Comparing and Contrasting

Patterns of Written Texts

across Disciplines
Learner’s Module in
Reading and Writing Skills 11

Quarter 3 . Week 1

PATRICIO T. DAWATON
Developer

Department of Education • Cordillera Administrative Region

 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Cordillera Administrative Region
Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet

Published by
Learning Resource Management and Development System

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2021

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 What I Know
Alternate Response: Read the following statements. Then, write TRUE if the
statement is correct, FALSE if otherwise. Write your answer in your answer sheet.

1. Critical reading is a deeper and more complex engagement with a text.

2. Different authors adopt the same writing styles and conventions.
3. The term discipline as used in discourse and rhetoric means subject area or field of study.
4. Each discipline has its own specific requirements in terms of style, content, and format.
5. Your goal as a reader will change depending upon what you are reading.
6. When you speak with someone, you do not only listen to what is said, but you also listen
how it is said.
7. Different disciplines will have different tones depending on the material and audience.
8. Becoming familiar with the differences on how texts are organized and structured will help
you find the essential information you need.
9. All disciplines have similar jargon and language particulars.
10. Each discipline has traits that are specific to that field.
11. The main purpose of a written text in business is to entertain.
12. Tone is the expression of a writer’s attitude toward subject, audience, and self.
13. Organization consists of the specific traits within a particular discipline or the conventions
of a discipline’s key genres.
14. Reading texts related to history would deal with what happened and explains why it
happened.
15. Writing in the humanities usually seeks to analyze, interpret, argue, and/or explain
thoughts, reactions, ideas, and emotions.

What’s In
Understanding Reading and Writing across Disciplines
Critical reading goes beyond understanding new terminologies and identifying key
ideas and minor details that are presented in reading texts. Critical readers recognize that
different authors adopt a variety of style elements in writing depending on his or her purpose,
audience, and genre. As a reader you need to be aware that each discipline or field of study
has its own specific requirements in terms of style, content, and format.

The structure, grammar, and vocabulary of written texts vary depending on why we
are writing, who we are writing for, and what we are writing about. We refer to these

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predictable patterns in written language as genres. Becoming a writer and reader involves
understanding the patterns and being able to use them flexibly.
Analyzing a piece of writing involves understanding the said specific requirements or
the way a text is written. In this lesson, you will go through the patterns of written texts that
will help you to interpret the meaning of the piece, which is ultimately the entire point of
doing a close evaluation or critical reading of a piece of writing.

What’s New
Activity: Guess what!
Would you be able to match the following concepts to their meanings on the right? Write the
letter of your answer on your answer sheet.

A. This is the expression of a writer’s attitude toward

1. Writer’s purpose subject, audience, and self. Is primarily conveyed in
writing thru diction, point of view, syntax, and level of
formality.

2. Writing tone and style B. This involves the effects of words as an important
element for understanding the meaning of a text.

3. Specific language C. This pertains to one’s intention and purpose in

reading.

4. Organization D. This consists of the specific traits within a

particular discipline or the conventions of a
discipline’s key genres.
5. Reader’s goal
E. This refers to a person's reason for writing, such
as to inform, entertain, explain, or persuade.
6.Discipline-specific
features F. It concerns how ideas are presented. Typically, it
refers to the larger parts of a piece of writing,
although it also refers to how paragraphs and
sentences are written. The flow of a piece of writing
affects how readers interpret ideas.

The above phrases you just worked on are the elements or aspects you need to
consider in approaching a piece of writing. You need to ask yourself; how do all of these
elements create meaning? What does the passage mean and how does it contribute to the
meaning of the piece of writing?
Again, it is important to remember that each discipline is a distinct discourse
community with specific vocabularies, styles, and modes of communication. Getting familiar
with the conventions of a discipline’s key genres is essential in understanding a
written text.

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 What Is It
By surveying the landscape of various academic disciplines, you can develop further
your writing, reading, and thinking. Let’s study the formats/patterns of texts in selected
disciplines in the text map below.

Discipline (subject area or field of study)

Science History Pop Culture

Writer’s Makes claims based Uses the facts of Explains, outlines,

purpose on facts. history to make a and/or analyzes current
logical argument that trends in music, fashion,
Acknowledges
X, Y, and Z happened film, literature, etc.
limitations.
as well as why they
Main purpose is to
Puts focus on happened.
entertain.
research.
Uses logic and
Leans to light, current,
Use concrete intuition to make
and subjective topics
evidence and sense of the facts.
examples
Engages in a larger
discussion with other
historians.
Tells what
happened.
Explains why it
happened

Writing tone Writing tends to be Avoids first- and Writing tends to be less
and style dense, stiff, and second-person formal and friendlier.
formal. pronouns, i.e. “I” and
Uses first- and second-
“you”
Objective tone; person pronouns, i.e. “I”
straightforward and More subjective than and “you.”
informative scientific writing;
More subjective than
however,
Historically has history and scientific
opinions/interpretatio
favored the passive writing
ns need to be backed
voice; however,
by evidence. Addresses the reader.
active voice is now
being used. Can use an Must be attention-
informative, grabbing because there
Avoids first- and
persuasive, or are many options (think
second-person
entertaining tone about the magazines at
pronouns, i.e. “I” and
depending on the the grocery store
“you”
writer, reader, and checkout line) and
topic topics change quickly

Reader’s Identify how the Understand the Understand when the

goal writer reached argument that the pop culture piece was
author is trying to written as the period will

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 his/her conclusion. make. influence your
interpretation. This is
Understand the Separate the facts
true with many types of
methodology. from the author’s
writing, but pop culture
interpretation.
Understand whether writing, like pop music,
it is significant/ Find any flaws in the is especially of its own
reputable. author’s reasoning. time.

Look for the proof. Infer and understand

the logic between
Understand when it
relationships.
was written so you
can determine if it is Remember that
still significant. history is not static
and be open to new
interpretations of
long-known facts.
Understand the
author’s potential
biases.
Specific Likely to have words Older primary Words are specific to
language that might not be in sources contain both the time and the
the dictionary archaic language that place of the piece.
because science will make
Language needs to be
vocabulary evolves understanding, more
interpreted considering
quickly. difficult.
when it was written.
Language is precise. Uses words or
Recent events and
Writers choose to expressions that may
trends are quickly
use the most specific have only been used
included in the
word rather than use in a particular period.
vernacular.
a word that may be Its use may have died
more familiar. out or changed in
meaning.
Many words,
including the new Current sources that
words, are derived discuss past events
from Greek and will focus on the
Latin; when you see language of causes
an unfamiliar word, and consequences of
you may be able to certain events.
piece it together if
you know Greek and
Latin word parts.

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Organization Taxonomists use Historians organize Uses a variety of
classification. by categories of organizational strategies
action and not including comparison
chronological order; and narration.
that is all events
Depends heavily on
relating to technology
hooks and story-like
may be grouped
qualities that create an
together, while
interesting and easy
education-related
flow.
events are grouped
separately.
Within each category
of action, events are
arranged
chronologically; uses
narrative.
Overall, historians
make an argument
and support it with
evidence.

Discipline- Figures, tables, Will reference primary Pop culture moves

specific graphs, and charts. sources, that is, texts progressively from local
features written at the time to national to
Often requires basic
you are studying. For international levels.
to advanced levels of
example, if you are
mathematical literacy
studying about the
to understand.
Civil War, a primary
text could include a
letter from President
Lincoln from a Union
soldier.

Key Points

Writing in the humanities usually seeks to analyze, interpret, argue, and/or explain
thoughts, reactions, ideas, and emotions. The “humanities,” as a discipline, includes not only
literature, but also philosophy, economics, ethics, performing arts, fine arts, history, and
aspects of anthropology, cultural studies, foreign languages, and linguistics.

Writing in business often means explaining a situation, event, or change to compel

the reader toward a very specific action. Business has a special vocabulary (jargon), so first
of all you have to learn its jargon, like remit, obligate, loan, collateral, interest, stocks, etc.
Some compound nouns are standard expressions in business, like tax collection system,
company car, price list, bulk buying, etc.

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 You must also learn some of the conventions, or established practices, of business
writing. For example, business uses a lot of form letters, so you have to be familiar with the
standard forms (meaning the parts) of a business letter, a memo, minutes of a meeting, a
proposal, etc. Some standard parts of business communication are date, inside address, the
salutation, the body or main purpose of the communication, the complimentary close, etc.
It is important to remember that business requires cordiality to sustain it, to keep the
customer. Hence, even if the content of a communication is negative—like a complaint or a
collection—the communication must be polite. There is careful use of modal expressions
and adverbs. Polite expressions such as the following are part of the ritual of politeness in
business: (Cortes de los Rios, 2010).

In the field of natural science (physics, chemistry, and biology, astronomy, geology,
marine science, mathematics, ecology, computer science, etc.), technical terms, symbols
(ph, NaCI, and CO2) and abbreviations are common. Similar to other disciplines, common
words like power, pressure, force, work, and impulse have a technical meaning. To help
yourself understand many of the technical terms, you must know some prefixes (uni, semi,
and multi), root words (bio, geo, vis, and derma), and suffixes. Diagrams and drawings are
also characteristic of science texts.
The typical sentences in science texts are dense; that is, they are information heavy.
An example is this: Each nucleus is packed with information coded in the form of a chemical
called Deoxyribonucleic Acici(DNA) and organized into groups called genes which are
arranged on thread-like structures, the chromosomes. The lengthy and dense sentences
found in science texts suggest slow reading for comprehension and retention of facts.

Other disciplines have their own writing conventions that we need to familiarize
ourselves with.

What’s More
Activity: Text Mapping
You are now aware that academic writing conventions vary substantially according to
discipline—that is, whether one is working in the humanities, the social or natural sciences,
or business.

Exercise 1: Describe the specific features of written texts in the identified

disciplines.

Discipline (subject area or field of study)

Math Literature Business

Discipline-specific
organizational
features

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Exercise 2: Examine the following passages, then answer the questions that
follow.

This study aims to investigate the current situation with regards to special guardianship,
introduced in the early years of the 21st century following the Adoption and Children Act in 2002.
It was designed to provide an option to allow a more secure and permanent option where formal
adoption was not appropriate, for example where children needed to retain a close connection
with their natural family (Miller 2006, p. 8). Special Guardianship Orders were implemented in
two phases, with the first taking place in late 2003 and the second in 2005, with associated
Regulations set in place (Miller and Bentovim 2006, p. 12). It is now several years since the Special
Guardianship option has been available, and it seems a good idea to look at how useful it has
been, and whether there are problems with its implementation.

1. What is given emphasis in the written text?

2. What could be the purpose of the author in writing the text?
3. Explain how the author’s purpose shapes the content and delivery.
4. Which discipline would you categorize the excerpt based on its text?

Many thermometers are thin glass tubes filled with a liquid. Mercury and alcohol are often used
in thermometers because they remain in liquid form over a large temperature range.
Thermometers can measure temperature because of a property called thermal expansion.
Thermal expansion is the increase in volume of a substance because of an increase in
temperature. As a substance’s temperature increases, its particles move faster and spread out.
So, there is more space between them, and the substance expands. Mercury and alcohol expand
by constant amounts for a given change in temperature.

1. What is the focus of the written text?

2. What discipline would you classify the above text?

Music. It is the sound of every day. It is the cadence of typing on a keyboard, or the rhyming of
lyrics. In the Fine and Performing Arts Academy, I hope to be part of the experience, the dance,
the performing, and the art. I always see opportunity in the Performing Arts; whether learning a
new instrument, learning different dances, joining a choir, or auditioning for a musical. I want to
try something new. I want to learn the technical aspects of video and audio recording and
learning how to use professional equipment. However, my heart goes deeply for the soul of
music.

1. What is the tone of the piece? (cheerful? sarcastic? pessimistic? melancholic?

aggressive? hopeful? etc.)

2. How is the text organized? Is it through description (spatial)? is it through narration

(chronological)? Is it through analysis (logical)?

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 What I Have Learned
Activity: Footprints!
Write what new knowledge or understanding you are “walking away” from the lesson with.
Craft a one-paragraph answer to this. (20 points)

Paragraph Assessment Rubric

Point Value 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points
Topic Sentence Interesting, original Clearly stated topic Acceptable topic Missing, invalid, or
topic sentence, sentence presents one sentence presents inappropriate topic
reflecting thought and main idea. one idea. sentence; main idea is
insight; focused on one missing.
interesting main idea.
Supporting Interesting, concrete, Examples and details Sufficient number of Insufficient, vague, or
Details and descriptive relate to the topic and examples and details undeveloped
examples and details some explanation is that relate to the examples.
with explanations that included. topic.
relate to the topic.
Organization and Thoughtful, logical Details are arranged in Acceptable No discernible pattern
Transitions progression of a logical progression; arrangement of of organization;
supporting examples; appropriate transitions. examples; transitions Unrelated details; no
Mature transitions may be weak. transitions.
between ideas.
Mechanics and Appropriate tone, Appropriate tone; Clear Acceptable tone; Inconsistent or
Style distinctive voice; sentences with varied some variety in Inappropriate tone;
pleasing variety in structures; Effective sentence structures; Awkward, unclear, or
sentence structure; diction. Some errors, Adequate diction and incomplete sentences;
Vivid diction, precise but nonmajor, in word choices. A few Bland diction, poor
word choices. No usage, spelling, or errors in usage, word choice.
grammatical errors. punctuation. (1-2) spelling, or Distracting errors in
punctuation (3-4) usage, spelling, or
punctuation

What I Can Do
Activity: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down!

React to the given statement by picking from the two symbols: thumbs up and thumbs
down. Give a two to three-sentence explanation of your decision.

It is important that readers understand the

different text or language structures (patterns
of written texts) to able to understand what is
read.

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 Post- Assessment
Alternate Response: Read each of the following statements. Then, write TRUE if
the statement is correct, FALSE if otherwise. Write your answer in your answer
sheet.
1. Each discipline has its own specific requirements in terms of style, content, and format.

2. Critical reading gets at "deep structure" (if there is such a thing apart from the superficial
text!), that is, logical consistency, tone, organization, and a number of other very important
sounding terms.

3. Different authors adopt similar writing styles and conventions.

4. Your goal as a reader will not change depending upon what you are reading.

5. The term discipline as used in discourse and rhetoric means orderly or prescribed conduct
or pattern of behavior.

6. Writing in the humanities focuses on informing the reader of new discoveries and assisting
readers in discovering truth through facts and solid data provided in detail.

7. Patterns of content and language shape the portrayal of the topic.

8. Becoming familiar with the differences on how texts are organized and structured will
help you find the essential information you need.

9. Each discipline has its own jargon and language particulars.

10. Different disciplines will have different tones depending on the material and audience.

11. Tone is the expression of a writer’s attitude toward subject, audience, and self.

12. Organization consists of the specific traits within a particular discipline or the conventions
of a discipline’s key genres.

13. Reading texts related to history would deal with what happened and explains why it
happened.

14. Writing in the humanities usually seeks to analyze, interpret, argue, and/or explain
thoughts, reactions, ideas, and emotions.

15. The main purpose of a written text in business is to entertain.

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 Additional Activity
Gather one example of a text and try to examine how it is written. Focus on the
dominant text patterns. Take note of the language cues. Do any appropriate text mapping
strategy to show the overall organization and content of the material, or you may use the
template below to present your analysis.

Title of text

Discipline (Subject Area)

Writer’s purpose

Writing tone and style

Specific Language

Organization

Reader's Goal

Discipline- specific features

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ANSWER KEY

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 REFERENCES

Borgford, C., Champagne, A., Cuevas, M., Dumas, L., Lamb, W.G., & Vonderbrink, S.A.
(2005). Measuring temperature. In Physical Science (p. 276). Austin, TX: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Elcomblus. 2020. Language and Text Structure Across Disciplines. February 12.
https://www.elcomblus.com/language-and-text-structure-across-disciplines/.
Fleming, Grace. 2020. What Does Critical Reading Really Mean? January 21.
https://www.thoughtco.com/critical-reading-basics-1857088.
Jayla_Thompson5. 2021. Rhetorical Quiz #1(Patterns of Development).
https://quizlet.com/72845748/rhetorical-quiz-1patterns-of-development-flash-cards/.
Lumen Learning. n.d. Introduction to Writing Across Disciplines.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-writing/chapter/introduction-to-writing-
across-disciplines/.
rodrigo. 2015. Critically assess the implementation of Special Guardianship Orders. March
28. https://writepass.com/journal/2015/03/critically-assess-the-implementation-of-
special-guardianship-orders/.

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Wangal, La Trinidad, Benguet
Telefax: 422-1318 / 422-4074
Email Address: [email protected]
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