Text Types and Text Forms

Prof. Mariana Neagu

Definition of text-type

• a set of correlations between linguistic features and communicative purpose.

• this set of correlations can be established on either a linguistic basis or a functional basis

Text typologiesEach author had used different parameters in his way of categorizing texts.

Jakobson’s communication functions were used often as parameters:

• The referential function• The aesthetic function• The emotive function• The conative function• The phatic function• The metalingual function

• One of the six functions is always the dominant function in a text and usually related to the type of text.

Longacre’s (1976) classificationLongacre (1976) proposes a four-fold typology based on two parameters: (1) temporal succession (2) agent orientation

The combination of these two parameters gives the four types of discourse: • narrative• procedural• behavioral• expository

Questions: • How can one establish the relation between linguistic features and

communicative functions?• Are actual texts found as “pure” types?

Beaugrande and Dressler’s (1981) typology

• less developed in its linguistic characterization but provides some useful hints in terms of its organization of knowledge across types.

• Descriptive: characterized by frames, i.e. the elements of a concept belong together but without any order

• Narrative: characterized by schemata, i.e. patterns of events and states integrated in temporal and casual sequences.

• Argumentative: characterized by plans, defined as patterns of events and states leading to an intended goal.

Werlich’s (1983) typology

• derives from the correlations among the features of a text, context, and participants.

In this way, particular linguistic features are not only linked to a communicative purpose but motivated by this purpose.

Werlich’s (1983)textual typology

1. descriptive2. narrative3. expository4. argumentative5. instructive

Biber’s (1985) text types

• Biber identifies text types by means of quantitative analysis, i.e., texts in a type share frequent use of the same set of co-occurring linguistic features and hence reflect the same function.

Biber’s textual typology

Co-occurrence of linguistic features is discussed in terms of variation.

Dimensions of variation: • Involved vs. informational production• Narrative vs. non-narrative concerns• Explicit vs. situation-dependent reference• Overt expression of persuasion• Abstract vs. non-abstract style

Biber’s linguistic typology of texts

• These dimensions of variation include these linguistic features: tense and aspect markers, place and time adverbials, pronouns, questions, nominal forms, and passives.

• The co-occurrence of these features was analyzed in 481 spoken and written texts representing 23 different genres with results that produced his typology ->heterogenuous

Linguistic or functional typologies?

• neither linguistic nor functional typologies are inherently superior. (Martinez-Cabeza, 2002)

• Linguistic textual typologies offer greater descriptive consistency but may produce counterintuitive classifications

• Functional typologies may fail to justify sufficiently inclusion within a type.

• texts are classified by readers’ perceptions that include factors alien to linguistic features

Text Forms

• proposed by Martinez-Cabeza(2002: 70)• provide guidelines that help to establish

specific correlations between purpose and extra-linguistic context.

1. Descriptive forms

- based on the representation of phenomena in space.

- impressionistic descriptions (subjective): functional coherence is often achieved by the first person singular point of view, while the topical coherence is determined by the impressions of phenomena in space.

- technical descriptions.(objective): composed in third person and topicalization focuses on the elements of a whole.

2. Narrative text forms

• represent phenomena in time and can be reduced to an action-recording sentence. This representation can be done in a subjective or objective manner.

• narratives• reports• news stories.

Narrative

• constitutes the most representative form of the recording of actions and events, usually from the point of view of subjective impressions in time.

• functional coherence is established by means of a personal point of view, either in first or third person singular, together with past tense verbal forms.

• topical coherence is developed through the focus on persons and events in time.

Reports

• characterized by an objective frame or reference determined by a non-personal third person point of view.

• topical coherence is achieved by the focus on the various situational factors of events: time, place, agents, objects, and relations.

News stories

• devised to provide information that enables the addressee to form an opinion.

• range in their references to the reporter’s own views: news stories focused on facts and actions avoid them while comments, for example, leading articles, focus on the author’s opinions

3. Expository text forms

• exhibit the constituent elements of abstract concepts.

• can be analytic, synthetic or a combination of both.

• variants include: the expository essay, definition, summary.

Expository essays

- the encoder presents an explanation of concepts, usually from a subjective point of view.

- functional coherence is achieved through the first person singular or plural point of view, or the non-personal third person point of view.

- topical coherence depends on the particular field of knowledge where the object of the essay is included.

Definitions and summaries

• definitions = specific forms of analytic expositions; typically represented by encyclopedic entries.

• Summaries = specific forms of synthetic expositions; characterized by a high level of abstraction and their structuring depends on the original text

4. Argumentative text forms

• focus on the validity of relations among concepts. The producer states a problem as to the classification of a given fact according to systems of thought.

• subjective (comment): e.g.leading articles, • objective (scientific argumentation). In both cases the sequence that establishes

cohesion and completion are inductive, deductive or dialectical.

5. Instructive text forms

• communicate about the planning of future behavior either of the encoder or the decoder.

- instructions: the point of view is personal and the encoder usually adopts the first or second person point of view depending on whether instructions are directed to the sender or the receiver.

- directions, rules and regulations stem from an impersonal authority.

• functional coherence is achieved through the third person point of view.

• topical coherence is achieved by reference to physical phenomena in the case of practical instructions and concepts and relations in rules and regulations.

Conclusions

• Text forms are posited as intermediate between types and genres: text type -> text form -> genre

e.g. the instructive text type includes the form instructions which in turn, has variants such as recipes.

• Combinations of forms: very frequent and necessary to account for the fact that actual texts rarely display the whole set of features established for the abstract category.

References

• Beaugrande, Robert de and WolfgangDressler,. 1981. Introduction to text linguistics. London and New York : Longman.

• Biber, D. 1989. A typology of English texts. In Linguistics, 27: 3-43 (pages3-11)

• Martin-Cabeza, M.A. 2002. The study of language beyond sentence. From text grammar to discourse analysis. Granada: Comares.

• Werlich, Egon. 1983. A Text Grammar of English. Heidelberg: Quelle and Meyer.