and
came to be – explaining how or •Action verbs [falls/rises]
social phenomena
Why is it why something occurs
so/How does it - Steps continue until the final •complex sentences
To explain how
work? explanation is complete
something works •technical language
Eg. explain how soil •concluding statement
erosion occurs, simple present tense e.g. many
(optional) birds fly south
explain how a
volcano is formed •Explanations may include •Use of Conjunctions eg
-Connectives that signal time, e.g.
To explain why visual images such as flow then, next, several months later
Why do some charts or diagrams cause and -Causal connectives [cause and
things float and effect] , e.g. because, so, this
events relationships causes
others dont
Why is the ozone
layer thinning?
Arguments
Genre Purpose Framework Language Features
Discussion To discuss points Title •generalised participants
Leaflet/article giving for and against an Statement of the issue + your position •simple present tense
balanced account Non- issue/topic/situatio on the issue non-biased) •use logical connectives
fiction book n or event •Arguments for + supporting evidence e.g. ‘therefore’, ‘however’,
Business reports • Arguments against + supporting ‘nevertheless’ usually more
Politicians’ briefing evidence formal ones than persuasive
documents (Alternatively, argument/counter- texts [passives, nominalisation
argument, one point at a time) and removal of personal pronoun]
Conclusion is a restatement contains a Suffix and prefix usage
summary of main points and makes a
recommendation in favour of one point
of view
Persuasive To argue (or Title •generalised participants
Texts/arguments persuade) a case statement or position •linking words associated with
Eg. a letter of for or against a •points in the argument with evidence reasoning eg ‘therefore’
protest/complaint; poster particular point of and examples (elaboration) •nominalisation (actions become
advertising sun-smart view or position •reiteration - restate the position in things). Eg. ‘to pollute’ becomes
behaviour; propaganda; light of the arguments presented • ‘pollution’
advertisements; suggestions •evaluative language eg
for environmental ‘important’, ‘significant’,
improvements; magazine ‘valuable’, voice important
Mode continuum (Gibbons, 2002)
Demonstrates how
dependent “here and-
now” language is on
the immediate
situational context.
Is in the form of a recount
in which the pins and the
magnet refer to specific
objects
⚫ Written report and contains a generalization:
magnets attract some metals. The text is
starting to sound more scientific – ‘tried’ has
become ‘discovered’.
A child’s encyclopedia. The language is
much denser, and the process to
which the child was referring in
Texts 1, 2, and 3 is now summarized
in the abstract notion of magnetic
attraction.
Comments on previous slides
⚫ Field of all four texts is the same (i.e., they are on the
same topic)
⚫ But language used differently
⚫ Vocabulary becomes more technical as well as subject or field
specific
⚫ Tenor of the texts becomes more impersonal (notice how the
personal reference to ‘we’ and ‘our’ disappear)
⚫ Mode varies (they become increasingly more explicit and
more like written language).
Ways to speak about the
Genres of power: Metalanguage
⚫ Metalanguage is the language to speak about Language
⚫ So, the language to speak about genres?
Structure: Create and develop schemata
Purpose: To explain/inform/give of each associated structure
instructions/recount/entertain/discuss
various points/argue for a position
But what about
Language features: Make explicit throughout the media texts?
curriculum cycle
ADVANTAGES OF A TEXT-BASED APPROACH
❖This approach uses texts as a central aspect
of the lesson
❖Learners are exposed to a variety of texts and together the
features of the text are explored
❖ Excellent approach for making explicit the unspoken rules of a
text
❖Strong integration of reading, speaking and writing
Limitations of Text-based approach
⚫ Difficulty of assigning some texts into specific genre
categories.
⚫ Difficulty of finding suitable texts
⚫ Lack of familiarity with the particular features of the target
genre
⚫ Difficulty of working in communities where the TL is not in
widespread use. (Paltridge, 2001)
Blurred or mixed Genres
⚫ Articles
⚫ Magazines
⚫ University assignments/ Papers
⚫ Proposals
⚫ Thesis
⚫ Blurred because they have sections with various
purposes
Summary
⚫ ‘unpack’ the genres of power/schooling
⚫ gain knowledge of how texts work
⚫ understand the metalanguage of each genre
