Tema 31

Introduction

The curriculum emphasizes communication skills, aiming for students to achieve communicative competence in a foreign language. This unit is linked to discourse competence, which is essential for understanding and producing spoken and written texts across different genres.

Text and Context

Text and Texture

• Definition of Text: Halliday describes a text as a unified whole, a semantic unit rather than just a form, realized through sentences. Cohesion is the key factor that defines a text through elements like anaphoric references, as seen in examples where pronouns refer back to earlier nouns. Texture exceeds mere cohesion by integrating various cohesive relations.

The Seven Standards of Textuality

According to Beaugrande and Dressler, a text must satisfy seven standards for unity:

• Cohesion: Mutual connection of components through various methods such as pronominal reference.

• Coherence: Readers perceive texts as coherent even without explicit cohesive ties, discerned through relations like temporality.

• Intentionality: The sender's intentions guide text production, affected by conversational maxims.

• Acceptability: The receiver's perspective matters, requiring texts to be relevant to the situation.

• Informativity: Texts carry informative content, balancing expected and unexpected information.

• Situationality: Texts must relate to specific circumstances.

• Intertextuality: Understanding of a text depends on prior knowledge of related texts.

Text and Context

Text exists within a context, which is crucial for interpretation. Context consists of linguistic surroundings (co-text) and situational context. Dell Hymes offers elements for describing a context of situation, including the setting, participants, purpose, key, channel, norms, genre, and message format. Halliday expands this to field (subject matter), mode (medium of communication), and tenor (participants' relationship).

Criteria for Textual Classification

Jakobson identified enunciation poles to classify text functions, encompassing speaker emotions, listener engagement, message content, and aesthetic form, among others. Four main criteria for classification include:

• Text Genre: Recognizable patterns based on setting.

• Tone of the Text: Emotion conveyed influences tone.

• System of Organization: Organizational structure affects linguistic characteristics.

• Types of Texts: Determined by the author's intention.

Text Types

Text types categorize based on structures and characteristics.

1. Narrative Texts

• Universal in cultures, can be fictional or non-fictional.

• Require a defined plot, characters, and structure.

2. Descriptive Texts

• Aim to project a mental image, needing detailed vivid descriptions.

3. Argumentative Texts

• Aim to persuade the reader, employing strategies to influence belief.

4. Expository Texts

• Intended to inform or clarify, structured with clear arguments and conclusions.

5. Conversational/Dialogic Texts

• Represent spoken discourse, often informal and interactive.

Register

Style and Register

Style involves speech variation, whereas register pertains to language varieties used by groups. Variations can stem from regional dialects, education, interference from native languages, subject matter, medium, and attitude.

Halliday's Register Variables

The register is defined through field, mode, and tenor, reflecting the social context. Registers can be classified into pairs like formal/informal, with linguistic features varying by context.

Closed and Open Registers

• Closed Register: Restricted language, exemplified in specific professional contexts.

• Open Register: More flexible language use, characteristic of broader contexts like commercial communication.

Conclusion

Understanding diverse text types and registers enhances students’ reading, writing, and speaking abilities, fostering confident use of the foreign language.

Bibliography

• BEAUGRANDE, R. An Introduction to Text Linguistics. London 1988, Longman.

• HALLIDAY, M & HASSAN, R. Cohesion in English. Longman 1985.

• RICHARDS, J.C. Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Longman 1985.

• BIBER, D., LEECH, G. Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 1999.

• COLLINS, P. English Grammar, An Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.

Introduction

The curriculum emphasizes communication skills, aiming for students to achieve communicative competence in a foreign language. This unit is linked to discourse competence, which is essential for understanding and producing spoken and written texts across different genres.

Text and Context

A text is defined by Halliday as a unified whole, which is a semantic unit realized through sentences, with cohesion being the key factor that defines a text through elements like anaphoric references. Cohesion is further complemented by texture, which integrates various cohesive relations.

According to Beaugrande and Dressler, a text must satisfy seven standards for unity: cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality, and intertextuality. Cohesion refers to the mutual connection of components through various methods like pronominal references. Coherence is the perception of texts as coherent even without explicit ties, reliant on relations like temporality. Intentionality focuses on the sender's intentions in text production, while acceptability links to the receiver's perspective, necessitating that a text remains relevant to the situation. Informativity concerns the balance between expected and unexpected information, situationality requires that texts relate to specific circumstances, and intertextuality highlights that understanding a text often requires prior knowledge of related texts.

Text exists within a context that is crucial for its interpretation, consisting of both linguistic surroundings (co-text) and situational context. Dell Hymes suggested elements for describing a context of situation, which includes the setting, participants, purpose, key, channel, norms, genre, and message format. Halliday further expands this into field, mode, and tenor, which outline the subject matter, medium of communication, and the relationship between participants.

Criteria for Textual Classification

Jakobson identified enunciation poles for classifying text functions, encompassing the speaker's emotions, listener engagement, message content, and aesthetic form. There are four main criteria for classification: text genre—which defines recognizable patterns based on setting; tone of the text—which reflects the emotion conveyed; system of organization—which influences linguistic characteristics; and types of texts—which are determined by the author’s intention.

Text Types

Text types can be categorized based on their structures and characteristics. Narrative texts are universal across cultures, which can be fictional or non-fictional, requiring a defined plot, characters, and structure. Descriptive texts aim to project a mental image through detailed descriptions. Argumentative texts seek to persuade the reader using strategies to influence beliefs, while expository texts are designed to inform or clarify with clear arguments and conclusions. Finally, conversational or dialogic texts represent spoken discourse that is often informal and interactive.

Register

Style encompasses speech variation, while register pertains to the language varieties used by groups in contexts influenced by regional dialects, education, interference from native languages, subject matter, medium, and attitude. Halliday's register variables define register through field, mode, and tenor, which display the social context and can be classified into pairs such as formal/informal, with linguistic features varying according to context.

Closed registers involve restricted language used in specific professional contexts, while open registers allow for more flexible language use, typical of broader contexts like commercial communication.

Conclusion

In summary, understanding diverse text types and registers enhances students’ reading, writing, and speaking abilities, which fosters confidence in their use of a foreign language.

Bibliography

1. BEAUGRANDE, R. An Introduction to Text Linguistics. London 1988, Longman.

2. HALLIDAY, M & HASSAN, R. Cohesion in English. Longman 1985.

3. RICHARDS, J.C. Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Longman 1985.

4. BIBER, D., LEECH, G. Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman, 1999.

5. COLLINS, P. English Grammar, An Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.