Academic literature on the topic 'Types of text'

This item is not the definitive copy. Please use the following citation when referencing this material: Dillon, A. and McKnight, C. (1990) Towards a classification of text types: a repertory grid approach. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 33, 623-636. Abstract: The advent of hypertext brings with it associated problems of how best to present non-linear texts. As yet, knowledge of readers' models of texts and their uses is limited. Repertory grid analysis offers an insightful method of examining these issues and gaining an understanding of the type of texts that exist in the readers' worlds. The present study investigates six researchers' perceptions of texts in terms of their use, content and structure. Results indicate that individuals construe texts in terms of three broad attributes: why read them, what type of information they contain, and how they are read. When applied to a variety of texts these attributes facilitate a classificatory system incorporating both individual and task differences and provide guidance on how their electronic versions could be designed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Linguistics, 2006.<br>Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-05, Section: A, page: 1710. Adviser: Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 20, 2007)."

A main theme in sociolinguistics is register variation, a situation and use dependent variation of language. Numerous studies have provided evidence of linguistic variation across situations of use in English. However, very little attention has been paid to the language of corporate blogs (CBs), which is often seen as an emerging genre of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Previous studies on blogs and corporate blogs have provided important information about their linguistic features as well as functions; however, our understanding of the linguistic variation in corporate blogs remains limited in particular ways, because many of these previous studies have focused on individual linguistic features, rather than how features interact and what the possible relations between forms (linguistic features) and functions are. Given these limitations, it would be necessary to have a more systematic perspective on linguistic variation in corporate blogs. In order to study register variation in corporate blogs more systematically, a combined framework rooted in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), and register theories (e.g., Biber, 1988, 1995; Halliday & Hasan, 1989) is adopted. This combination is based on some common grounds they share, which concern the functional view of language, co-occurrence patterns of linguistic features, and the importance of large corpora to linguistic research. Guided by this framework, this thesis aims to: 1) investigate the functional linguistic variations in corporate blogs, and identify the text types that are distinguished linguistically, as well as how the CB text types cut across CB industry-categories, and 2) to identify salient linguistic differences across text types in corporate blogs in the configuration of the three components of the context of situation - field, tenor, and mode of discourse. In order to achieve these goals, a 590,520-word corpus consisting of 1,020 textual posts from 41 top-ranked corporate blogs is created and mapped onto the combined framework which consists of Biber’s multi-dimensional (MD) approach and Halliday’s SFL. Accordingly, two sets of empirical analyses are conducted one after another in this research project. At first, by using a corpus-based MD approach which applies multivariate statistical techniques (including factor analysis and cluster analysis) to the investigation of register variation, CB text types are identified; and then, some linguistic features, including the most common verbs and their process types, personal pronouns, modals, lexical density, and grammatical complexity, are selected from language metafunctions of mode, tenor and field within the SFL framework, and their linguistic differences across different text types are analysed. The results of these analyses not only show that the corporate blog is a hybrid genre, representing a combination of various text types, which serve to achieve different communicative purposes and functional goals, but also exhibit a close relationship between certain text types and particular industries, which means the CB texts categorized into a certain text type are mainly from a particular industry. On this basis, the lexical and grammatical features (i.e., the most common verbs, pronouns, modal verbs, lexical density and grammatical complexity) associated with Halliday’s metafunctions are further explored and compared across six text types. It is found that language features which are related to field, tenor and mode in corporate blogs demonstrate a dynamic nature: centring on an interpersonal function, the online blogs in a business setting are basically used for the purposes of sales, customer relationship management and branding. This research project contributes to the existing field of knowledge in the following ways: Firstly, it develops the methodology used in corpus investigation of language variation, and paves the way for further research into corporate blogs and other forms of electronic communication and, more generally, for researchers engaging in corpus-based investigations of other language varieties. Secondly, it adds greatly to a description of corporate blog as a language variety in its own right, which includes different text types identified in CB discourse, and some linguistic features realized in the context of situation. This highlights the fact that corporate blogs cannot be regarded as a simple discourse; rather, they vary according to text types and context of situation.

This essay investigates the usage of text types in the younger English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom among preschool class and grade 1-3 teachers in Sweden. The essay focuses on identifying what type of texts teachers use, why they use them and how they are used. A combined quantitative and qualitative method was used to collect data. 121 teachers responded to the online-survey that was sent out and a virtual ethnography was conducted by observing two different teaching forums to investigate how teachers use different text types. The findings of the survey showed that the two most commonly used text types are song texts and texts from textbooks. In general, developing the students’ vocabulary was the most common reason why several of the text types were used. Additionally, multiple worksheets which showed how teachers worked with different text types were collected from the virtual ethnography. In this essay, they may be used as inspiration for other teachers who want to expand their use of text types.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior<br>O presente trabalho intitulado CompreensÃo de Textos Narrativos e Argumentativos DialÃgicos por Leitores do Ensino Fundamental examina a compreensÃo desses tipos textuais a partir da anÃlise de material produzido pela reescritura de tais textos por vinte sujeitos que participaram como voluntÃrios na pesquisa Estudantes de ensino fundamental na faixa etÃria de 13 a 15 anos leram dois tipos de textos argumentativos (narrativo â TNA e argumentativo dialÃgico-TAD) e foram solicitados a produzir reescrituras de cada um desses textos As reescrituras obtidas foram analisadas de acordo com vÃrios aspectos (explicitude das macrorregras de sumarizaÃÃo qualidade das estratÃgias coerÃncia macro e superestrutural) de modo a verificar diferenÃas de compreensÃo relacionadas à recuperaÃÃo da macro e superestrutura textual e à organizaÃÃo global de cada texto reescrito Trabalhamos com a hipÃtese bÃsica de que leitores proficientes ao realizarem uma tarefa de reescritura apresentariam melhor desempenho quanto à recuperaÃÃo da macroestrutura textual e quanto ao reconhecimento da organizaÃÃo global do texto TNA do que do TAD tendo em vista a maior explicitude da organizaÃÃo interna deste primeiro tipo de texto As hipÃteses secundÃrias procuraram testar primeiramente se o conhecimento mÃnimo do esquema canÃnico dos textos (TNA/TAD) seria fator determinante para uma melhor compreensÃo das formas de estruturaÃÃo dessas tipologias se existe um esquema textual para cada tipologia que deveria ser atingido para que leitores independentes pudessem empregar as estratÃgias de leitura e (re) construir a macroestrutura e por Ãltimo se a diferenÃa entre o desempenho leitor do aluno e o tipo de texto (TNA/TAD) deveria ser demonstrada claramente a partir de estratÃgias cognitivas utilizadas no processamento Nas vÃrias anÃlises procedidas foram encontradas evidÃncias quanto ao melhor desempenho para o TNA em relaÃÃo ao TAD Quanto ao conhecimento do esquema canÃnico os leitores recuperaram respectivamente 40% total 20% parcial e 40% (ausÃncia) para o TNA a 30% 10% e 60% para o TAD A anÃlise das estratÃgias de reescritura evidenciou que os leitores utilizaram estratÃgias mais sofisticadas (produÃÃo de inferÃncias integraÃÃo de informaÃÃes) para o TNA em relaÃÃo ao TAD A anÃlise de (re) construÃÃo macroestrutural demonstrou que os leitores das reescrituras TNAs revelaram menos problemas de continuidade sequencial e progressÃo semÃntica em relaÃÃo aos textos TADs<br>The present work entitled Comprehension of Narrative and Argumentative Texts by middle school Readers examines the comprehension of these two text types from the analysis of summaries produced by 20 volunteers who participated in the research Students from middle school aged 13 to 15 years read two types of argumentative texts (a narrative text â TNA and an argumentative dialogical text â TAD) and were asked to produce summaries of each one of these texts types The summaries were analyzed according to several aspects (explicitness of the summarization macro-rules strategies quality and macro and super-structural coherence) in order to verify differences in comprehension related to the recuperation of the texts macro and super-structures and the overall organization of each summarized text Our basic hypothesis is that due to the higher degree of explicitude and internal organization of TNA proficient readers would show better performance on macro-structure recovery of this type of text in comparison to TAD A secondary hypothesis sought to verify first if the minimum knowledge of the scheme of canonical texts (TNA / TAD) would be a determining factor for a better understanding of ways to structure these text types second if a textual schema for each type should be reached for independent readers to apply reading strategies and (re)construct the macrostructure and third if the difference between the performance of the student reader and the type of text (TNA / TAD) should be clearly demonstrated from strategies used in cognitive processing The analyses revealed evidence of better performance to TNA compared to TAD As regards the canonical scheme readers recovered respectively 40% total 20% partial and 40% (absence) for the TNA as compared to 30% 10% and 60% for the TAD The analysis of summarization strategies showed that readers used more sophisticated strategies (production of inferences integration of information) for the TNA than for TAD As for the (re)construction of TNAs summaries the macroestructural aspects of this type of text revealed fewer problems of continuity sequence and semantic progression than the TADs