Text-based Instruction

Text-based learning, also known as text-based instruction (TBI), is an approach that utilizes
written texts, usually delivered through text messages, to provide educational content and
facilitate learning. Also, TBI is an approach that is based on the following principles:
Teaching explicitly about the structures and grammatical features of spoken and written texts.
Linking spoken and written texts to the social and cultural contexts of their use.

A text-based approach explores how texts work. The purpose of a text-based approach is to
enable learners to become competent, confident and critical readers, writers and viewers of
texts. It involves listening to, reading, viewing and analysing texts to understand how they are
produced and what their effects are.

TBI shares many assumptions with a genre-based approach to course design, often used in the
development of courses in English for Academic Purposes. Unlike Task-Based Language
Teaching, which is motivated by a creative-construction theory of second language learning,
TBI, while compatible with theories of learning, derives from a genre theory of the nature of
language and the role that texts play in a social contexts. Communicative competence is seen
to involve the mastery of different types of texts, or genres.

Text here is used in a special sense to refer to structured sequences of language that are used
in specific contexts in specific ways. For example, in the course of a day a speaker of English
may use spoken English in many different ways including the following:

Casual conversational exchange with a friend

Conversational exchange with a stranger in a elevator

Telephone call to arrange an appointment at a hair salon

An account to friends of an unusual experience

Discussion of a personal problem with a friend to seek advice.

Second language learning involves being able to use different kinds of spoken and written
texts in the specific contexts in which they are used. According to this view learners in
different contexts have to master the use of the text-types occuring most frequently in these
contexts. These contexts might include studying in an English-medium university, studying in
an English-medium primary or secondary school, working in an restaurant, working in an
office, working in a store, or socializing with neighbors in a housing complex.

Theory of language

A number of assumptions about the nature of language inform TBI. The situations, contexts,
purposes, audiences, and relationships that are involved when we use language account for
patterns and norms of language use and result in different genres of discourse. Examples of
genres are scientific writing fiction, conversation, news broadcasts, songs, poems, interviews,
sports commentaries, letters.
Genre refers to spoken and written contexts for language use, in which our expectations for
the kinds of discourse that occur are shaped by our knowledge of the types of conventions in
place for that type of discourse.

Within a given genre, different types of texts may occur.

For example, the genre of conversation may include such text-types as small talk, anecdotes,
jokes, personal recounts. Members of a culture or

‘discourse community’ have a shared knowledge of the kinds of texts that occur in different
genres and of the features of different text-types.

Theory of Learning

Learning is faciliated by explicit knowledge of language

Unlike implicit learning, which occurs unconsciously and produces knowledge that the
learner might not be able to articulate or explain, explicit learning is conscious learning that
leads to knowledge that can be stated and explained.

Learning is assissted by the study of authentic models and examples and learning repose in
the scaffolded support of the teacher

Familiarity with texts:

Teachers and students are familiar language used in texts, whether as spoken dialogues or
with reading blogs.

Individual students, groups of students or whole classes access a variety of books, magazines
or selected databases and websites for selection of reading materials.

The Centrality of Text

Communication starts from the meaning system to language system and finally to expression
system. That is why, a text is essentially a unit of meaning. When we communicate in
conversations or emails, for example, what we do is essentially exchanging meanings.

Meanings in Text

Information is only one type of meaning we exchange and there are other types of meanings
that come with information. In systemic functional linguistics, we recognize at least three
types of meaning, each of which serves a special function. They are ideational meaning,
interpersonal meaning and textual meaning.

Textual Meaning
The third function of language is to organize messages within and beyond the clause for
different purposes depending on the context. There are times when we feel the need of
starting a clause or a sentence with the subject of a sentence and there are times when we like
to start our sentence with the adjunct or the circumstances of a sentence.

Teaching in text-based instruction is characterized by natural language use. Teachers choose

texts relevant to learners‘ purposes. They select texts of interest to learners and of
significance for fulfillment of the purposes of a program. They discuss and argue about ideas
for pleasure and for work.

Features

Text-based Instruction: Authentic text-types for experience of texts in social practices

Analysis

Social purpose of texts is focus for analysis of lexico-grammar

Prior experiences prepare learners for working with texts in many ways.

Learners recognize multiple text types and their purposes as a first step to comprehension and
use. They know spoken language requires responses or attention—an answer, an action, a
question, or a physical response.

They understand that texts or discourses vary according to what is going on.

Learner Roles

Learners use teacher-provided models to develop their own texts. They learn through
collaboration and direction until they are able to function freely without the teacher's help.
Learners are also expected to develop abilities that allow them to monitor their own learning
and compare their own performance to that of others using models.

They interact with texts. The contexts, visuals, and formats of texts enable recognition and
assists interpretation.

Making sense of texts from the beginning:

Learners‘ familiarity with certain texts— their purposes and contexts of use—positions them
to make meanings from texts in a target language from the commencement of a program.

Learners use language normally and experience the satisfaction in making sense of texts from
the outset.

The authentic language is situated in contexts for use.

Multimodal texts and multisensory (spoken, written, illustrated) presentation of texts

enhances comprehension, memorization, and learning.
Use of language for real purposes in lessons:

Texts enable lessons to be used for real purposes. Classrooms are sites for authentic
communication. Simulated dialogues and pretend personalities are replaced by reading for
information, speaking to get a task done, researching texts for sharing with others and
listening to stories and novels and plays and poems for pleasure.

Tailoring texts to class communities:

A class is a community, which can be compared to other specific purpose speech communities
with characteristic discourses and literacy practices. In a general language class it is the
language of management, content instruction, lesson activities, and collaboration.

Make meanings for beginner to advanced classes:

Texts are accessible for reading, for action, and for information at all age levels and
proficiency levels. Reading illustrated story and information books engages preschoolers as
they listen to the reading of the text and to accompanying music, and look at illustrations
together with the written text.

Texts for older students are chosen for specific purposes such as study tours, which relate to
touring plans and entertainment and other social activities.

For advanced university studies, texts selected for content-based instruction relate to
discipline-specific knowledge and skills.

Language awareness: analysis of the lexico-grammar of texts

The approach to teaching grammar is through the analysis of texts. Texts are functional in
different contexts for realization of different purposes. Since grammar and vocabulary
function together in texts, these are referred to as lexico-grammar. The analysis of lexico-
grammar is concerned with the functional analysis of texts. The linguistic analysis is directed
at the purposes of a text.

The idea is to build learners‘ awareness of how wordings and meanings are interconnected: a
change in the choice of words changes the meaning potential for a listener or reader.

Learner autonomy:

Texts release students from dependency on a textbook or teacher‘s directions. They have
opportunities to select texts out of interest and to read them at leisure for pleasure or
information. Doing the same with target language texts extends their experiences of texts and
enables them to work with texts beyond the boundaries of programs and the borders of
classrooms.

Integrated skills and multimodality:

Text-based instruction integrates spoken and written language as in natural language use. It is
normal for people to combine reading and writing, just as listening and speaking occur
together.

Working with texts integrates the skills to take advantage of multisensory text experiences to
enhance memorizing language.

Role of Teacher

The teacher has a somewhat role in TBI since a text-based course is typically not a pre-packed
course but developed by a teacher or group of teachers for a specific group of learners.

This will often involve:

developing a syllabus based on learners’ need

selecting suitable texts as the basis fot the course

sequencing elements of the course

modeling processes of deconstructing and constructing appropriate texts;

asessing students’ progress in understanding and mastering different text-types.

Before giving students any sort of text even if it is from the main textbook, the teacher needs
to understand the meaning of that text. because it is going to help students process that
meaning.

The teacher is expected to have sound knowledge of the nature of different kinds of texts, and
the ability to analyze texts and guide students’ awareness and mastery of text conventions

Scaffold Learning: Scaffolding is an instructional practice where a teacher gradually removes

guidance and support as students learn and become more competent. Support can be for
content, processes, and learning strategies. This requires careful planning, initial assessment
of students’ prior knowledge and monitoring of growth to determine which supports are
needed and which can be removed. As a student grows, they begin more difficult challenges
that require new supports that will eventually fade.

Role of Materials

Materials play an important role in TBI since examples of authentic spoken and written texts
provide the basis for teaching and learning.
Texts can be obtained from a variety of sources:

From real world (texts from everyday life)

> from the internet

> from the media

> from students themselves

> from other non-pedogogical contexts

PROCEDURE

Feez: Feez explains that the procedures or method used in a text – based course or lecture
series my differ.

Some steps are given by feez. It will be modified accordingly depending on the type of text
offered.

FEZ DIVIDED THESE STAGES AS FOLLOWS

Interactive activities:

Discussion with friends and editing whole class.

Create schema.

Small group construction of test.

Dictogloss (it is a classroom dictation activite where learners are required to reconstruct a
short text by listening noting down key words)

Self-assessment and peer assessment activities.

INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTİON OF THE TEXT

Students work and analyze on their own.

Students use their self-performance as an assessment of achievement.

Independet study includes:

Listening tasks

Speaking tasks

Writing tasks

Reading tasks

LINKING TO RELATED TEXTS

In this step students look into how what they have learned in this learning cycle.

Understand and distinguish texts in the same or similar context.

Compare past or future cycles of teaching and learning.

ACTIVITIES THAT LINK THE TEXT TYPE TO ASSOCİATED TEXT INCLUDE

Comparing the use of text-type

Perception and research text types that used in the same fields.

Comparing spoken and writen of the similar text type.

Summary

Building the context: This stage focused on building up students’ shared understanding of the
text before starting of the text before starting work this ensures that everyone begins at a
similar starting point.(Building mind maps,vocabulary building etc.)

Modelling and deconstructing the text: In this stage students’ focus shifts from the broader
field of study to look specificially at the type of text being studied (e.g fiction or newspaper)

Joint construction of text: In this stage, which is also known as guided practice, students focus
on the composition of their own version of the text.

Independent construction of text: Independent coposition takes place when students are ready
to create their own texts or to work through model texts on their own.

Linking related texts: In the final stage of the teaching cycle,students are encouraged to reflect
upon their learning and to consider how it could be applied more broadly.

TBI is Also known as a genre- based approach, sees communicative

competence as involving the mastery of different types of texts. Text

here is used in a special sense to refer to structured sequences of

language that are used in specific contexts in specific ways.

For example, in the course of a day, a speaker of English may use

spoken English in many different ways, including the following:

Casual conversational exchange with a friend Conversational exchange

with a stranger in an elevator Telephone call to arrange an

appointment at a hair salon An account to friends of an unusual

experience Discussion of a personal problem with a friend to seek

advice

Each of these uses of language can be regarded as a text in that it exists

as a unified whole with a beginning, middle, and end, it confirms to

norms of organization and content, and it draws on appropriate

grammar and vocabulary.

TBI is thus based on an approach to teaching language which involves:

Teaching explicitly about the structures and grammatical features of spoken and written texts

Linking spoken and written texts to the cultural context of their use

Designing units of work which focus on developing skills in relation to whole texts

Providing students with guided practice as they develop language skills for meaningful
communication through whole texts

According to this view, learners in different contexts have to master

the use of the text types occurring most frequently in specific contexts.

These contexts might include:

studying in an English-medium university

studying in an English-medium primary or secondary school,

working in a restaurant, office, or store,

socializing with neighbors in a housing complex.

Theory of Language

Texts occur in a relation to different genres of discourse.

The situations, contexts, purposes, audiences, and relationships that are involved when we use
language account for patterns and norms of language use and result in different genres of
discourse.

Language is a social process.

Texts have distinctive patterns of organization and distinctive linguistic features.

Language use reflects the context in which it occurs.

Spoken Discourse

Public speeches, lectures, presentations, sermons,

Rituals (ceremonies from religious services)

Entertainment (drama, shows, readings, songs)

Telephone conversations, Job interviews

Written Discourse

Books, magazines, newspapers, instructions and textbooks, brochures, advertising materials,

dictionaries, notes and messages, essays and exercises

Contents of a Text-Based Syllabus

The core units of planning in TBI are text types.

These are identified through needs analysis and through the analysis of language as it is used
in different settings (text-based teaching thus has much in common with an ESP approach to
language teaching)

However the syllabus also usually specifies other components of texts,

such as

Grammar

Vocabulary topics

Functions

It is a mixed syllabus which integrates reading, writing, and oral

communication, and teaches grammar through the mastery of texts

rather than in isolation.

The text types in the syllabus are:

Procedures e.g., procedures used in carrying out a task

Explanations e.g., explaining how and why things happen

Expositions e.g., reviews, arguments, debates Factual recounts e.g.,

magazine articles

Personal recounts e.g., anecdotes, diary/journal entries, biographies,

autobiographies

Information reports e.g., fact sheets

Narratives e.g., stories, fables

Conversations and short functional texts e.g., dialogs, formal/informal

letters, postcards, e-mail, notices

Implementing a Text-Based Approach

Phase 1: Building the Context

In this stage, students:

Are introduced to the social context of an authentic model of the text

type being studied

Explore features of the general cultural context in which the text type

is used and the social purposes the text type achieves

Explore the immediate context of situation by investigating the register of a

model text which has been selected on the basis of the course objectives and

learner need.

An exploration of register involves:

Building knowledge of the topic of the model text and knowledge of the

social activity in which the text is used, e.g., job seeking

Understanding the roles and relationships of the people using the text and
how these are established and maintained, e.g., the relationship between a

job seeker and a prospective employer

Understanding the channel of communication being used, e.g., using the

telephone, speaking face-to-face with members of an interview panel

Context-building activities include:

Presenting the context through pictures, audiovisual materials, realia,

excursions, field-trips, guest speakers, etc.

Establishing the social purpose through discussions or surveys, etc.

Cross-cultural activities, such as comparing differences in the use of

the text in two cultures

Comparing the model text with other texts of the same or a

contrasting type, e.g., comparing a job interview with a complex

spoken exchange involving close friends, a work colleague or a

stranger in a service encounter

Phase 2: Modeling and Deconstructing the Text

In this stage, students:

Investigate the structural pattern and language features of the model

Compare the model with other examples of the same text type
Phase 3: Joint Construction of the Text

In this stage:

Students begin to contribute to the construction of whole examples

of the text type.

The teacher gradually reduces the contribution to text construction,

as the students move closer to being able to control text type

independently.

Joint-construction activities include:

Teacher questioning, discussing and editing whole class construction, then

scribing onto board or overhead transparency

Skeleton texts

Jigsaw and information-gap activities

Small-group construction of tests

Dictogloss

Self-assessment and peer-assessment activities

Phase 4: Independent Construction of the Text

In this stage:

Students work independently with the text.

Learner performances are used for achievement assessment.

Independent construction activities include:

Listening tasks, e.g., comprehension activities in response to live or

recorded material, such as performing a task, sequencing pictures,

numbering, ticking or underlining material on a worksheet, answering

questions

Listening and speaking tasks, e.g., role plays, simulated or authentic dialogs

Speaking tasks, e.g., spoken presentation to class, community organization,

or workplace

Reading tasks, e.g., comprehension activities in response to written

material such as performing a task, sequencing pictures, numbering, ticking

or underlining material on a worksheet, answering questions

Writing tasks which demand that students draft and present whole texts

Phase 5: Linking to Related Texts

In this stage, students investigate how what they have learned in this
teaching/learning cycle can be related to:

Other texts in the same or similar context

Future or past cycles of teaching and learning activities which link the text

type to related texts include: Comparing the use of the text type across

different fields

Researching other text types used in the same field

Role-playing what happens if the same text type is used by people with

different roles and relationships

Comparing spoken and written modes of the same text type

Researching how a key language feature used in this text type is used in

other text types

Problems with Implementing a Text-Based Approach

As can be seen from the above summary, a text-based approach

focuses on the products of learning rather than the processes

involved. Critics have pointed out that

An emphasis on individual creativity and personal expression is

missing from the TBI model, which is heavily wedded to a

methodology based on the study of model texts and the creation of

texts based on models.

There is a danger that the approach becomes repetitive and boring

over time since the five-phase cycle described above is applied to the

teaching of all four skills.

### Text-Based Instruction in Language Teaching

**Definition:**

Text-based instruction (TBI) is an approach to language teaching that uses texts as the core
component for learning. It focuses on engaging students with authentic texts to develop their
language skills within meaningful contexts.

**Key Features:**

1. **Authentic Texts:**

- Use of real-life texts (e.g., newspapers, manuals, stories) that learners are likely to
encounter outside the classroom.

2. **Focus on Text Types:**

- Emphasis on understanding and producing different text types (e.g., narratives, reports,
discussions).

3. **Integrated Skills:**

- Encourages the development of reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills through
interaction with texts.

4. **Contextual Learning:**

- Students learn language in the context of how it is used in real communication, rather than
isolated grammar and vocabulary exercises.

**Phases of Text-Based Instruction:**

1. **Building the Context:**

- Introduce the social context of the text.

 - Explore the cultural and situational context of the text type.

- Activities may include discussing the purpose of the text, presenting context through
audiovisuals, and cross-cultural comparisons.

2. **Modeling and Deconstruction:**

- Analyze a model text to understand its structure and features.

- Break down the text into its components (e.g., layout, language features, grammar).

- Activities include identifying text structure, discussing language features, and comparing
with other texts.

3. **Joint Construction:**

- Students collaborate with the teacher and peers to construct new texts.

- Teacher guidance decreases as students gain confidence.

- Activities include teacher-led discussions, group writing, and peer reviews.

4. **Independent Construction:**

- Students create texts independently, applying what they have learned.

- Focus on producing coherent, structured texts appropriate to the context.

- Activities include individual writing tasks, presentations, and comprehension exercises.

5. **Linking to Related Texts:**

- Connect the current learning to other similar or different texts.

- Expand understanding and application of text types.

- Activities include comparing text types, researching other contexts, and role-playing.

**Advantages:**

- **Authenticity:**
 - Students engage with texts that have real-world relevance, increasing motivation and
interest.

- **Holistic Learning:**

- Integrated skill development, reflecting natural language use.

- **Cultural Awareness:**

- Exposure to different cultural contexts and uses of language.

**Challenges:**

- **Complexity:**

- Authentic texts can be challenging for learners due to their complexity and unfamiliar
vocabulary.

- **Resource-Intensive:**

- Requires a variety of texts and materials, which can be time-consuming to gather and
prepare.

- **Teacher Preparation:**

- Teachers need to be well-prepared to guide students through the phases and provide
appropriate support.

### Conclusion:

Text-based instruction is a comprehensive approach to language teaching that uses authentic

texts to provide a meaningful and context-rich learning experience. It helps students develop
language skills in a way that mirrors real-world use, making it a powerful method for
language acquisition.