Characteristics of Scientific, Legal & Humanistic Texts
Scientific Texts
Communicative Characteristics
- Target: The primary communicative purpose is the transmission of knowledge.
- Communicative Situation: Determines the language used and discursive features.
- Transmitters and Receivers: Issuers are typically specialists knowledgeable about the subject matter. Receivers can be specialists or the general public.
- Theme: Limited to a specific field of expertise, such as chemistry.
- Code: Consists of general language combined with a specialized subcode featuring specific terminology.
- Channel: The means by which communication occurs (e.g., airwaves for speech, written documents like letters, articles, etc.).
Types of Scientific Texts
- Specialist Documents: Written by scientists and specialists (e.g., research papers, speeches, manuals, reports).
- Disclosure Texts: Aimed at recipients who are not necessarily specialists (e.g., popular science articles).
Scientific Discourse Features
- Modes: Primarily description, explanation, explanation combined with argument, and sometimes narration.
- Elements: These text types often incorporate definitions, lists, classifications, etc.
Legal Texts
Texts for Social Adjustment
Legal texts originate from various areas of power and influence reality through established guidelines and patterns. Legal and administrative texts serve a mandatory function, ordering society.
Types of Legal-Administrative Texts
Based on the issuer, types include:
- Legislative Texts: Standards and laws developed by legislators.
- Judicial Texts: Documents issued by professionals within the judiciary (e.g., court rulings).
- Administrative Texts: Documents issued by professionals accountable to the administration (e.g., regulations, official notices).
Legal texts often exhibit a high degree of abstraction and serve as reference points for both administrative and judicial texts. While legal texts (like contracts or wills) address specific private situations, administrative texts may also address specific cases but often seek to regulate general situations.
Communicative Characteristics
- Core Intention: Primarily normative (establishing norms or rules).
- Issuer/Receiver Relationship: The issuer usually holds a dominant position, while the receiver is often in a subordinate position, representing a broad or generic audience.
- Validation: Oral legal or administrative communications are typically validated through subsequent written documentation.
- Themes: Cover a wide range of subjects related to law and administration.
Humanistic Texts
Defining Humanistic Texts
This category refers to various writings within the humanities and social sciences. Humanistic language is employed in texts concerning human cultural products, personal and social relations, and the methods used to understand and interpret these aspects of commonality.
Didactic Genres and Essays
Key features include:
- Non-fiction: Based on factual information or theoretical exploration.
- Language Use: Employed for the communication of thought in its diverse aspects.
- Intention: A didactic (teaching or instructional) intention often prevails.
Communication Characteristics
- Intent: Primarily informational, although some texts may have a persuasive purpose.
- Issuer/Receiver: In academic texts, the issuer is often a specialist addressing expert receivers. In other humanistic texts, the recipient may be the general public.
- Issues: Address a wide range of subjects within the humanities and social sciences.
- Code: Utilizes natural language, often incorporating specific terminology relevant to the field.
- Conditioning Factors: The communicative intention, subject matter, and type of receiver influence the linguistic and textual features of the discourse.
- Format: Can be presented in either oral or written form.
Types of Humanistic Texts
The specific communicative goal determines the choice among various text types. The essay is one of the most prominent humanistic text types, alongside historical texts, philosophical treatises, critical analyses, manuals, etc.
Humanistic Text Features
Discursive Modes
The primary modes of expression are exposition and argumentation, although narration and description may also be present. These modes are often combined, particularly in essays.