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definition of text type is not purely linguistic but predominantly
text-linguistic. It encompasses content, prior experience, and context
of situation.
De Beaugrande's text-typological spectrum is so broad that it
comprehends descriptive, narrative, argumentative, literary, poetic,
scientific, and even didactic texts. A detailed description of de
Beaugrande's text-typology is elaborated in his book 'Text. Discourse
and Process' (1980, pp197-199) Diversity of text types is justified
in terms of the relative status of dominances and the linkage devices
which make the elements of the text hang together. Though de
Beaugrande's text-typological theory cowprehemds almost all tyt>s DI
texts, it does not provide clear-cut dividing lines, thus leaving
spaces for fuzziness and overlaps. Furthermore, it is so elaborately
detailed that it may look superficially arbitrary.
Basil Hatim (1983, p299) lists the following text types in an
attempt to establish a text-typology that would help language users in
hypothesis testing. Language, he assumes, is used for purposes of
exposition, argumentation, and instruction. A text can be expository,
argumentative or instructional.
(1) Expository: "This can be 'descriptive' with the focus on
'objects' and 'relations' in space; 'narrative'
with the focus on 'events' and 'relations' in
time; and 'conceptual' with the focus on 'events'
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