120 hr. TEFL Course Module 4-Writing (Pt.12 Types of Writing)

4.4 Informative and explanatory writing

Now that your students have a decent handle on sentence structure and grammar, it is time to learn how to write to convey meaning. In the next two sections, we will explore the most common types of writing they will come across in their lives. First, we will start with informative and explanatory writing, an extremely helpful tool for individuals in a number of different professions.

Informative and explanatory writing involves researching or analyzing a topic that is already generally accepted to be true. Unlike persuasive writing, there is no argument but rather an exploration of why or how something is what it is. This is why informative and explanatory is the most common type of writing that your students will find in their careers; more careers are focused on explaining and exploring the nature of things rather than creating an argument. To illustrate this point, here is a brief list of the different applications for informative and explanatory writing:

Definition: In this type of writing, your students will have to define a topic and explain it in detail. Potential practical application: Your student works in an office, and the sales team is going to try to land a new client that works with industrial refrigeration parts. The boss asks your student to provide a report on industrial refrigeration parts so that the sales team is prepared when they pitch the client.

Breaking something parts: In this type of writing, your student will have a topic that is generally understood but needs to be understood in more detail. To do this, he or she can break it into parts and/or types to make it more palatable for the reader. Potential practical application: Your student works for a team that is in charge of creating new programs and projects for their company. The project team comes up with an idea they need to pitch to their boss. Your student is tasked with writing a breakdown of the project, e.g., detailing what each department will be responsible for, how much it will cost, and how much revenue it will generate.

Describing behavior or function: In this type of writing, your student will have to explore how something behaves and/or functions. Potential practical application: Your student works for a zoo that is going to receive a new animal in three weeks that they have never accommodated before. Your student is asked to write a report on how the animal behaves and what kind of accommodations it will need.

Explaining why: In this type of writing, your student will have to explore why a generally held opinion or fact is true. Potential practical application: Your student works for a museum that is about to have an exhibit on dinosaurs. Your student is tasked with writing a report for why dinosaurs became extinct so that the museum can inform its guests.