Each word in this sentence has its own meaning. Together, the words relate to one another to convey the sentence's overall meaning. Then that sentence connects with the ones around it to convey a larger point. If different words were chosen or if the words and sentences were arranged differently, the meaning of this paragraph would change. The way words and phrases are organized and relate to one another on a written page are elements of text structure. Studying the importance of text structure, the different types of text structures, and reviewing how to conduct a text structure analysis helps readers dissect meaning.
Text Structure Definition
Semantics is the study of meaning. To understand semantics, linguists have to examine how the different elements of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs come together to convey specific meanings. The way these various elements of a written text come together to communicate meaning is the text structure.
Fig. 1 - Writers plan the structure of their writing like architects plan the structure of their buildings.
Multimodality
To understand text structure, one must understand how it fits into multimodal texts.
Multimodality refers to the multiple modes or elements that contribute to meaning. Some examples of different modes include spoken words and body language, as these are two different ways meaning is conveyed.
Linguists use a multimodal approach to complete discourse analysis. A discourse is a text that is longer than one sentence. To analyze it, one must go beyond just looking at the sentences — things like context must be taken into account to find meaning.
Think about a history textbook, which is a multimodal text. The layout and organization of the text (usually in chronological order) and the arrangement of images in the textbook all contribute to meaning in addition to the written sentences. To complete an analysis of a history textbook using a multimodal approach, one needs to consider how all elements work together to create meaning.
Analyzing multimodal texts requires taking into account modes (the different ways that meaning is created) and mediums (the forms in which the different modes are carried).
Mode
When analyzing a text, readers should note the different modes of communication used to convey meaning. Modes fall into one of the following categories:
Linguistic - written or spoken words
Visual - symbols, images, or design
Aural - auditory elements like volume and rhythm
Gestural - gestures like facial expressions and body language
Spatial - elements of layout, like spacing between textual elements
Medium
Medium is the form that carries the modes. Multimodal texts can be one of three mediums: print, physical or digital. For instance, hardcover books and digital newspapers are examples of different mediums. Each one contains various modes that convey information to readers in different ways.
The Importance of Text Structure
To analyze multimodal texts, understanding and examining text structure is key.
The text structure is important because it helps linguists understand one of the many ways meaning is conveyed in a text. How authors organize the various elements of their written works can drastically impact how readers understand them. It is therefore essential to consider how a text is laid out and how linguistic modes interact with other modes.
Fig. 4 - Writers structure and organize their texts to provide specific meaning.
Text Structure Types
There are an unlimited amount of text structure types because there are many ways in which an author can combine different modes.
Some text structure types include:
PowerPoint presentations
Newspaper articles
Blog posts
Social media posts
Advertisements
Journal articles
Textbooks
A few common multimodal text structures you may be familiar with are graphic novels and podcast websites.
Graphic Novels
Graphic novels are prime examples of multimodal texts that are in print. They feature boxes with images of the events described in the text below. They thus include linguistic, visual, and spatial modes. The interplay of the storyline, images, and characters' speech alters how the reader understands the meaning of the graphic novel.
Podcast Websites
A podcast website is an example of a digital multimodal text with linguistic, visual, and aural modes. Readers can typically listen to a podcast recording and read a transcript or a summary. Often there are images on the website that add to the meaning of the discourse too.
Text Structure Analysis
To understand how multimodality uses text, readers need to be able to conduct a semantic analysis of text structure. Semantic analysis involves breaking down sentences, phrases, and words to unpack meaning. To conduct a semantic analysis of text structure and how modes relate to one another, readers should follow the following steps:
Evaluate the Modes and Mediums
First, readers must evaluate the modes and mediums in the text they are engaging with. For instance, if a reader is reading a newspaper article, there might be a linguistic mode (the written text), a visual mode (the formatting of the text and images), and a spatial mode (how the text is arranged).
However, there might not be an aural mode if there is nothing for readers to listen to or a gestural mode if there are no images of people. Readers should also note the medium, like whether they read the article in a print newspaper or online. Once readers evaluate what elements are present like this, they can analyze how they act and relate to one another to create meaning.
Note the Context
Semantic analysis involves studying the definition of each word in the text. To understand how words work together to create meaning, you need to understand what each one means and reflect on the context in which it is being used. For instance, consider the differences between the following sentences:
The girl swung the bat at her brother.
The girl stared into the bat's eyes.
The word bat can refer to different things, like a wooden stick or a winged animal. If the first sentence was in an essay about little league baseball, the reader would understand that the girl was swinging a baseball bat at her brother. However, if it was in a story about kids in a cave, the reader could assume that the girl was swinging the winged animal called a bat.
Similarly, using the word eyes in the second sentence helps convey meaning. If the reader knows the meaning of eyes, then they can assume that this sentence refers to the animal version of a bat.
Studying the individual meaning of the above sentences involves analyzing context to understand what bat means. In the first sentence, the use of the word swung to describe what the girl did to the bat suggests that bat is defined as a type of stick. The word eyes in the second sentence indicates that bat is defined as a winged animal.
Identifying the intended meaning of a word in its context is called word sense disambiguation.
Computers do semantic analysis too! Lots of machine learning tools are programmed to be able to break down the formations of sentences and the relationships between words. This can help companies collect information from written text like reviews and emails. However, it is important to note that computers often lack an understanding of the specific context in which words are used. For instance, sometimes people use facial expressions and gestures to indicate that what they say is a joke. Since computers lack this context, they would not know this was a joke.
Identify the Functions
Once you have determined what each word and sentence means, you need to determine its function in regard to the other words and sentences.
What type of meaning does each word represent in the sentence?
An entity - A specific person, place, or thing
A concept - A general category of person, place, or thing
A relationship - The connection between entities and/or concepts
A predicate - A verb structure
For example, consider the following sentence:
Paul works at that company.
Paul and company are entities. Works is the predicate and at that demonstrates the relationship between entities.
To fully understand a sentence, readers need to know how the lexical items relate to one another. Semantic relationships between lexical items fall into the following categories:
| Semantic Relationship | Definition | Example |
| Antonymy | Lexical terms with contrasting meanings | The word hot and the word cold are antonyms. |
| Hyponymy | A generic term and its instances | The word cat Is a hypernym and cat breeds like Scottish Fold and Ragdoll are hyponyms. |
Homonymy | Lexical terms with the same spelling but different definitions | The word peer is a verb for looking through something, but it is also a noun for a person one works with. |
Meronomy | Lexical terms that refer to a part of something larger | The word finger is a part of a hand. |
Polysemy | A lexical term with multiple related meanings | The word sound has several similar meanings. |
Synonymy | Lexical items with different spellings and similar meanings | The word lead is a synonym for the word guide. |
Analyze the Relationships
Analyzing the relationships between various modes involves reflection on how they are arranged and how their arrangement impacts meaning.
What type of meaning does one mode communicate to the reader in regard to other modes present?
For instance, consider a news article about the dangers of drunk driving. If the author includes a photograph of a car crash, they help the reader visualize the significance of their writing. The photograph's function is therefore to emphasize the article's main point.
Fig. 3 - Analyze semantic relationships in writing.
Readers can ask questions to reflect on the relationships between modes:
How are the elements arranged? For example, are images grouped together out spread out? How does that contribute to their meaning?
How does the author present the information in the text? For instance, is the information in a logical order, or does the writer uses a non-linear presentation? How does the order of the writing shape the meaning?
Does the author use headings? If so, how did they format and space out the headings? What impact do headings have on the experience of engaging with the text?
Reflect on the Structure
Readers should consider why an author structured the writing the way they did. For instance, they should reflect on elements like:
Grammatical patterns in writing
Order of lexical items in a sentence
Appearance and repetition of semantic relationships
Speech patterns in dialogue
When analyzing how the above structural elements impact meaning, readers can ask questions like the following:
Who was the intended audience of this text? Does the structure of the text help address them?
What is the author's purpose in this text? How does the text structure help achieve it?
How does the text structure relate to other modes to convey meaning?
Text Structure - Key takeaways
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