Report Text

Report Text

          Do you know what the report text is? What are the generic structure and the language feature of report text? Can you identify the characteristics of report text?

Before we discussed it together, let’s see the video first!

This is a BBC-Wild Indonesia. Enjoy J

What did you get from the video?

What is the information that you get from that video?

Now, you should to identify the function of report text, the structure, and the language features of report text.

Definition

Report text is a kind of text which presented the general information. The purpose of report text itself is to give you factual information.

You have to remember that report text is different with description text. Description is talks about describing something physically and it is more specific.

So, the keyword is  

 

Generic Structure

·         General Classification

Introducing the general information, it is often the definition. You have to write the information generally, it usually introducing the thing that will be explains.

·         Description

Describing the thing in detail, stating what the facts are. If in the first paragraph you just introducing the thing generally, in this case you have to explain that thing specifically.

·         Conclusion or Additional Information

It could be conclusion; here, you can write what you think or decide as a result of the facts.

You also can add information at the end of text. The additional information could be the advantages or the interestingness of the thing that you explain.

Language Features

§  Simple Present Tense

You should use simple present tense to explain or describe things that are true.

e.g Television brings pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes.

§  Action Verb

You can use the action verb to describing behavior.

e.g The birds can fly.

Example

Title	Americans
General Classification	The National Geography Society has released a report giving the results a survey of Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. These people were tested on their geographical knowledge of the world in 2006.
Description	The results of the test are both surprising and alarming. They show that 6% of Americans cannot even find America on map of the world. America’s nearest neighbours are Canada and Mexico. Yet 8% of Americans do not know where Canada is and 12% cannot find Mexico. Moving further away from America, 65% of Americans cannot find the UK. 75% cannot find Indonesia. Even Australia, an area of the world with a very distinctive shape was lost to 26% of Americans.
Conclusion	The people who took part in this survey are the most recent graduates of the American educational system. Their results suggest that young people in the United States are not prepared for an increasingly global future. The results suggest that many Americans lack even the most basic skills needed for the international economy. People with such limited skills might have difficulty understanding the serious problems that the world faces today.

Resources

James, Peter. (2006). Real English for Senior High School Grade XI. Jakarta: Esis.

BBC-Wild Indonesia video