What is the term for a continuous piece of written or spoken language classified into genres?

What is the term for a continuous piece of written or spoken language classified into genres?

• A. Text
• B. Document
• C. Paragraph
• D. Discourse

Answer: (A)

Think of language units in terms of its reach and purpose. A continuous stretch of written or spoken language that can be categorized into genres—like narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive—fits neatly as a text. It captures the whole piece as a coherent unit that carries meaning across multiple sentences. A document is more about the physical artifact than the linguistic unit, a paragraph is a smaller block within a text, and discourse refers to language use and coherence more broadly than a single piece classified by genre. So the term that best describes a continuous piece of language classified into genres is text.

Think of language units in terms of its reach and purpose. A continuous stretch of written or spoken language that can be categorized into genres—like narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive—fits neatly as a text. It captures the whole piece as a coherent unit that carries meaning across multiple sentences. A document is more about the physical artifact than the linguistic unit, a paragraph is a smaller block within a text, and discourse refers to language use and coherence more broadly than a single piece classified by genre. So the term that best describes a continuous piece of language classified into genres is text.