TEXT STRUCTURES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the

learners are expected to:
1. Identify the different reading strategies as tool in
academic writing;
2. Evaluate one’s purpose for reading; and
3. Use knowledge of text structure to glean information
he/she needs.
ACTIVITY
Arrange the following pictures
according to the best order
1. A. B.

C. D.
2. A. B.

C. D.
3. A. B.

C. D.
Guide questions
◦How did you arrange the
pictures?
◦What is the importance of
organizing things?
What I know

Evaluate the cooking analogy, noting the

differences in process between the two
paragraphs.
◦ A. Shannon has to make dinner. He goes to the store and walks
through every aisle. He decides to make spaghetti, so he revisits
aisles and reads many packages thoroughly before deciding which
groceries to buy. Once he arrives home, he finds a recipe for
spaghetti, but needs to go back to the store for ingredients he
forgot.

◦ B. Taylor also has to make dinner. He wants lots of carbohydrates

because he’s running a marathon soon so he decides to make
spaghetti. After checking some recipes, he makes a list of
ingredients. At the grocery store, he skims aisles to find his
ingredients and chooses products that meet his diet.

◦ Which paragraph is clearer? A or B? Why?

 TEXT STRUCTURES
- determines how a
material is organized.
 Organization of text

understanding main topic &

supporting points

aid in writing effective

paragraphs and essays
A “structure” is a building or framework. Text
structure” refers to how a piece of text is built10.
Each text structure communicates ideas in a
different way. Hence, the different types of
informational passages have different text
structures. Text structures are organizational
patterns. Authors use certain text structures to help
their audience better understand the information
presented. The most common text patterns are
cause and effect, comparison and contrast,
problem and solution, chronological order and
description.
 a. Cause and Effect
◦A writer may choose to put the emphasis
on either the cause or the effect. Cause is
why something happened while effect is
what happened. In both cases, either a
verb or a conjunction can be used to
show the link.
WHY WOMEN LIVE LONGER
Some British scientists now believe that
women live longer than men because of T cells,
a vital part of the immune system that protects
the body from diseases. Previously, various
theories have attempted to explain longer
female life expectancy. Biologists claimed that
women lived longer since they need to bring up
children. Others argued that men take more
risks, as they die earlier.
B. Problem and solution tell about
a problem (and sometimes says
why there is a problem) then gives
one or more possible solutions. The
common signals include question
is, dilemma is, the puzzle is, to
solve this, one answer is and one
reason for the problem is.
HOW CAN ROAD CONGESTION BE REDUCED?

Currently, roads are often congested, which is

expensive in terms of delays to the movement of
people and freight. It is commonly suggested that
building more roads, or widening existing ones, would
ease the traffic jams. But not only is the cost of such
work high, but the construction process adds to the
congestion, while the resulting extra road space may
encourage extra traffic. Therefore, constructing more
roads is unlikely to solve the problem, and other
remedies, such as road pricing or greater use of public
transport, should be examined.
◦C. Comparison is pointing out similarities.
Contrasting is pointing differences. However,
you should have a set of criteria or items as
basis for comparison and contrast. Not only
your comparison will make unfamiliar familiar
but it will also make a critical appraisal of what
you compare. These are the common signals:
same as, similar, alike, as well as, not only-but
also, both, instead of, either-or, on the other
hand, different from, as opposed to.
There are two ways to present similarities
and differences.
1. The block pattern presents the object
or item being compared and/or
contrasted one at a time.

2. The alternating pattern moves from the

first object to the second as it presents
comparison or contrast point by point.
 Growing up in Philippines during the 1990s was
much different from growing up today.Children as
young as 10 years old held full time jobs in order to
help their families. Many of these children worked
14 hours a day for as little as 100 pesos. Today,
however, children are not allowed to hold part-
time jobs until they are at least 14 years old.
Philippine laws also restrict the number of hours
teenagers work. While some teenagers today work
out of necessity to help their families, most do so to
earn spending money or to save for college
d. Chronological Order
Authors use chronological order to
explain how things happen in order.
Chronological order is also called
sequence or time order. You will know
that you are reading a text in
chronological order because you will
see words like first, next, later, then,
and finally.
 Finally, we rounded a deep curve and
suddenly came upon a shanty, all but ready, it
seemed, to crumble in a heap, its plastered walls
rotting away, the floor hardly a floor from the
ground. I thought of the cottages of the poor
colored folk in the South, the hovels of the poor
everywhere in the land. This one stood all by itself, as
though by common consent, all the folks that used
to live here had decided to stay away, despising it,
ashamed of it. Even the lovely season could not
color it with beauty.
e. Description
Description may either be: informative
or objective description and
evocative or impressionistic
description. The focus of the former is
the object – its physical properties
and characteristics; the latter, the
emotions or moods of the reader.
What’s more

Read each entry carefully. Place a

check ( ̸ ) mark under the column that
best describes the characteristic of
each text pattern.
What I have learned
The most common text patterns are cause and effect, comparison and
contrast, problem and solution, chronological order and description.
1. Cause and effect explain why things happened and what happened.
2. Comparison and contrast show how two or more things are similar and/or
how they different.
3. Problem and solution tell about a problem (and sometimes says why there is
a problem) then gives one or more possible solutions.
4. Chronological order which is also called sequence or time order explains
how things happen in order.
5. Description may either be: informative or objective description and
evocative or impressionistic description.
6. Each text pattern or structure has appropriate language that helps the
reader distinguish them.
What I can do

Task 1: Combine/match the causes in

column A with their likely effects in column
B and apply/write sentences linking them
together
Task 2: Read this sample paragraph of informative or
objective description then extract the descriptive
words.