There are two categories of text types in English - literary and factual. Each text type has specific structural and language features. Some examples of text types include narratives which entertain through a series of events, reports which classify and describe using technical language, and explanations which explain how or why something occurs through identifying phenomena and establishing cause-and-effect sequences.

1. Text types in English
There twotypesofcategory oftexttypeswhich studentsmustbecompetent inusing-
Literary texttypesand factual texttypes.Every texttypehasstructural and language
features. Anoutline is providedbelow:
Text Type Purpose Structural Features Language Features
Narrative
To entertain, amuse or
instruct
Orientation
complication series of
events coda
Noun groups to
describe characters
and settings time
words Action verbs
Report To classify and/or describe
General statement
Description
Technical language,
simple present tense,
Generalised Terms
Recount To retell a series of events
Orientation sequence
of events
Descriptive language,
past tense, Time
words to connect
events, Words which
tell us where, when,
with whom, how
Procedure
To instruct someone how
to do something
Goal material or
equipment steps
Verbs usually at the
beginning of each
instruction Words or
groups of words
which tell us how,
when, where, with
whom
Explanation
To explain how or why
something occurs
Phenomenon
identification
Explanation sequence
Technical language
Use of words such as
because, as a result, to
establish cause and
effect sequences
Exposition
To persuade by arguing
one side of an issue
Thesis Arguments
Reinforcement of
thesis
Words that qualify, eg
usually, probably
Words that link
arguments eg firstly,
on the other hand
Response
to respond to an artistic
work
Context of artistic
work
Description of artistic
work Judgement
Words which express
judgements
Descriptive language