Text Structure

1
Text Structure

• An Overview
• Prepared By
• Karen Cochran
• Bonnie Hain

2
Purpose

• This lesson will answer these questions
• What is text structure and how does it relate to
  reading comprehension?
• How do expository and narrative text differ?
• What aspects of text structure should be taught
  in order to increase student comprehension of
  text?
• How can student understanding of text structure
  be facilitated to increase comprehension?

3
What is text structure and how does it relate to
reading comprehension?

• TEXT STRUCTURE refers to the characteristics of
  written material and the way ideas in a text are
  constructed and organized.
• There is a strong connection between reading
  comprehension and understanding text structures.
  Knowledge of text structure allows the reader to
  select and attend to the right details so
  comprehension can occur.
• Research shows that good readers determine
  structures based on their experiences with a
  variety of texts, and they apply this knowledge
  when they read new material.

4
Text Structure Myths/Facts

• FACTS
• Readers who struggle with text comprehension
  often do so because they fail to recognize the
  organizational structure of what theyre reading,
  and/or they are not aware of cues that alert them
  to particular text structures.
• Text structures within narrative and expository
  texts vary significantly. There are several
  kinds of narrative and expository text
  structures.
• Each type of text structure requires the
  utilization of a unique set of skills for full
  comprehension to be realized.

• MYTHS
• Once a student can decode the printed word,
  comprehension follows automatically.
• There are only two kinds of text structures
  narrative and expository.
• The same reading skills are used to comprehend
  various kinds of text.

5
1. Predict what is found inside each
box below. 2. Did you use the outside of the
box to make your prediction?
6
By considering the shape, size, location, etc. of
the boxes, you should have no problem determining
which box would most likely contain chocolates,
mail, or tools. Just as you did with the boxes,
you can hypothesize about whats in a text by
examining the external and internal structures of
text. You can usually distinguish a story
from an informational selection by simply looking
at the text. Words used such as Once upon a
time, the context of the document (i.e., a
technical manual accompanying a PC), or the form
of the document (i.e., headings, subheadings,
bold type) provide readers with important clues
about text type and structure.
7
What aspects of text structure affect
comprehension?

• There are three important aspects of text
  structure that affect reading comprehension
• the organizational pattern of the material itself
  and the clarity of its presentation,
• students' awareness of that organization, and
• students' strategic use of text organization.
• (Dickson, Simmons Kameenui, 1998a)
• Each of these aspects will be discussed in the
  slides that follow.

8
Organizational Patterns

• Read the texts below. Which is a narrative?
  Which is expository?
• How can you tell?

• XXXXXXX xx XXXXXX
• I. Xxxxx
• Initially, xxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxx xxxx
  xxxxxxx xxx xx xxxx.
• Xxxxx xx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxx. Xxxx,
  xxxxx, xxxx xxxxxx.
• Xxxx Xxxxx
• Xxxx, xxxx, xxx, xx
• Xxxx
• Xxxxxxx xxx

XXXXXXX xx XXXXXX As she lingered xxx xxxx
xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxx. Xxxx, xxxxx xxxx
xxxx! Xxxx xxxx xxxx. Xxxx! Xxxx! Xxxxxxx
xxxx xxxx, xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx. Xxxx
xxxx, Xxxxxx xxxxx. Xxxx xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xx
xxxxxxx xxxx?
9
Text has a recognizable organization that serves
as a frame or pattern to guide readers
TEXT STRUCTURE BY GENRE Narrative
Expository Prevalent in oral Prevalent
in stories, novels, magazines,
manuals, movies, drama, encyclopedias,
poetry newspapers, etc. Based on
familiar Unfamiliar or world knowledge.
abstract content. Follows a structure Uses many
organ- more aligned with izational
structures. oral language. While narrative
and expository are the primary categories of text
genre, they are not the only ones. Many types of
lyric poetry, for example, fit neither category.

• Differences in the type of structure used to
  organize textual information significantly affect
  the amount of information learned and remembered.
  
• Certain types of structures facilitate recall
  more than others narrative is usually more
  easily retained than expository.
• The purpose for reading also affects how the
  reader utilizes the text structure to facilitate
  recall.

10
When teaching ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS OF TEXT,
show students how to analyze the texts
genre signaling devices text cohesion
sentence level factors
11
What is Genre?

• Genre/Macrostructure/Text Grammar the top-level
  organizational pattern involving the more global
  aspects of structure
• Narrative genres generally follow a standard
  story grammar that includes the following
  components
• Setting -- Mood -- Characters -- Conflict
  --Theme -- Plot (opening, problem, rising
  action, climax, falling action, solution)
• Some expository genres/macrostructures include
• descriptive texts - tell what something is
• enumerative texts - give a list related to a
  topic
• sequential/procedural texts - tell what happened
  or how to do something
• comparison-contrast texts - show how two or more
  things are the same or different
• problem-solution texts - state a problem and
  offer solutions
• persuasive texts - take a position on some issue
  and justify it
• cause-effect texts give reasons for why something
  happened

12
Ideas for teaching the genre/macrostructure of
text

• Teach the differences between narrative and
  expository text. Most secondary students know
  this.
• Begin teaching text structure analysis with
  easier narrative genres, then move to more
  difficult narrative and expository and
  combinations.
• Teach the structure directly and indirectly,
  pointing out as many patterns, cues, and
  connections as possible.
• Have students write in the genre(s) theyre
  learning.

13
What are SIGNALING DEVICES?

• Signaling devices give the reader clues about the
  macrostructure and the relationships among
  specific ideas
• Among the visual signaling devices found in
  well-written expository text are the following
• Introductory statements outlining ideas to be
  presented
• Topic statements that are easy to recognize
• Headings and subheadings
• Authors statement(s) about the importance of
  ideas
• Signal words (first, then sequence
  because, so causal, etc.)

14
What is TEXT COHESION?

• Text cohesion refers to linguistic devices
• that hold ideas together. Typically, these
  devices work to connect paragraphs, verses,
  sections, or scenes in a play to each other and
  to the main idea or message.
• Signal Words
• Reiteration repetition of words/ideas
• Proximity placing words, phrases, clauses near
  one another for clarity
• Reference accurate use of pronouns
• Substitution replacement of words with others
  that mean the same thing
• Ellipsis omitting one or more presupposed words

15
What are SENTENCE LEVEL FACTORS?

• Sentence level factors are writing style
  characteristics that may increase the complexity
  of the individual sentences within text. They
  allow authors to make more complex statements and
  readers to draw more and higher-level inferences,
  generalizations, and conclusions
• the number of ideas presented in a sentence
• the syntactic forms used
• the voice used (passive/active)
• the use of negation
• The use of clauses embedded, various adverbial,
  etc.

16
Some ways to facilitate student understanding
of the organizational patterns and clarity
of the text

• Activate prior knowledge
• Compare to previously read,written texts
• Provide lists of words that are cues to text
  structures
• Build background/understanding
• Show a graphic representation organizer
• Model development of an organizer that matches
  text
• Scaffold toward independence
• Provide note-taking/pre-writing structures
• Maintain a text structure bulletin board or
  notebook section
• Provide/Guide opportunities to write using genres
• Monitor independent comprehension strategies that
  students develop to understand and use text
  structures (e.g., choice of organizer/format for
  note taking during reading)