Reading: Text Types, Purpose and Vocabulary

This lesson covers several related reading skills that come up frequently in the Level 1 exam. You will learn to identify the purpose of a text (L1.11), recognise how language changes for different audiences (L1.17), understand specialist words in context (L1.15), use reference materials to find word meanings (L1.16), and tell the difference between fact and opinion (L1.13). These skills overlap — understanding purpose helps you understand language choices, and understanding language helps you spot opinions.

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The Four Main Purposes of Writing

Every text is written for a reason. At Level 1, you need to recognise four main purposes:

Purpose	What the Writer Is Doing	Typical Texts
Inform	Giving you facts and information	News articles, reports, factsheets, notices
Instruct	Telling you how to do something step by step	Recipes, manuals, safety guides, how-to leaflets
Persuade	Trying to change your mind or make you do something	Adverts, charity appeals, promotional emails
Describe	Painting a picture with words so you can imagine something	Travel brochures, property listings, event descriptions

Many texts have more than one purpose. For example, a holiday brochure describes the destination and persuades you to book. In the exam, look for the main purpose — the most important reason the text was written.

How to Identify Purpose

Ask yourself these questions:

Question	If the Answer Is Yes, the Purpose Is Probably...
Does the text give me facts, dates, or statistics?	Inform
Does the text tell me to do something step by step?	Instruct
Does the text try to make me buy, join, or agree?	Persuade
Does the text use lots of adjectives and sensory language?	Describe

graph TD
    A[Read the Text] --> B{Does it give facts and data?}
    B -->|Yes| C[Purpose: Inform]
    B -->|No| D{Does it give step-by-step instructions?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Purpose: Instruct]
    D -->|No| F{Does it try to convince or sell?}
    F -->|Yes| G[Purpose: Persuade]
    F -->|No| H{Does it paint a picture with descriptive language?}
    H -->|Yes| I[Purpose: Describe]
    H -->|No| J[Re-read — look for the main intention]

Exam Tip: The exam may ask "What is the purpose of this text?" or "Why was this text written?" These are the same question. Look at what the writer is mainly trying to do — inform, instruct, persuade, or describe.

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Common Text Types at Level 1

The exam uses straightforward, real-world texts. Here are the types you are most likely to see:

Text Type	Typical Purpose	Example
Email	Inform, request, complain	An email from HR about a training day
Letter	Inform, request, complain	A letter from a council about bin collections
Notice	Inform, instruct	A workplace notice about fire drills
Leaflet	Inform, persuade	A leaflet about a community event
Article	Inform, describe	A short newspaper or magazine article
Instructions	Instruct	How to set up a new phone or use a machine
Advert	Persuade	A job advert or product advert
Form	Collect information	An application or booking form
Report	Inform	A short workplace report about an incident
Webpage	Inform, persuade	A company's FAQ page or about page

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Language and Audience

Writers choose their language based on who they are writing for (the audience). At Level 1, you need to recognise how language changes for different readers.

Formal vs Informal Language

Feature	Formal	Informal
Tone	Professional, serious	Friendly, chatty
Words	Longer, more official	Shorter, everyday
Contractions	Avoided ("do not", "cannot")	Used freely ("don't", "can't")
Sentences	Often longer and more structured	Often shorter and simpler
Examples	"I am writing to inform you..."	"Just a quick note to let you know..."
Used for	Business letters, reports, official documents	Text messages, casual emails, social media

Matching Language to Audience

Audience	Language Choices
Your manager	Formal, polite, professional
A friend	Informal, relaxed, casual
Customers	Clear, polite, helpful
Children	Simple words, short sentences
The general public	Clear, straightforward, avoids jargon
Specialists (e.g. doctors, engineers)	Technical vocabulary is acceptable

Example

Compare these two versions of the same message:

Formal (to your manager):

Dear Mr Clarke, I am writing to request a day of annual leave on Friday 21st March. I would be grateful if you could confirm whether this is convenient. Kind regards, Sarah

Informal (to a colleague):

Hi Tom, I'm hoping to take Friday off — can you let me know if that works? Cheers, Sarah

Both say the same thing, but the language is very different because the audience is different.

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Understanding Specialist Words in Context

The exam will include some words that you may not know. Do not panic. You can often work out what a word means from the context — the words and sentences around it.

Strategies for Working Out Word Meanings