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ARGUMENTATION ACROSS CULTURES
2 TEXT-TYPE FOCUS
EXPOSITION
Conceptual exposition
Narration
Description
ARGUMENTATION
Through-argumentation
(thesis cited to be argued through)
Counter-argumentation
(thesis cited to be opposed)
INSTRUCTION
With option
e.g. ’advertising’
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Analysis
Without option
e.g. ’contracts, treaties’,
etc.
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3 Definitions of exposition
 Definition of expository text types
– Description: differentiation and interrelation of
perceptions in space
– Narration: differentiation and interrelation of
perceptions in time
– Exposition: comprehension of general concepts
through differentiation by analysis and/or synthesis
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4 A couple of characteristics of
expository texts
 Scene-setter: tells you where in the universe you are:
• Scene-setter: outlines where in the universe you are:
– This grammar has been tailored to meet the demands of
Danish BA students of English, primarily at the Business
Schools, but it should be suited for similar levels as well:
students of English at universities, teacher training
colleges, commercial and technical colleges, etc.
– Once upon a time…..
– The painting on the wall showed the beautiful skies of….,
birds were seen flying…..the trees were green, the little
dog in its basket was enjoying….
 Expository texts relate ideas/concepts/things/times to each other
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5 Definitions continued
 Description uses ’frames’ of knowledge
stating what things belong together in
principle (e.g. the frame involved in getting
from A to B on the Underground).
 Narration uses ’schemata’ to establish a
sequential order for the occurrence of events
in terms of time proximity (e.g. narration of a
particular journey).
 Exposition relates concepts and ideas to
each other.
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Narration
 Relates events to each other in time
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7 Example of narration
 Awarnrigurr – The Strangers
For many years there were only Aboriginal people living
here. They hunted for food and meat for their families.
Sometimes they went to the river to spear fish or other
creatures.
One day, the men went down to the river to spear the fish.
As they came to the river, they saw a boat with some
strange men in it. The Aboriginal men were frightened so
they hid themselves in the bush, waiting for the boat to
come. They were standing on the sand talking and they
went into the bush…..(story by aboriginal child)
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8 Narrative features
 Scene setter
 Events
 Time
 etc
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9 Description
 Relates objects to each other in space
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10 Example of Description
 Natural Bridge Natural Park
Natural Bridge Natural Park is a luscious
tropical rainforest.
It is located 110 km south of Brisbane and
is reached by following the Pacific
Highway to Nerang and then by travelling
through the Numinbah Valley. This scenic
roadway lies in the shadow of the
Lamington National Park.
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11 Conceptual exposition
 Relates ideas to each other
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12 Example of Conceptual
Exposition
 In the humanities, taking history as an example, the
movement is in the opposite direction. We find a general
movement from texts which are situated close to action and
could perhaps more accurately be regarded as substitutes
for action to texts which are more distant from and
interpret action. In history, for instance, the most common
genres are for the most part different from those found in
technical subjects. Similarly the direction students are
taken in is further away from the action and towards
interpretation of text.
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13 Argumentation
 Argumentation: the evaluation of relations
between and among concepts through the
extraction of similarities, contrasts, and
transformations. A kind of judging with the
intent of convincing the reader.
 Argumentation uses ’plans’ which govern how
events and states lead up to the attainment of
a goal (e.g. criticising the inefficiency of the
Underground system).
 Argumentation makes use of topic sentences
to ’set the tone’ – tone-setter.
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7 Example of Argumentation
 Safety in the Workshop
Safety in the workshop should be the responsibility of all people
who enter it, whether they are visitors or workers. Safety first is
not a set of rules, it is a state of mind. Rules help the workers
develop a safe attitude to work by drawing to their attention
potentially dangerous situations; but in the long run, it is the
workers’ actions which cause accidents.
It is important that people obey the safety regulations set down,
but just as important is the worker’s knowledge of what he or she
is doing, what dangers this operation entails, and what should be
done to work safely.
To aid the reader to work in a safe manner, a safety guide has
been appointed and whenever he appears in the book he will bring
you advice on how to carry out an operation safely. His name is Mr
Safety.
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Purpose & Characteristics of Text
 To convince students that some kind of
behaviour is necessary. In this case why it is
necessary to behave safely in a workshop
 The text is self-contained; not necessary to
look outside text
 Generic reference: the text refers to any and
all workshops, not any particular workshop
 Nominalisation: safety, responsibility
 Declarative mood: giving information
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16 Instruction
 Instruction: planning of future behaviour
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17 A few words on the
importance of textual analysis
 ’Linguistic barriers are probably less due to
lack of grammatical competence than to the
fact that certain speakers are unable to make
use of certain text types, either actively or
passively’.
 ….behind the systematic linguistic choices we
make, there is inevitably a prior classification
of reality in ideological terms.
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End of lecture 1
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