UNIT 6. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF
WRITTEN TEXTS. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS. RULES THAT
GOVERN WRITTEN TEXTS. ROUTINES AND FORMULAE

INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................2
2. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.......................................................................................2
3. TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS..........................................................................................5
4. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS........................................................................9
5. RULES GOVERNING WRITTEN TEXTS........................................................................11
6. ROUTINES AND FORMULAIC EXPRESSIONS.............................................................12
7. CONCLUSIONS.....................................................................................................................12
8. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES...............................................................................14
 1. INTRODUCTION
Communication is a fundamental notion in the study of language and behaviour. It
can be defined as the transmission and reception of information between a source and a
receiver using verbal and non-verbal signalling. In theory, communication is said to be
successful when the message is received, however, there are elements that may reduce
its efficiency (articulation of the message, tone of voice, attitude…)
Communication has been studied by many research fields, such as linguistics,
pragmatics, sociolinguistics, semiotics… for several centuries, in an attempt to
understand how human language and behaviour work in contrast to other types of
communication, e.g. animal communication.
In the case of written language, it is a powerful instrument for further learning and
communicating, its two linguistic skills being equally important since reading refers to
decoding and understanding messages whereas writing involves encoding and
expressing messages in meaning.
This topic consists of an examination of written communication: (1) its definition,
main features and differences with oral communication as well as (2) a description of
the most common types of written texts. In addition, I (3) will describe its structure and
formal elements, (4) the rules that govern the creation of written texts and (5) most used
routines and formulae. I will wrap up with some conclusions on the topic, linking the
aforementioned ideas to the current education laws of the Spanish education system and
provide several bibliographical references at the end.
This is an important paper in order to understand how communication and language
work, as well as the significance of acquiring an overall communicative competence
that pays attention to every element of oral communication and written communication,
since it involves not only the linguistic competence but also the sociolinguistic and
pragmatic dimension. As Noam Chomsky implied “A language is not just words. It is a
culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that embodies what a
community is. It is all embodied in a language” (2010).
2. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Written communication refers to the process of conveying a message through written
symbols as an exchange of information usually between two or more people.
 As Halliday (1989: 90) argues, language is the main tool with which humans
communicate, and the same meaning can be conveyed through oral or written “outputs”.
However, several characteristics distinguish oral from written communication:

a) Physical differences: Firstly, there are obvious physical differences between

speech and writing: (1) speech provides auditory information and written provides
visual information; (2) speech is generally temporary (unless recorded) while writing is
permanent; and (3) speech has prosodic features (rhythm, stress and intonation) while
written has not.

b) Contexts: speech and writing are in practice used for different purposes, although
they may overlap. Some specific cases include writing an application form, a formal
complaint or an oral presentation for class. Nonetheless, it is essential to have a shared
context to understand the whole meaning, especially at written texts as they lack non-
verbal language and deictic terms, for instance “the doll is this big” is incomprehensible
in written text due to the lack of a shared context.

c) Spontaneous and planned language. Most oral language is spontaneous, while

most written texts are planned and polished. This dichotomy is characterised by six
features:

1.- Causal or phrasal vs. sentential organisation. On the one hand, oral
communication is usually divided into clauses or phrases. It also involves negotiation of
meaning, a process to reach an understanding among interlocutors e.g. to ask for
clarification to a doctor or to modify one’s speech to be more easily understood by a
second language learner at earlier stages of acquisition. Furthermore, in speech
intonation provides the main cue for sentence organisation¸ i.e. assertion, question,
command… On the other hand, written language provides the elements that relate the
different clauses and organise them into sentences, being punctuation marks especially
important.

2.- Topic- comment structure: while in speech, topic- comment structures are
used to introduce a new topic, e.g. (uh… about money, he has a really good job…), in
written form, they use conjunctions and other forms that match the standard written
language (In addition, as far as money is concerned…)

3.- Repair: unplanned discourse is heavily marked by repair. Corrections and

hesitation markers are necessary to produce utterance and organise thoughts
simultaneously, while they do not appear in written form, being mainly substituted by
subordinate clauses. This feature makes written texts less redundant than speech and at
the same time syntactically more complex due to the frequency of subordinated and
conjoined clauses.

4.- Interpersonal involvements: spontaneous language is usually related to oral

exchanges that show interpersonal relationship, including encouraging attitudes,
demonstrating understanding, collaborative completions, clarifying questions, use of
first and second person pronouns, demonstration of feelings and thoughts… On the
contrary, written texts usually include features of detachment, such as relative clauses,
nominalisations, passive voice…

Written communication, as well as oral communication, entails a relationship

established between the writer and the reader, with both playing an active role in the
interaction. The interactive nature of written text involves both actions: the writer
uses linguistic and rhetorical devices to express their purpose, to get the message across
and keep the reader’s attention, while the reader interprets a text and constructs new
meanings from the printed words, it is a cognitive task which requires of an active
engagement on the reader’s part.

Purposes of reading and writing: Most scholars usually distinguish two broad
functions of writing. On the one hand, it is the intrapersonal function by which the
writer and the reader are the same person, on the other hand, with the interpersonal
function, the writer communicates with another person. Within the interpersonal
function, three functions can be established:

a) Communicative function: the transmission of information, opinions, personal

feelings etc. e.g. reading and writing postcards, letters, invitations or
advertisements.
b) Artistic function: to write irony, humour, entertainment, irony through
poems, jokes, crosswords etc.
c) Certifying function: due to the permanent feature of written texts, they have
become for some purposes the only accepted evidence for information in
many sources.

Reading also involves different purposes:

 a) Extensive reading: when reading a novel or an article for pleasure or interest
to get a global knowledge from it.
b) Intensive reading: to get detailed information from the text, including
instructions, letters or directions.
c) Skimming: to read in order to get the general idea of the text, without getting
to extensive on it.
d) Scanning: when the purpose is to find information from a text, e.g. to check a
timetable, a job advertisement…
More specifically, reading involves a cognitive process of comprehending,
producing, reproducing, composing etc. a text. Within cognitive and interactive models
of reading, comprehension of a text is constructed with the information received and the
information one already has. This idea relates to the Schema Theory: all readers carry
different schemata, or background information, that is culture-specific often.
Nonetheless, there must be enough similarity between what is being conveyed and the
information one has to enable us to communicate.
Thus, readers develop a coherent interpretation of a text through the interactive
process of combining the information in the text with the information they already bring
to the text. Readers’ mental schemata is divided into two types: content schemata,
including experiences, beliefs, cultural conventions and information, and formal
schemata, which included the aspects related to the purpose and topic of the text.
Likewise, writers engage into several cognitive processes and use strategies of
different types to fulfil their purpose for writing. For instance, they write on the
assumption that there is shared schemata between writer and reader to establish a
common ground. Of course, writers use their linguistic knowledge to write accurately
and appropriately, as well as several processes and strategies such as planning – the
mental outline of the text--, structuring and drafting, and revising and editing.
3. TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS

There are different types of texts: novels, short stories, magazines, essays, telephone
directories, advertisements, instructions… Since they have different purposes and
intentions, many scholars have attempted to classify them into several types, called
genres.
 According to Bhatia (2004), genre analysis at present has been the result of a
systemic development of discourse analysis. The author looks at genre analysis at four
space model: language as a text, as genre, as professional practice and as social practice.

Even though there is much confusion surrounding the term, genre may be
understood as a category assigned on the basis of the text’s external criteria, such as its
purpose or topic, rather than linguistic, internal or form criteria, which includes both
literary texts and non-literary varieties, such as novels, poems or instructions.

Based on the writer’s communicative intention or purpose, we may find the

following types of texts: argumentative, descriptive, expository and narrative texts.

a) Argumentative texts: its main purpose is to take a position and give reasons
to justify it. In order to get their point across, the writer supports ideas in logical
sequence, using the necessary strategies to change or modify the reader’s belief on the
topic. They are usually on a problem or a controversial topic and the writer uses facts
and reasons for and against the topic.

There are several types of argumentative texts, including those which plead a
case, those aimed at selling goods or services… Furthermore, they usually follow two
basic types of reasoning: deduction, which begins with a premise and draws a specific
conclusion to it, and induction, supporting a general conclusion by examining specific
facts.

Most typical argumentative texts follow the same structure:

1. A statement of position at the beginning of the text. It may be the writer’s

point of view, or the opposite to argue by contrast.
2. A logical sequence of points providing enough verifiable evidence.
Depending on the topic, the author may use cause and effect arguments to
support the ideas.
3. A summing up or stating the position at the end.

Its language features include present tenses and passive voice, some rhetorical
questions as well as emotive language to persuade the reader. It is also common to find
strong and effective adjectives as well as the deliberate repetition of words, phrases and
concepts. Most used connectors include by contrast, in any case, on the one hand, on
the other…
 b) Descriptive texts: they give the reader a mental vivid image of a scene, a place, a
person, an object…They usually play a secondary role in a text, some examples being
definitions in a dictionary or the setting of a story. Therefore, their main purpose is to
involve the readers in an actual visualization of the thing described, with the aim of
setting the mood of the text, create characters or engage the reader’s attention.
There are usually two types of descriptions: objective descriptions are characterised
by a visual photography quality. It is the main instrument of the objective observer, who
uses concrete words and a neutral, exact, impersonal technique. On the contrary, the
subjective description reflects the author’s opinions and gives expressions to the
writer’s feelings or mood. These texts make use of figurative language and connotation
of words.
The structure of descriptive texts is often introduced by means of a key word or title.
Then, the writer offers the information in the extension and the description is structured
in several paragraphs dealing with the person, place or object described.
Its language features include:
- It relies on chosen vocabulary, adjectives and adverbs. Furthermore, the use of
rhetorical devices creates images in the mind sensory description –what is heard,
smelled, tasted or felt.
- It focuses more on the elements that add something to the main purpose of the
description.
- The focus on key details favours the use of powerful verbs and precise nouns.
When the description relies on emotion to convey its point, verbs, adverbs, and
adjectives convey more to the reader than nouns do.
c) Expository texts: they explain, clarify, inform something to the reader. There are
a wide variety of texts that fall into this category: definitions, horoscope, scientific
essays, textbooks, recipes, forecast, instructions…Thus, their aim is to clarify and
provide information, the writer uses resources to widen the reader’s knowledge of a
topic.
Its structure is the following:
- Introduction: commonly formed by a paragraph which represents the topic.
- Development into several paragraphs. Each of them functions as semantic units
which, on the one hand, recovers information presented in the previous one i.e. working
as a theme, on the other, it offers new information, working as a rheme.
 - Conclusion: it may be a summary of the information or a conclusion derived from
the information provided.
The information selected by descriptive texts depends on the point of view from
which the subject is approached as well as the knowledge the reader may have about it.
This shared knowledge plays a relevant role in the thematic progression of the text and
in the supra-linguistic elements (central and secondary information, titles and
subtitles…)
Its language features include connectors to sequence or relate the information in the
text, definitions of terms and verbs related to the explanation of ideas e.g. to refer to, to
be defined as, to consist of, to contain…
One specific type of expository text is the procedural text. Its main purpose is to
explain the reader how to do or make something: how something works (manual), how
to do a particular activity (rules of a game), or dealing with human behaviour (how to
succeed in something…) Each type has a format, for instance, recipes usually include as
minimum contents the ingredients and method. In these texts, the information is
presented in a logical sequence of actions broken up into small steps, presented in
simple tense or imperative. The reader is often presented as collective (you/one) and
there is a great deal of sequence connectors and detailed information on how, where and
when.
d) Narrative Texts: it is a rehearsal of a real or imaginary event, telling a fictional or
real story. In narrations, more than one action takes place and the sequence of events is
usually causal or rationally connected.
Its basic purpose is to entertain, to gain and hold a reader’s interest. However,
narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes or social opinions.
There are many types of narratives: imaginary, factual or a combination of both. In this
sense, we may find science-fiction, drama, romance, horror, fairy tales, personal
experiences…Furthermore, the characters presented usually have clear presonalities and
identities, and in addition, dialogues and descriptions form part of the narrative, which
may create a different sense in the reader’s mind.
Its structure usually consists of three parts:
a) Orientation or introduction, where the characters are presented, setting and time of
the story.
 b) Complication or problem, usually involving the main characters and often
mirroring the complications in real life. This complication comes from an action or an
event that is unexpected.
c) Resolution: It is formed by those actions to prevent the unnecessary unwanted
consequences although the characters may fail at doing so.
d) Van Dijk also adds a fourth element: the evaluation, when the narrator gives their
attitude on the events.
Some of the most relevant language features of narrative texts include:
- Action verbs that engage the writer and more interesting vocabulary e.g. oak for
tree. The same occurs with adverbs and adjectives, as descriptions play an essential role.
- Narrations are usually in the first or third person.
- Past tense is commonly used as well as present tense, or both, changing from one to
the other.
- There is a large amount of connectives: to signal time (then, the next day…), to
move the setting (meanwhile…), and to surprise or create suspense (suddenly…)
- Narrators use a wide range of literary figures to attract the reader’s attention:
metaphors, imagery, simile, litotes, personifications, metonymy…
- Sentences are formed with a variety of beginnings: participles, adverbial phrases,
adjectives…
- Effective narrations always show a personal voice, that is, a connection is created
with the reader.
4. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS
The most basic organisation of a text is that it follows a linear pattern, that is, the text
unfolds following a certain order which gives the reader prospective and retrospective
duality: they can read forward but also look back and reflect on what is known about the
text. Other elements of the text include:
a) Context. It involves participants, setting and the goal, the pragmatic purpose, the
subject matter knowledge and other elements. However, it can be described through its
main three elements:
- Co-text, that is, the linguistic material in the surrounding text.
- The context of situation involves the elements that participate in the text:
characters, situation, topic… In the case of a written text, the situation is more complex
as the writer often writes for a certain reader to whom certain knowledge and ignorance
is attributed. However, the text is only processed by the reader and may find more or
less difficulty in reading the text.
- The context of culture refers to the social phenomena involving historical and
geographical settings, but also more general aspects like the reader’s and writer’s
education or political orientation.
b) Texture: it refers to the elements that tie a text together, structuring and giving
meaning to it. It mainly includes cohesion, the internal structure of sentences and the
macrostructure, that is, the genre and type. All these elements, together with the context,
impose meaning and structure to individual sentences that go beyond the meaning of
sentences in isolation.
Cohesion refers to the semantic relations established among the elements of a text.
Cohesive devices can be classified into three main types: semantic, lexical and
grammatical.
a) Grammatical cohesion: reference, substitution and ellipsis are cohesive
devices that establish relationships related to form. Reference relates to those items that
cannot be interpreted semantically in their own right but by referring to something
already mentioned (endophoric) or with reference to the context (exophoric). Reference
can be personal, demonstrative or comparative. Substitution refers to the replacement of
one item by another, which can be nominal, verbal or clausal (I like the blue jacket, but
she preferred the pink one”. Ellipsis is the omission of words already mentioned, also
nominal, verbal and clausal (“The boy stood up and left”)
b) Conjunctions represent the semantic links that connect the elements of
the text. This type of cohesion is achieved with conjunctions themselves (and,
therefore…), adverbs (accordingly), linkers (moreover), and prepositional phrases (on
the contrary, by contrast…)
c) Lexical cohesion is achieved with vocabulary, including repetitions,
synonyms or collocations, for example.
These rhetorical devices organise and develop coherently a text, so that the writing
fulfils the author’s purpose.
c) Graphological resources. These include orthography, punctuation, paraphrasing
and text layout or format (headings, footnotes, indexes, uses of bold letters…) They
perform the functions of voice quality, intonation or pauses in oral speech.
Punctuation plays a critical role in writing:
 1. Grammatical: with the purpose of enabling stretches of language to be read
coherently, by displaying their grammatical structure by the use of sentence
– ending periods, clause-dividing commas and paragraphs.
2. Prosody: punctuation marks gives readers clues about the prosody elements
through features as question marks, exclamation marks and brackets. They
represent the intonation and emphasis of the spoken discourse.
3. Semantics: punctuation is also used to highlight semantic units or contrasts
present in the text that are not directly related to grammatical structure but to
convey a certain meaning, e.g. scarce quotes to express a sort of irony “and
that was the “party””
Other graphic resources include titles, headings or indexes and they help writer and
reader to visualize the organisation of the flow of information. On the other hand,
footnotes clarify or expand the message.
5. RULES GOVERNING WRITTEN TEXTS
Written texts conform to rules that include the elements that are expected to find in
them as writers and readers. Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) establish seven standards
that need to be met for a text to fulfil its function and have the ability to convey a
message appropriately:
1. Cohesion. It concerns the ways in which the components of the surface text are
connected within a sequence, therefore, it is related to the function of syntax, cohesive
ties (anaphora, reference…) and signalling relations (tense and aspect, modality,
conjunction, disjunction, subordination…)
2. Coherence. It concerns the ways in which concepts and relations, which underlie
the surface text, are linked and used to achieve efficient communication. They are
responsible for giving sense to a text or the opposite. While cohesion gives meaning in a
grammatical aspect, coherence enhances the continuity of sense within the text.
Depending on the type of text, they are divided in different paragraphs and
organisations.
3. Intentionality. It concerns the text producer’s attitude and intentions as the text
producer uses cohesion and coherence to attain a goal specified in a plan. Without
cohesion and coherence, intended goals may not be achieved due to a breakdown of
communication. However, depending on the conditions and situations in which the text
is used, the goal may still be attained even when cohesion and coherence are not upheld.
 4. Acceptability. It concerns the text receiver's attitude that the text should
constitute useful or relevant details or information worth accepting.
5. Informativity. It concerns the extent to which the contents of a text are already
known or expected as compared to unknown or unexpected. No matter how expected or
predictable content may be, a text will always be informative at least to a certain degree
due to unforeseen variability. Nevertheless, the level of informativity should not exceed
a point such that the text becomes too complicated and communication is endangered.
Conversely, the level of informativity should also not be so low that it results in
boredom and the rejection of the text.
6. Situationality. It concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation
of occurrence. The situation in which a text is exchanged influences the comprehension
of the text.
7. Intertextuality. It includes the factors which make the use of one text dependent
upon knowledge of one or more previously encountered texts, that is, the ways in which
the production and reception of a given text depends upon the participants knowledge of
other texts.
6. ROUTINES AND FORMULAIC EXPRESSIONS
Language users organise texts in typical patterns, that is, routines, conventional and
predictable ways of expressing information. According to the purpose and type of text,
the routines used will vary:
Information routines may be identified as expository or evaluative. Expository
routines involve factual information, used in narrations, descriptions and procedural
texts. Evaluative routines are based on expository routines, including drawing
conclusions, usually requiring the expression of reasoning. These can be found, for
instance, in argumentative texts.
At the same time, these information routines are closely related to the commonest
patterns or organisation of a text:
a) Problem-solution, found in stories, anecdotes or operational manuals, but also in
academic or scientific writing with patterns as introduction- problem- process-solution.
b) Claim- counterclaim is mostly found in evaluative type texts, which may follow a
complaint sheet, a political answer to the Parliament…
c) General- specific, with a generalisation followed by specifications combines
expository and evaluative routine types e.g. a report of an experiment or interpretation
of a survey.
 Other important general conventions, mostly used in EFL classes are formulaic
expressions, that is, idiomatic expressions that are likely to be found in certain types of
texts. For instance, narrations in kids’ tales may start with “once upon a time…” and
end with “and they lived happily ever after”; informal letters may start with “dear…”
and finish with “best wishes” or “love”, for instance; finally, formal letters may start
with “dear sir or madam, to whom it may concern…” and finish with “yours faithfully/
sincerely”
7. CONCLUSIONS

Communication is an essential tool for humans and animals, as we are social beings
living in communities. Language in itself is an essential but not sufficient tool to have
successful interactions among humans, since it involves a certain context, register,
relationship between the interlocutors, the conveyed meaning and its reception…

Written communication, as well as oral communication, involves certain aspects of

communication that transcend mere linguistic aspects and the literal meaning conveyed
by the utterances produced, such as pragmatics, the use of rhetorical devices… What is
more, in order to create successful written communication, the speaker is encouraged to
follow certain rules (cohesion, coherence, appropriateness…) and to use certain routines
and formulae that are characteristic of the community of speakers.

In the context of foreign language teaching and learning, this topic fosters a deeper
analysis of the importance of written communication and acquiring a written
communicative competence for proficiency in foreign languages. The latest education
laws include modern approaches that give more importance to oral communication over
the explicit study of grammar rules (Organic Law 8/ 2013 modification of O.L. 2/2006
of education, article 26.6) but still give importance to written communication, since
their main purpose is for students to develop an overall communicative competence.
Furthermore, the implementation of key competences, which take into account the
target language’s culture, community, geography… such as the Social and Civic
Competence and contents concerning the target language’s culture and traditions
contextualise the learning process towards the target language community. For this
reason, it is important to learn about written routines and formulae to properly convey
written messages, as ir occurs with oral communication.

These changes evidence the progress that has taken part in the Spanish education
system from a more traditional approach, with limited access to the target language
culture, limited use of ICT etc. to a more globalised approach that tries to provide
students with real, adapted, relevant and motivating input that is likely to remain in their
long-term memory as it fosters their intrinsic motivation.

As far as teaching application is concerned, this topic may help teachers understand
the elements and factors involved in written communication and thus, bear them in mind
when introducing written communication activities in the syllabus to help students
improve their reading and writing skills. The studies on written communication also
demonstrate that writing should be seen as a process, not as a product, especially in
SLA contexts. For these reasons, teachers should design motivating, relevant and
adapted activities that involve reading and writing, focusing on the process rather than
the task completion, so that students may develop their communicative competence as
their intrinsic motivation rises.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages: learning, teaching and assessment. Cambridge. Cambridge Un. Press

Faerch, Claus and Gabriele Kasper (1983) “Processes and Strategies in Foreign
Language Learning and Communication” in Interlanguage Studies Bulletin v.5.

De Beaugrande, R.A. and Dressler, W. U. (1996) Introduction to Text-Linguistics,

pp.42-112. Longman
Biber, D (1989) A Typology of English Texts. Linguistics, 27.
Halliday, M.A.K and Hassan, R (1989) Cohesion in English. Longman