English Course: Descriptive Text

Introduction

Learning Material

Descriptive Text 

According to Anderson and Anderson (2003, p.26), the descriptive text describes a particular person, place, or thing. It means that descriptive text is designed especially about a person, a place, or things. They also stated descriptive text to tell about the subject by describing its feature without including personal opinions.

In line with this statement, Gerot  &  Wignell (1994) and Knapp  &  Watkins  (2005) said that descriptive text is a type of text the writer or speaker uses to describe a particular thing, person, animal, place, and or event to the readers or hearers. The process of describing is done by ordering their characteristics clearly, starting from naming them, classifying them, and dealing with their attributes, behaviors, functions, and so on so that the readers or hearers can notice what the writer is writing about as if they could directly see it through their own eyes.

In addition, according to Pardiyono (2007, p.33), the descriptive text gives descriptions of living or non-living things to the reader. Thus, this kind of text can tell an object that is still alive or not.

Generic Structure of Descriptive Text

Like other genres, descriptive text also has its structure or stages. Jenny Hammond (1992) divides generic descriptive text structures into two parts: Identification and Description.

• Identification: it is aimed at introducing and identifying a specific participant, such as a person,  a  thing,  a  place,  an animal,  and or an event. 
• Description: it describes that  participant from  its  characteristics, appearances, personality, and habits or qualities (Butt, Fahey, Feez,  Spinks,  &  Yallop,  2000;  Derewianka, 1990;  Gerot  & Wignell,  1994; Knapp  &  Watkins, 2005)

Linguistics Features of Descriptive Text

Regarding  its  linguistics  features,  Derewianka  (1990);  Emilia  and  Christie (2013); Gerot and Wignell (1994);  Knapp and Watkins (2005) state that  descriptive text employs some linguistics features as summarized below:

• Focus on specific participants as the main character (My English teacher, Andini’s cat, My favorite place).
• Use present tense as dominant tenses.
• Use linking verbs or relational processes frequently (is, are, has, have, belongs to) to classify and describe the participant’s appearance or qualities and parts or functions of the participant).
• Use of descriptive adjectives (strong legs, white hair)

Lesson Plan: Download here

Exercises 1: Vocabulary Section

Instruction: Please, label the picture!

1. __________________________	9. __________________________
2. __________________________	10. __________________________
3. __________________________
4. __________________________
5. __________________________
6. __________________________
7. __________________________
8. __________________________

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Exercise 2: Listening Section

Listening Instruction: Listen to audio and use the words in the box to complete the passages below!

My Mother Clean Kitchen

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There are several rooms in my house. They are a living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and a (1) _________. Talk about my kitchen, it is not large, but it looks clean with a white wall. My mother always cooks there. 

In the kitchen, there are cooking (2) _________, such as a gas stove, green pot, and (3) _________. The pot and the kettle are on the gas stove. Then, the (4) _________is above the gas stove, and the oven is under the gas stove. There are also modern electronic tools, such as a white refrigerator in the corner of the kitchen. My mother uses it to (5) _________ the food supply. There is also a silver toaster beside the refrigerator. I usually use it for (6) _________ my bread in the morning. 

There are some plates, glass, cups, forks, and spoons inside the (7) _________. Below the dish cabinet, there is a (8) _________. My mother hung up gloves, a frying pan spatula, and a ladle. Besides, there is a seasoning counter to put jars of sugar, coffee, salt, and other seasoning bottles on it. Near the window, there is a sink with a tap. 

My mother put a brown (9) _________in the middle of the kitchen with four white chairs. My family and I usually have breakfast, lunch, and dinner together there. On the dining table, there is a cup. It is my father’s cup of coffee. Although this kitchen is small, I like it because I can (10) _________ everything without moving too much. It also has many cabinets and big windows. Thus, the sun can shine easily through it.

(a) Reach	(f) Dining table
(b) Baking	(g) Hanging shelf
(c) Store	(h) Orange kettle
(d) Cooker hood	(i) Warehouse
(e) Utensils	(j) Dish cabinet

Exercise 3: Reading Section

Instruction: Answer the questions based on the Descriptive Text My Mother Clean Kitchen!

1. How many rooms are there in the writer’s home? Mention it!
2. The underlined word “There are also modern tools such as white refrigerator on the corner of the kitchen. My mother uses it to store the food supply. (Paragraph 2 line …,)” refers to …
3. What is the writer’s activity in the kitchen? 
4. What are the modern tools in the writer’s kitchen? Explain its function!
5. Why does the writer like her kitchen? 
6. What is the purpose of the text above

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Exercise 4: Writing Section

Writing Instruction: In your group, make a short, simple, descriptive text about your “Dream Kitchen.”  Please pay attention to the social function, linguistics features, and generic structures. 

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References & Recommended Reading

Daftar Pustaka

• Butt, D., Fahey, R., Feez, S. S. S., & Yallop, C. (2000). Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer’s Guide 2^nd Edition. National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research: Macquarie University, Sydney.
• Derewianka,  B.  (1990). Exploring How Text Work. Australia:  Primary English Teaching Association.
• Emilia, E., & Christie, F. (2013). Factual Genres in English: Learning to Write, Read, and Talk about Factual Information. Bandung: Rizqi Press.
• Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1994). Making Sense of Functional Grammar: An Introductory Workbook. Queensland: Antipodean Educational Enterprises.
• Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text, Grammar: Technologies for Teaching and Assessing Writing. Unsw Press.
• https://www.shutterstock.com/cs/image-photo/interior-modern-sunny-kitchen-scandinavianstyle-apartment-1464758027