International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Prototypes in Text-Types: Political Discourse
Nelly Tincheva, PhD

Abstract
The paper seeks to contribute to the long-standing debate surrounding the notion of text-types by supporting a case for the application of Prototype theory to academic conceptualizations of the term. In accordance with basic postulates of prototypology, the theoretical alternative presented here is supported by results from a perceptionbased study including 60 university students. The study focuses on the persuasive text-type; the procedures applied and the results reported associate with texts from the domain of political discourse. The method adopted is cognitive as it coheres fully with prototypology. The data reported support the premise of the key importance of prototypology in understanding text-types.

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