Understanding Text: Features, Types, and Communication Principles

Understanding Text: Definition and Key Features

The text, or discourse, is the fundamental unit of communication. It represents the deliberate production of statements, either orally or in writing, within a specific communicative situation to achieve a certain purpose.

Essential Text Features

To be considered a text, it must meet three conditions:

• Appropriateness: It must be suitable for the communicative intention and situation.
• Coherence: Its message must be logically organized and easy to follow.
• Cohesion: It must show clear connections between its parts, ensuring smooth flow.

Text Classification: Purpose and Structure

Texts can be categorized into five main types based on their communicative purpose and structure:

• Narrative: Relate events involving characters in a given time and space.
• Descriptive: Represent persons, animals, objects, or landscapes by detailing their attributes, processes, or parts.
• Dialogic: Reproduce a conversation between several characters.
• Expository: Report on a theme, developing data and concepts.
• Argumentative: Reasonably defend an opinion.

Key Differences Between Oral and Written Language

• Oral language has a transient and ephemeral nature, while written language has a lasting nature.
• Oral language exchange is immediate; writing enables delayed communication.
• The essence of oral language is interactivity; written communication is generally unidirectional.
• Oral language is often spontaneous; conversely, written language requires more deliberate development.
• The spontaneity of oral language often involves more colloquial and less prescriptive language. Written language, conversely, tends to dominate formal registers and standard varieties.
• Oral communication, unlike written, heavily utilizes non-verbal elements like intonation, gestures, and postures.

Unplanned Discourse: The Nature of Conversation

Conversations are oral texts that do not require prior planning or pre-arrangement.

Principles Governing Conversation

• Principle of Cooperation: To ensure successful communication, participants must work together. For instance, if one asks, the other attempts to answer; if one speaks, the other seeks to understand. This principle is divided into four maxims:
  • Quantity: Provide the necessary information, neither more nor less.
  • Relevance: Ensure information is related to the topic of conversation.
  • Quality: Ensure information is true and not false.
  • Manner: Present information clearly, accurately, and unambiguously.
• Principle of Politeness (Courtesy): Adhere to a series of social conventions that demonstrate respect, such as using "please" and "thank you," employing conditional forms for requests, and adjusting address (e.g., formal/informal "you") based on context.