5/20/2021 Explore and Explain - PRELIM - 2020_English for Academic and Professional Purposes - Father Saturnino Urios University

2020_English for Academic and Professional Purposes - Period ANDREW KIM MT 1:00-3:00 PM
PRELIM

Explore and Explain

Lesson 2: Gleaning Information Through Text Structure

Characteristics of Expository Texts

Expository text is a type of informational text that provides factual information about a topic using a clear, non-narrative organizational structure with a major
topic and supporting information.

Expository texts can include topics such as historical, scientific or economic information.

Information is presented with a clear organizational text structure which includes but is not limited to: description, chronology, comparison,
cause/effect, problem/solution.
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The language in expository text is precise, specific to the subject, and includes domain specific vocabulary to explain concepts and information.
Expository text often includes organizational tools such as table of contents, headings, index, glossary, pronunciation guide, appendices.
Includes text features that support or enhance the text such as photographs, illustrations, captions, charts, diagrams, tables, graphs, and
timelines.
Examples of expository text may include: trade books, articles, reports, textbooks, interviews, and essays.

Text Structure
The term “text structure” refers to how information is organized in a passage. The structure of a text changes many times in a work and even within a
paragraph. Students are often asked to identify text structures or patterns of organization on reading tests. Also, understanding text structures can help
students make and interpret arguments. For these reasons it is important that students are exposed to the various patterns of organization.

Why study text structure?

Text structure will determine the complexity of the text. Most of the reading materials in senior high school, college and academe are primarily
expository materials. As a student, you are not only expected to read academic expository texts but also write that kind of text. Understanding text structure
or lack of such, may enhance or impair reading comprehension. No wonder, there are several high school, college and even graduate students find reading
difficult and challenging.

Categories of Text Structure

Text Feature

Text features include all the components of a reading material that are not the main body of text. These include the table of contents, index, glossary,
headings, bold words, sidebars, pictures and captions, and labeled diagrams. These features can be helpful if they are concise, related to the content,
and clear, or they can be harmful if they are poorly organized, only loosely related to the content, or too wordy.

Common Text Features

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Text Organization

Text organization refers to the patterns and structures used by the author(s) to write the text. A well-organized text assists the reader through predictable placement of
information. A poorly organized text can impede the reader by being counterintuitive.

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Commonly Used Patterns of Paragraph Organization

1. Narration

The purpose of narration is to tell a story or relate an event. Narration is an especially useful tool for sequencing or putting details and information into some kind of
logical order, usually chronological. Literature uses narration heavily, but it also can be useful in non-fiction, academic writing for strong impact. In academic
writing, narrative pattern is used for introductory paragraphs.

2. Description

The purpose of description is to recreate, invent, or visually present a person, place, event, or action so that the reader can picture that which is being described. It is
heavily based on sensory details: sight, sound, smell, feel, taste.

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3. Example

It’s common to see examples used in all kinds of situations—an idea can be considered too general or abstract until we see it in action. Exemplification extends this
idea even further: it carries one or more examples into great detail, in order to show the details of a complex problem in a way that’s easy for readers to understand.

4. Definition

Definition moves beyond a dictionary definition to deeply examine a word or concept as we actually use and understand it.

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5. Process Analysis

Analyzing a process can also be thought of as “how-to” instruction. Technical writing includes a lot of process analysis, for instance. Academic writing can
incorporate process analysis to show how an existing problem came to be, or how it might be solved, by following a clear series of steps.

6. Classification and Division

Classification takes one large concept, and divides it into individual pieces. A nice result from this type of writing is that it helps the reader to understand a complex
topic by focusing on its smaller parts. This is particularly useful when an author has a unique way of dividing the concepts, to provide new insight into the ways it
could be viewed.

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7. Comparison and Contrast

Comparison focuses on similarities between things, and contrast focuses on their differences. We innately make comparisons all the time, and they appear in many
kinds of writings. The goal of comparison and contrast in academic essays is generally to show that one item is superior to another, based on a set of evaluations
included as part of the writing.

8. Cause and Effect

If narration offers a sequence of events, cause/effect essays offer an explanation about why that sequence matters. Cause/effect writing is particularly powerful when
the author can provide a cause/effect relationship that the reader wasn’t expecting, and as a result see the situation in a new light.

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9. Problem and Solution

This type of academic writing has two equally important tasks: clearly identifying a problem, and then providing a logical, practical solution for that problem.
Establishing that a particular situation IS a problem can sometimes be a challenge–many readers might assume that a given situation is “just the way it is,” for
instance.

Even if you are not directly asked to apply a specific thinking pattern, you may want to use one to help you develop and organize your insights. The four patterns noted
above – comparison and contrast, cause and effect, division and classification, and process analysis – are very common in academic as well as everyday thinking and
writing. Remember that in an academic output, you may use combination of above mentioned patterns in one composition.

Text Content

Content can be accessible if it is reduced to manageable chunks, or it can be intimidating if it includes too much specialized academic vocabulary and too many
abstract concepts. Content is both information and communication: the sum total of the freshness, readability, relevancy, and usefulness of the information presented,
and the manner in which it is presented.

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What are disciplinary Texts

Disciplinary text refers to specialized texts and ways of using literacy in the disciplines. Historians, mathematicians, literary critics, and scientists read and write differently
because they create different kinds of knowledge and rely on different kinds of evidence. Same with students in Senior High School from different strands have different
specialized writing tasks specially in your "major" or specialized subjects.

References:

Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. (2012). Genre study: Teaching with fiction and nonfiction books. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Kelley, M. J. and Clausen-Grace, N. (2010), Guiding Students Through Expository Text With Text Feature Walks. The Reading Teacher, 64: 191-195. doi:
10.1598/RT.64.3.4

Lumen Learning. n.d. Patterns of Development Overview. [Accessed 29 Jul 2020 at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-esc-wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-
rhetorical-modes/#:~:text=The%20four%20patterns%20noted%20above,as%20everyday%20thinking%20and%20writing.]

h p://www.coloradoedini a ve.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/LDC-Text-Structure-Guide.pdf

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