Text Typology: Criteria, Context, and Register

Text types: main criteria for
text typology. Register.
The traditional concern of linguistic analysis has been the construction of
sentences, but in recent years there has been an increasing interest in
analysing the way sentences work in sequence to produce coherent
sketches of language. Following that interest, within this topic I am going to
deal with texts. I am going to divide the topic into four different sections. I will
begin by establishing a difference between text and context, explaining
each of them. Then I will I will explain the criteria for the classifying of texts. In
my third section, I will offer a classification of the different types of texts than
can be analysed. And finally, I will deal with the notion of register.
Let’s start with my first section, dealing with text and context. Text and
contexts are aspects of the same process. There is text and there is other
text that accompanies it: text that “goes with”, namely, context. This notion of
what is “with the text” goes beyond of what is said and written: it includes
other non-verbal going on the environment in which a text unfolds. So it
serves to make a bridge between the text and the situation in which the text
actually occurs.
I am going to deal with context first for the reason that, in real life, contexts
precede texts. The situation is prior to the discourse that relates to it. The
term context means, literally, accompanying text, and van Dijk defines it as
“the state of affairs of a communicative situation in which communicative
events take place”. For a very long time, the word context in English referred
to the words and sentences before and after the particular sentence one
was looking at, that is, to the linguistic context. However, nowadays, context
is mainly understood following the notion of context of situation, introduced
by Malinowski. The context of situation refers to all the extra-linguistic factors
that have some importance on the text itself. These external factors affect
the choices that the speaker or writer makes on the basis of the nature of
the audience, the medium, the purpose of the communication and so on.
The context of situation is made up of all the phenomena which affect the
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discourse. For instance, in face-to-face interaction, the context of situation
includes the immediate and wider environment in which the text actually
occurs, such as the classroom in the case of a teaching discourse, the shop
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or market in a sales transaction, the workshop in the case of a discussion
about a gearbox replacement, etc. We can say that the context of situation
is related to the material, social and ideological environment where words
are uttered.
Taking into account the context of situation is essential for the adequate
understanding of the text. If you discuss gearbox replacement while on top
of a mountain, the precise fact of the altitude may have little bearing on the
discourse (on the other hand, it might), but the fact that there is no engine
present is likely to be very significant. In addition to the physical location,
there is the location in time of the event: time in history, time of the year and
time of day may play a determining role.
The interactants also play a part in the context of situation. The people who
are discussing gearbox replacement, their ages, nationalities, gender and
especially their social roles on this occasion (for example, mechanic and
car-owner; apprentice mechanic and skilled mechanic; teacher and
student; two non-expert car-owners; friends or strangers) may all be
significant.
Every immediate situation is located in a cultural context. The context of
culture is an intricate complex combination of various social phenomena
involving historical and geographical setting but also more general aspects
like the field of the activity: education, medicine, provision of goods and
services in exchange for money. Car maintenance discourse in a highly
hierarchical society may be different from that which takes place in a
relatively egalitarian society (if there is such a thing). Classroom discourse
takes place within a wider cultural context of, say, university education or
secondary school education, or slightly more specifically African university
education, or Kenyan University education. The discipline in question also
plays a part in the context of culture: thus a physics lecture takes place
within the cultural practices and traditions of the field of physics at large as
well as in a particular education system or institution.
Any piece of text, either spoken or written, will carry with it indications of its
context. We only have to hear or read a section of it to know where it comes
from. Given a text, we should be able to say something about the context of
situation that produced it. The same happens the other way round: given a
context of situation, we should be able to predict the type of text which it
generates.
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A final remark about context is its dynamic character. A context is not just
one possible world-state, but a sequence of world-states. The situations do
not remain identical in time, but change. The actual context is defined by the
period of time and place where the common activities of speaker and
hearer are realized, and which satisfy the properties of “here” and “now”.
Up to this point I have been dealing with the notion of context, which, as I
have previously said, is prior to the text. Now I am going to move on to deal
with the notion of text. There are many different definitions of text depending
on the perspective we adopt. In the simplest way perhaps, we can define
text by saying that it is language that is functional, that is, language that is
doing some job in some context. Following Halliday and Hasan, the word text
in linguistic is used to refer to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever
length, that does form a unified whole. Therefore, a text is not defined by its
size, but by its form. We could say that a text is best regarded not as a
grammatical unit, but as a unit of language in use, that is, as a semantic
unit. If we take this into account, we could say that, although when we write it
down a text looks as though it is made of words and sentences, it is really
made of meanings, despite the fact that these meanings have to be
expressed or coded in words.
The property of being a text is given by textual features such as texture and
ties. First of all, the concept of texture expresses in itself the property of
“being a text” and this is what distinguishes a text from something that is not
a text. The resources that English has for creating texture are called ties.
Halliday and Hasan define ties as the term used to refer to a single instance
of cohesive relation (anaphora, cataphora, reference). The concept of a tie
makes it possible to analyse a text in terms of its cohesive properties and
give a systematic account of its patterns of texture.
Up to this point I have dealt with the notions of text and context. Now I am
going to deal with the criteria for the classifying of texts. First of all, we should
have to ask ourselves: What makes a sequence of sentences a text? Seven
criteria or standards are given for textuality, that is, criteria that a sequence
of sentences must meet in order to qualify as a text:
Cohesion is the connection which results when the interpretation of a textual
l ti d d t
th l t i th t t
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element is dependent on another element in the text.
The store no longer sold porcelain figures. It used to…
The interpretation of “it” is dependent on that of “store”, and the
interpretation of “used to” is dependent on “sold porcelain figures”.
Coherence is the connection which is brought about by something outside the
text. This “something” is usually knowledge which a listener or reader is assumed
to possess. The best way to illustrate coherence is giving an example of
incoherence. Chomsky gave the following example: Colourless green ideas sleep
furiously. The listener’s knowledge tells him that the utterance is non-sensical.
Intentionality means that writes and speakers must have the conscious
intention of achieving specific goals with their message, for instance, conveying
information or arguing an opinion.
Acceptability requires that a sequence of sentences be acceptable to the
intended audience in order to qualify as a text. For instance, for a teacher it is not
acceptable to be told: “You sit down and shut up”.
Informativeness is necessary in discourse. A text must contain new
information. If a reader knows everything contained in a text, then it does not
qualify. Likewise, if a reader does not understand what is in a text, it also does not
qualify as a text.
Situationality is essential to textuality. It is important to consider the situation
in which the text has been produced and dealt with. For instance, you don’t speak
about football in church.
Intertextuality means that a sequence of sentences is related by form or
meaning to other sequences of sentences. For instance, a chapter is a text related
to other chapters of a book.
In order to chart the differences between kinds of texts, classification is
necessary. Together with the criteria which a sequence of sentences must
meet in order to qualify as a text, I am going to mention some criteria that
help us distinguish between the different text types:
Literary devices: there are some basic principles of literature that can be
applied to all types of texts and that may help us distinguish between them. The
subject of a text is expressed in terms of a theme; the writer approaches this
subject from a specific point of view, both physical and psychological, and from a
definite perspective; the writer’s attitude towards a subject is expressed through
his voice, real and assumed, which is marked by a distinctive tone. Satire, irony, 
hyperbole… are special attitudes and tones. Furthermore, the voice of the writer
speaks through his style, which essentially is a product of language, the choice
and combination of words sentence structures
and combination of words, sentence structures…
Taking all this into account, we could say that theme, point of view,
perspective, attitude, tone and style are elements that help us to distinguish
different types of texts.
Order and sequence: the notion of order and sequence can be logical,
chronological, special, psychological…
Text structure: by studying the textual and lexical elements of text types one
can learn to regularly recognize the overall structure of a text. The inclusion or
exclusion of elements such as heads, arguments, epigraphs, salutations, etc may
give us clues about the type of text we are dealing with.
Purpose: text can be classified along with their function, that is, according to
their contribution to human interaction.
After presenting the different criteria for the classification of texts, I am going
to move on to my third section and to include an overview of the different
text types. Users of a language can usually distinguish between different
kinds of discourse, and people also have opinions on the suitability of given
kinds of discourse for specific types of messages. Many attempts have been
made to design a classification system. A large number of these attempts
are reminiscent of literary scientific research done in the area of genre
theory, in which four genres –fairy tale, myth, saga and legend – were
distinguished. The different classifications depend, once more, upon the
perspective adopted. Texts can be classified according to purpose,
according to type or mode, etc. I am going to follow Egon Werlich’s discourse
typology, according to which five basic or ideal forms are distinguished that
are fundamental to discourse types. Werlich’s basic forms of texts are:
Descriptive: the purpose of a descriptive text is to describe and present
attributes of people, animal, items or places, or to provide a detailed, neutral
presentation of a literary situation. Descriptive texts tend to be organized in terms
of space. However, there is set no template for description, although there seem to
be common ways of describing particular things. For example, description of
objects tend to be based around the component parts; descriptions of places seem
often to follow a particular visual orientation (bird’s-eye view, al walk around a
place, etc.) while the description of a plant, for example, will typically follow a
bottom-up orientation (from roots to leaves). Examples of texts that may fit into
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the descriptive texts are brochures, descriptions of animal, descriptions of
scientific and technical concepts…We may distinguish different modes of
description, such as scientific, literary, static or dynamic. Descriptive texts usually
aim at precision and clarity. The vocabulary used can be expected to be precise
and exact, the overall style neutral, unemotional and sometimes technical and dry.
Basic components of description are specifying, classifying and defining.
Moreover, much description in the Western tradition is based on relating what is
being described to something else.
Narrative: It is often considered to be the most universal genre. The purpose of
a narrative text is to entertain, to tell a story, or to provide an aesthetic literary
experience. Narrative texts are based on life experiences. The genres that fit
narrative text structures are folktales (legends, myths, realistic tales…), fiction
(contemporary, historic, science fiction….) and fantasy. The main feature of
narrative texts is the telling of a story of events or actions that have their inherent
chronological order, usually aimed at presenting facts. This story telling involves
the participation of elements such as characters and characterization, setting, plot,
conflict and theme. With minor differences, it has been found that the template for
narratives is universal, and will include the following:
An abstract (e.g. a title) or an opening remark (e.g. “Did I tell you about…?
The orientation, including time, place and character identification.
The goal (I wanted to marry the princess)
The problem (But the Queen did not like me)
Steps to resolve the problem
Resolution or climax
Coda (and they lived happily ever after) or moral / lesson to be learned.
Instances of narrative texts are novels, short stories, poetry, drama…
Narrative texts are usually organized in terms of time. Typical language
components of narrative texts are time and place indicators, copular
sentences, presentatives (There is / are), sequence of temporarily ordered
relative clauses, and stative and intransitive verbs.
Explanatory: explanatory texts are usually written in attempts at analyzing,
explaining, describing and presenting facts, events and processes that may be
complicated. Examples may be a brochure, lab procedures, government
documents… Their structure is mainly determined by logical coherence, but
aspects of time and space may be also quite important depending on the subjectmatter. An expository text should be fairly detailed and precise in order to convey
accurate and objective information. The language used is neutral, objective and
analytical. You would not expect to find emotionally loaded terms or subjective
comments.
Instructive or procedure: instructive texts tell the reader what to do in a clearly 
specified situation, usually referring to future activities. The author of an
instructive text assumes that the reader knows very well what he wants to do, but
he needs to be told how to do it. A typical example of an instructive text would be a
recipe in a cookery book. Procedural discourse usually consists of a set of ordered
steps. These steps may be marked with enumerative or temporal markers. The
author’s style and choice of words are usually unemotional and objective, and the
style is simple, straight-forward and aimed at precision. Syntax is dominated by
imperatives and sentences in the passive voice.
I would like to mention that some authors include expository and instructive
texts within the same group.
Argumentative: argumentative texts are intended to convince or persuade the
reader of a certain point of view, or to understand the author’s reasons for holding
certain views on a matter under discussion. Argumentative texts include
demonstration brochures, government speeches, debates, face-to-face
discussions, etc. The author will analyse the question or problem he wishes to
discuss and will present his own opinion to the reader, along with the arguments
that led him to that opinion. The language used by the author will reflect his
personal views on the subject-matter. It is not neutral and makes use of devices
such as irony and sarcasm, as well as rather emotional terminology. The classical
template is introduction, explanation of the case under consideration, outline of
the argument, proof, refutation and conclusion. However, there are many possible
variants.
Up to this point I have dealt with the notions of text and context, with the
criteria for the classification of text and with the different text types. Now I
am going to move on to my last section, dealing with register. In order to
define register, I am going to establish a difference between style, dialect
and register. All this variation may be found in all types of text, and may help
us to identify them. A given language is not used homogenously. We find
some regional variations and some variations associated to individual
speakers. If you carefully record someone speaking you will find that there is
still patterned variation in the pronunciation of a single phoneme, in the
choice of words, and in grammar. A first useful explanation is provided by
the notion of style and the related dimension of formality. At times, we are
more careful and at times we are more relaxed in our speech or writing. This
varying level of attention to variety forms a natural continuum. Most
accounts of language now make some references to levels of stylistic
variation. In bilingual communities, these stylistic levels may be marked by
switching from one variety to another. For instance, officials in Switzerland
who use Swiss German in intimate and casual circumstances move to High
German for informal and formal speech. The commonly accepted
explanation for this stylistic variation is the care that speakers and writers
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take with their expression. The more formal the situation, the more attention
we pay to our language and so we are more likely to conform to the
favoured and educated norms of our society. Moreover, a speaker who
controls more than one variety chooses a level of speech according to the
audience he or she is addressing. Related to this is the concept of
accommodation; we automatically adjust our speech to be more like that of
our interlocutor.
Whereas style refers to differences in the degree of formality, dialect
concerns variations that are located regionally or socially. A third set of
variation concerns the special register especially marked by a special set of
vocabulary (technical terminology) associated with a profession or
occupation or other defined social group and forming part of its jargon or
in-group variety. People who work at a particular trade or occupation
develop new terms for new concepts. Phrases like hacking and surfing the
net have no obvious meaning to those who are not keeping up with the
computer revolution. A specialized jargon serves not just to label new and
needed concepts, but to establish bonds between members of the in-group
and enforce boundaries for outsiders. If you cannot understand my jargon,
you don’s belong to my group. For instance, thieves and underworld jargons,
sometimes called cant, whose goal is to make it hard for the outsider to
understand conversations.
Dialects, styles and registers as I have presented them are ways of labelling
varieties of language. The starting point of this classification is linguistic
variation, which I have attempted to explain by associating it with a specific
set of social features. I might choose to work in the reverse direction, by
classifying social situations, and then naming the variety that is suitable for
it. A register is a variety of language most likely to be used in a specific
situation and with particular roles and statuses involved. Examples may be
toasts at a wedding, sports broadcast… A register is marked by choices of
vocabulary and of other aspects of style.
To sum up, I have divided this topic into four different section, dealing with
the notions of text and context, the criteria for the classifying of texts, the
different types of texts, and the concept of register. As a final word I would
like to say that, although the notion of text has not received much attention
up to recent times, much work is being devoted to it at present. For this
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reason, all the aspects covered in this topic are rather blurry, and it is
possible to find many different theories, terminologies and opinions,
although I have tried to concentrate on the most representative ones.
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