English Language (9670) | Understanding texts

Welcome to Understanding Texts: Context is Key!

Hello! This chapter, "Understanding Texts," is the foundation of your AS level study. Don't worry if it seems overwhelming—we're just learning how to properly "read" a text like a language detective.

In the exam, you will analyze two texts linked by a common theme (like "climate change" or "travel") but which have different contextual factors. Your job is to explain how language choices are shaped by context.

Think of context as the frame around a picture. You can't truly understand the picture (the text) without looking at the frame (the context).

The Four Pillars of Text Analysis (APGM)

To analyze any text, we focus on four critical contextual factors. Use this simple mnemonic: A P G M.

• A: Audience
• P: Purpose
• G: Genre
• M: Mode

Let's break them down!

1. Audience: Who is Reading (or Listening)?

The audience is who the text is aimed at. Every single word choice, sentence length, and image used is influenced by who the text creator expects the receiver to be.

a. Identifying the Target Audience

When analyzing texts, consider these basic differentiations:

• Age: Adults or children? (A children's book uses simple lexis and often moral themes.)
• Expertise: Specialist or non-specialist? (A scientific journal uses complex jargon; a general newspaper avoids it.)
• Relationship: Known individual or the general public? (A personal email is highly informal; a public notice is formal.)

b. The Constructed, Idealized Reader

This is a slightly trickier concept, but very important for high marks!

The constructed audience (or idealized reader) is the reader the text creator *imagines* and writes *for*. This person might not actually exist perfectly in real life, but the text is tailored to their assumed knowledge, interests, and beliefs.

Example: A political speech aims for the "idealized voter"—someone who is swayed by emotional appeals and simple, repetitive slogans, even if the actual listeners are skeptical professors or bored teenagers. The language is chosen to appeal to that *ideal*.

2. Purpose: Why Was the Text Created?

Purpose is the intention behind the text. What does the text creator want to achieve?

a. Primary Purposes

The purposes of texts are often categorized into two main groups, though most texts use both:

• Informative: To convey facts, knowledge, or instructions. (e.g., News reports, encyclopedias, instruction manuals).
• Persuasive/Exhortative: To convince the audience to agree with a viewpoint, or to take action. (e.g., Advertisements, political essays, charity appeals).

Other purposes include to entertain (fiction, comedy), to instruct (recipes), or to build rapport (a friendly email).

b. The Multi-Purpose Nature of Texts

Don't make the mistake of choosing only one purpose! Modern communication, especially spoken and electronic messages (social media posts, vlogs, emails), is almost always multi-purpose.

Example: A promotional flyer for a new gym:
1. Informs (location, opening hours).
2. Persuades (uses hyperbole like "Achieve your greatest potential!").
3. Entertains (uses a catchy slogan and bright design).

3. Genre: What Kind of Text Is It?

Genre refers to the category a text belongs to (e.g., newspaper article, blog post, spontaneous speech transcript). Every genre has expected features or conventions that help the audience understand how to read or interpret it.

a. Genre Conventions and Language Features

Your analysis must identify how specific language features *classify* the text as that genre.

• News Article: Expected features include a headline (often noun phrases, alliteration), a clear inverted pyramid structure (most important info first), and formal lexis.
• Blog Post: Expected features include informal tone, first-person narrative, direct address ("you"), and web links (a visual/graphological feature).
• Recipe: Expected features include imperative verbs ("Mix," "Bake," "Stir") and numbered lists.

b. Intertextuality and Interdiscursivity

These two terms explain how genres interact with each other and are crucial for advanced analysis:

(i) Intertextuality

Intertextuality means that a text implicitly or explicitly refers to, borrows from, or relates to another text. It relies on the audience recognizing the reference.

Analogy: If a news reporter uses the phrase "To boldly go...", this is intertextuality because it references the TV show Star Trek. They are borrowing famous language to add depth or humour.

(ii) Interdiscursivity

Interdiscursivity is the mixing of different discourses (different styles or ways of talking/writing associated with specific social contexts).

Example: A company's internal email (a business discourse) suddenly uses language typically found in a religious sermon (a religious discourse) to motivate staff. This mixing of styles is interdiscursivity.

Don't worry if this seems tricky at first! Just remember: Intertextuality is about specific texts (like quotes or structures); Interdiscursivity is about mixing overall styles or domains of communication.

4. Mode: How is the Text Delivered?

Mode refers to the method of communication. The traditional division is between written and spoken, but in the modern age, we must also consider hybrids.

a. Traditional Modes

• Written Mode: Typically planned, permanent, structured grammatically, and involves complex syntax (long sentences, subordinate clauses). (e.g., Academic essays, novels).
• Spoken Mode: Typically spontaneous, transient (disappears quickly), uses simple, fragmented structures, ellipsis (omitting words), and non-fluency features (hesitations, fillers like 'um'). (e.g., Spontaneous chat, casual interviews).

b. Hybrid Modes: New Communication Contexts

Many texts you analyze will be hybrid modes, which borrow features from both spoken and written language, often in new communication contexts (digital platforms).

Example: A WhatsApp text message.
It is written (typed and permanent) but uses features of spontaneous speech (emojis, abbreviations like "lol," lack of punctuation). This blend creates a hybrid mode perfectly suited for instant, informal digital communication.

Did you know? The rise of digital communication has fundamentally blurred the lines between spoken and written language, giving analysts huge amounts of interesting hybrid texts to study!

Summary: Key Takeaways

The "Understanding Texts" unit is all about mastering the APGM framework. By identifying Audience, Purpose, Genre, and Mode, you gain the toolkit needed to explain why any given text looks the way it does. The ability to identify hybrid modes and understand intertextuality/interdiscursivity will push your analysis from good to excellent. Keep practicing comparing texts based on these four factors!