Textual Analysis of an Authentic Text from BBC News Website

【Abstract】The authentic text is generally used to provide students with a stimulus to learn English， as ideas for organizing lesson activities. This essay will analyze an authentic text which is about 400 words in length. There are three essential parts in this essay， including description of the text， analysis of grammar features and teaching application.

【Key words】Textual Analysis； Authentic Text； Text

【作者簡介】黃旭璇，女，廣東廣州人，碩士， 廣州大學(xué)松田學(xué)院外語系，研究方向：英語教育。

Part A. Description of text

In the first section， the essay will generally describe the chosen text in terms of its source， genre and text type， register and its schematic structure. First of all， this text comes from BBC News website， and the topic of that is “l(fā)ack of sleep linked to early death”. Moreover， according to Martin （1984， p.25）， genre can be characterized as “a staged， goal-oriented， purposeful activity in which speakers engage as members of our culture.” It can be seen that the genre of the chosen text is a news article， and this text is a news report. In relation to register， Morley （1985， p.4） describes that “register may be defined as the variety of a language used in a particular situational context.” He also maintains that register refers to three parameters， including the field， the mode and the tenor. The field relates to what the text is about， when the mode specifies the medium of the text， and the tenor reflects the relationship between the participants. As a news report， this text provides the information that lacking of sleep may lead to early death， as well as about the relationship between sleep and human health. Regarding the tenor， the relationship between the writer and readers is distant and hierarchic since the text has quoted other professors words. The language in this text is formal and the mode is written and monologic.

Last but not least， the schematic structure of the article can be divided into four parts. The eye-catching headline “l(fā)ack of sleep linked to early death” with a photo captures readers attention and summaries the content of the article. Then there is an opening statement at the beginning of the text （paragraph （1））， pointing to the event that UK and Italian researchers have warned getting less than six hours sleep a night can cause an early grave. From paragraph （2） to paragraph （7）， the text develops the details and provides more background information about the study. At the last part of the text （from paragraph （8） to paragraph （16））， there are other professors comments on the reason of lacking of sleep and the relationship between sleep and health.

Part B. Analysis of grammar features

Tense/aspect & context：

In this section， the essay will analyze some grammar features about tense. First of all， according to Parrot （2010）， simple past is one of the tenses relating to the completed events， states or actions， which also can be used when the text provides precise detail about an event， particularly for newspaper reports to describe events. This text in paragraph （1） uses the present perfect simple then in paragraph （2） and paragraph （3） utilizes the simple past form to describe what the UK and Italian researchers said and found about the relationship between sleep and health， which is a vivid illustration to Parrots point. There are other paragraphs in this text using the past simple form to describe the information relating to the topic that lacking of sleep may lead to early death， e.g.， paragraph （5）， paragraph （6）， paragraph （8）， paragraph （11）， paragraph （12） and paragraph （14）.

In addition， there are some sentences utilizing the tense of simple present in this article.

According to Parrot （2010）， the present simple can be used to describe general actions， events and states in any temporary or limited time， which refers to repeated events and general facts. This text in paragraph （4） utilizes the simple present tense， because the action “report” relates to a general fact that takes place in an extended period including the moment of writing. Additionally， Parrot （2010） also maintains that simple present with certain verbs can be associated with “states”. In order to express the UK and Italian researchers attitude towards the idea that a lack of sleep may lead to earlier death， and too much sleep may be a maker of ill health， this text utilizes the simple present with the mental state verb `believe` in paragraph （7）. Moreover， the selection of simple present also exists within the direct speech used to convey the professors ideas.

Passive voice in this article is another important grammar feature that affects the notion of context. Parrot （2010， p.331） points out that “passive constructions can be used to avoid very long subjects—a passive construction allows us to put a long and/or complex phrase at the end of a clause where it is easier to understand than at the beginning.” The selection of passive voice in this article not only assists to put the long phrase at the end of a clause， but also can emphasize the subjects like sleep， health and death， making the article become easier to understand （e.g.， paragraph （6）， paragraph （9）， paragraph （11）， & paragraph （13））. Additionally， passive voice used in this text can make the news report become more formal and objective.

2. Modality

Modality & context：

There are other interesting grammar points in this text that can be identified. Modality is an essential grammar feature in this article. Droga and Humphrey （2003） claim that modality is utilized to express something about the perspectives and attitudes of the speaker/writer to statements and ideas. ‘Modal verbs （e.g.， may & probably） in this text used to express and emphasize the possibility of the factual information. For instance， in paragraph （3）， the information that too much sleep may merely be a marker of ill health was predicted by the researchers based on available evidence； thus， the text uses the modal verb ‘may to stress such a kind of possibility. Moreover， the modality plays an important role in a kind of qualification that can make the language feature of the news report associate with cautiousness （paragraph （2）， paragraph （7）， paragraph （8）， paragraph （12）， paragraph （14） and paragraph （15））.

Additionally， although there are several modal auxiliaries used in this text， they express different degrees of possibility. When the degree of the modal verbs can （paragraph （1）） and probably （paragraph （15）） are the highest in this article， the degree of the modal auxiliaries may （e.g.， paragraph （7）） and likely （paragraph （2）） are lower. Lock （1996） points out that modals of likelihood can be classified into different groups according to the degree of likelihood they express， including three basic levels： high level， mid level and low level.

Moreover， modal verbs （e.g.， would） in this text also refer to an unreal condition that is used to predict a situation existed in the past. This can be illustrated in paragraph （10）， where the situation that over 6.3 million attributable deaths in the UK in people over 16 years of age is not real， which is just a hypothetical situation existed in the past. Lock （1996， p.199） states that “sometimes predictions are based on hypothetical situations， or unreal conditions； in other words， the writer predicts a situation that would result from different conditions from those which actually exist， existed in the past， or are likely to exist in the future.”

3. Cohesion

Lexical relationships

Lexical relationships

Synonymy less than six hours sleep， such little sleep， too little sleep，

a lack of sleep， a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep， having less than five hours （sleep）

Cohesion & context：

In terms of cohesion， Morley （1985） defines it as a relationship between elements of a text where appropriate explanation and understanding of one element depends on another. It means the cohesion serves to associate elements of a text with each other. The lexical cohesion in this text refers to repetition， synonymy and antonymy. It can be seen that the repeated words like “sleep”， “health” and “death” in this article are used to stick closely to the subject and emphasize the relationship between “sleep” and “health” or “death”. For the use of synonyms， it benefits to avoid boring repeatition when the text expresses the same meaning with synonymous words. In addition， the usage of the synonyms assists readers to guess and understand the unfamiliar words from the context， making the article become easier to understand. For instance， readers can guess and understand the word “grave” from the word “death”， because the two words have similar meaning in the context. Regarding the use of antonymys， it is advantaged for the text to stress and compare the drawbacks of too little sleep and too much sleep.

The last grammar feature that needs to be mentioned is the reported speech and direct speech. According to Fairclough （1992）， direct speech emphasizes the exact words of the person being reported， while Parrot （2010） claims that the reported speech focuses on the essential information that the speaker/writer conveyed rather than pay attention on the words that someone has chosen. In this article， the reported speech and direct speech are utilized alternately to convey the professors personal attitudes. While the reported speech is utilized to provide general facts （paragraph （2）， paragraph （7）， paragraph （11）， paragraph （12） & paragraph （14））， the snatches of direct speech in this text are utilized to rich the details （paragraph （8）， paragraph （9）， paragraph （13）， paragraph （15） & paragraph （16））.

Part C. Teaching applications

I would like to use this article to teach reading comprehension. The main aims of this lesson are to improve student reading comprehension and develop their reading skills. There are other less obvious purposes in this lesson that include expanding student vocabulary， identifing features of newspaper report， as well as developing their ability to use writing to record and arrange information from reading material.

In addition， this article will be used to teach the Chinese high school students and their English level is at intermediate. In order to simplify the text， the teacher will teach the new vocabulary in the class， as well as guide learners to focus on the grammar features like modal verbs and passive vioce. The authentic text will be taught with following teaching stages that are divided into three parts， including before-reading activities， during-reading activities and after-reading activities.

Before-Reading Activities

Step 1：

The teacher first requires students to discuss and share their reading experience with other students by answering following questions. （1） Do you like to read on-line texts？ If you like to do that， what kinds of texts are you interested？ （2） Do you like to read newspaper？ What kinds of articles are you interested， story or report or something else？ Then the teacher asks students to think and generally describe the design features and language features of a news report before the teacher concludes and writes the answers on the board. This stage aims to guide students to pay attention on general features of a news report.

Step 2：

In this step， the teacher hands out a vocabulary list to students. Students are requires to research the meaning of following words： “grave”（paragraph （1））， “mortality”（paragraph （5））， “premature”（paragraph （6））， “deterioration”（paragraph （9）） and “l(fā)itmus paper” （paragraph （13））. During this process， students can use the dictionary or guess the meaning of the words from the context before comparing their answers with peers. The teacher then checks students answers by asking them to explain the words as a class.

Step 3：

In this stage， the teacher hands out the article to students， and requests them to read the headline and work in groups to make up a multiple-choice question about the meaning of the headline. Then the teacher requires students to pass the questions around the groups， as well as discuss and peer assess the suggestions. After that， the teacher shows all of the groups suggestions in the whole class but she does not give any comments. This stage aims to assist learners to set up a purpose for following reading.

During-Reading Activities

Step 4：

Students in this step are required to read the article from paragraph （1） to paragraph （7） individually and write short answers （about three or four lines） for following questions. （1） What is the article talking about？ （2） What is the relationship between “sleep” and “mortality”？ （3） According to the writer， how many hours do people need to sleep？ Then， as a whole class， the teacher asks several students to show their answers on the board， while other learners monitor and point out any mistakes， as well as give their opinions on whether they agree with that. During this process， the teacher also guides students to pay attention on the meaning and use of modal verbs where necessary.

Step 5：

Students continue to read the article from paragraph （8） to paragraph （16） individually then think of and answer following questions. （1） Mention the reason why people in modern society lack of sleep. （2） Explain the meaning of paragraph 13 in your own words. （3） Guess the meaning of “drowsy” in the last paragraph. Students then are required to work in pairs to discuss and compare their answers before the teacher asks several students to present their answers in a whole class.

Step 6：

After understanding the general meaning of the article， students are requested to work in groups and discuss following questions. （1） Do you think the message of the headline accurately reflects the information in the report？ Give reasons for your answer. （2） How do you know this text is a newspaper report？ List all the features of a newspaper report that are evident in the text. After discussing， each group then presents their answers as a whole class， while the teacher monitors， and other groups listen and provide their opinions on whether they agree with that.

After-Reading Activities

Step 7：

In this stage， the teacher requires students to design three or four questions about the article. Before students work in groups and discuss， the teacher provides them with examples like these. （1） What is the purpose for the author to write this article？ （2） According to your knowledge and experience， are there any other reasons can lead to a lack of sleep？ Then each group shows their questions in the class， while other groups students read and answer. If the question is too difficult for students to answer， the teacher will offer them assistances.

Step 8：

In the last step， the teacher requests students to write a summary for the article with about 80 words. First of all， students in groups think of and discuss how to write the summary before they write individually. After they finish the writing， they share their writing with other students in the same group. The teacher then asks some students to read aloud their writing as a class， and reminds them to pay attention on the usage of passive voice where necessary.

References：

[1]Martin，J.R.（1984）.Language，register and genre.In Christie，F(xiàn).（Ed.）Language studies：Childrens writing：reader.Geelong：Deakin University Press.

[2]Droga，L.，&Humphrey;，S.（2003）.Grammar and meaning：An introduction for primary teachers.Berry，Australia：Target texts.

[3]Parrot，M.（2010）.Grammar for English language teachers.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[4]Morley，G.D.（1985）.An introduction to systemic grammar.London and Basingstoke：Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

[5]Lock，G.（1996）.&Richards;，J.C.（Ed.）.Functional English Grammar： An introduction for second language teachers.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[6]Fairclough，N.（1992）.Intertextuality in Critical Discourse Analysis. Linguistics and Education 4，269-293.