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Text
types / Discourse forms
When
we communicate, we use a wide variety of language forms, which have
their particular structure, style and purpose. They have been called
text-types or discourse forms. In learning the language
students should experience and actively create a wide variety of
discourse forms, proceeding from simpler to more complex as they
develop and their knowledge of language increases.
Students should have passive
or active experience of a variety of text types which are current
and useful, relevant to the students’ interests and aspirations,
and have the potential for a range of activities.
The following list of
text types will be useful in developing courses, activities and
teaching strategies.
|
account
|
graffiti |
poem |
advertisement
(radio, newspaper,
television) |
graph
|
prayer |
| greeting
or congratulation |
proclamation |
| anecdote |
guide
(television, tourist, race)
|
profile |
| argument |
history
or chronicle |
program |
| article
(magazine, newspaper) |
horoscope
|
proverb |
| autobiography |
index
|
questionnaire |
| ballad
|
inscription
|
receipt |
| brochure
|
instruction
or recipe |
reference
(job) |
| bulletin
|
interview |
report
(analytical, conjectural,
factual) |
| cartoon
(with words) |
joke |
| case-study
|
label |
request |
| catalogue
|
lecture
or talk |
resume
or curriculum vitae |
| chart |
legend
or myth |
riddle |
|
cheer
|
letter
(business, literary, personal or to the editor) |
script
(film,television) |
| comic |
sermon |
| commentary |
libretto
or lyric |
short
story |
| contract
|
list
or inventory |
sign
(with words) |
| conversation |
map
and legend |
sketch |
| critique
or review |
meeting
(including agenda,
motion, minutes, terms of
reference, or procedure) |
slogan |
| debate
|
soliloquy |
| dedication
|
song,
hymn, or anthem |
| definition
|
menu
|
specification |
| diagram
|
message
(telegram,
telephone,
verbal or written) |
speech |
| diary
or journal |
sticker |
| discussion |
narrative
|
story |
| documentary
(film or video) |
notice |
summary
or synopsis |
| editorial
|
novel
|
telephone
call |
essay
(factual, conjectural,
creative or analytical) |
order
or command |
testimony |
| parable
|
textbook
(instruction manual) |
| folk-tale
|
personal
account |
timetable |
| form
|
plan
(essay) |
trial |
| game
|
play
|
wordplay
(pun, tongue twister) |
Aleksandra
Ceferin, Thezaurus (Melbourne 2000)
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