Knowing what a speech or an advert looks like is useful in IB English Paper 1. On its own, though, it won't earn you marks.

You may spot a headline, a slogan or a call to action straight away. The harder part is explaining why the creator used it, and that's where most marks are won or lost.

This guide covers the main text types in IB English Language and Literature, with the purpose, key conventions and authorial choices to look for in each. 

But first, what exactly counts as a text type?

What Are Text Types in IB English Lang & Lit?

A text type is a category of text shaped by its purpose and form. A speech, an advertisement and a blog are all different text types.

Each one comes with conventions. These are the features an audience expects to see, such as:

• a headline in an opinion column
• a slogan in an advertisement
• a salutation and sign-off in a letter
• statistics in an infographic

In IB English Language and Literature, you study non-literary texts alongside literary works. The IB's course guide lists the non-literary types, and some, like speeches and letters, can count as either literary or non-literary.

For Paper 1, the question to ask isn't, “What text type is this?”

It is, “What does this text type expect, and what has the creator done with it?”

That question matters most in one exam.

How Text Types Appear in IB English Paper 1

Paper 1 is a guided textual analysis of unseen non-literary texts.

• SL: two passages, you analyse one, in 1 hour 15 minutes
• HL: two passages, you analyse both, in 2 hours 15 minutes
• Weighting: 35% of your final grade at both levels

Each passage comes from a different text type and has its own guiding question. So you could face an appeal next to an infographic, or a speech next to a cartoon.

That's why knowing the main types, and what each one expects, gives you a head start.

IB English Text Types List

Use these as a starting point when you annotate an unseen text.

1. Speech

Purpose: To persuade, inspire or rally a listening audience.

Key conventions:

• Direct address
• Inclusive pronouns
• Repetition
• Rhetorical questions
• A call to action

Look for shifts from “I” to “we”, lists of three, and how the speaker earns trust before asking for anything. Take the live audience away, though, and persuasion works differently.

2. Opinion Column

Purpose: To argue a position to readers who can't answer back.

Key conventions:

• A headline that signals a stance
• Byline
• First-person voice
• Anecdotal opening
• Counterargument and rebuttal

Look at tone, modality (“must” versus “might”) and how the columnist positions people who disagree. Now imagine squeezing that argument into one image and a few words.

3. Advertisement

Purpose: To sell a product, service or idea.

Key conventions:

• Slogan
• Logo
• Product image
• Testimonial
• Call to action

Look at salience, colour, gaze and the image-text relationship. Ask what problem the ad creates so it can solve it. Some texts persuade just as hard while appearing to present only facts.

4. Infographic

Purpose: To inform, often while quietly persuading.

Key conventions:

• Title
• Statistics
• Icons and charts
• Colour coding
• Source line

Look at which numbers are enlarged, what's left out and the order in which data is revealed. Replace the data with a personal voice, and the text changes completely.

5. Blog

Purpose: To share a personal perspective and build a readership.

Key conventions:

• Conversational register
• First-person voice
• Date stamp
• Subheadings
• Hyperlinks

Look at how the writer builds closeness with readers and where personal story turns into argument. Narrow the audience to one reader, and every word carries more weight.

6. Letter

Purpose: To communicate with a specific reader, formally or personally.

Key conventions:

• Salutation
• Date
• Sign-off
• A clear writer-reader relationship

Look at the register, what the writer assumes the reader already knows, and how an open letter turns a private form into a public argument. Some texts go a step further and ask the reader to act right now.

7. Appeal

Purpose: To move the audience to donate or act, usually urgently.

Key conventions:

• Emotive image
• One person's story
• Statistics
• A deadline
• A call to action

Look at the shift from one individual to the wider crisis, and whether the text relies on guilt or hope. Sometimes, though, a serious point arrives as a joke.

8. Cartoon

Purpose: To comment on an issue through humour, exaggeration or satire.

Key conventions:

• Caricature
• Caption
• Speech bubbles
• Labels
• A single frame

Look at what's exaggerated, the symbols used and who the joke is really aimed at. These eight come up often, but they aren't the whole list.

Other Text Types on the IB List

The IB's list also includes:

• brochures and leaflets
• interviews
• photographs
• reports
• guide books and textbooks
• sets of instructions
• social media posts

Magazine articles, essays, memoirs, travelogues, manifestos and parodies can be literary or non-literary, depending on the text. The IB says its list isn't exhaustive, so a reliable method matters more than memorising every type.

How to Analyse Text-Type Conventions in Paper 1

Step 1: Identify the text type

What kind of text is this, and who is it for?

Step 2: List the expected conventions

What would a reader normally expect to see in this type?

Step 3: Notice what the creator does with them

Which conventions are used, bent or left out?

Step 4: Link it to the guiding question

How does that choice shape meaning or serve the text's purpose?

Step 5: Connect it to other choices

How does the convention work with language, structure or visuals?

This keeps your response focused on meaning rather than a list of features. Here's what that looks like in practice.

A Simple Example

Consider this fictional charity appeal, “You can't fix everything. You can fix this.”

A basic observation would be, The appeal uses direct address.

That's true, but it stops at the convention.

A stronger reading would notice that the first sentence admits the problem is too big for one person, which lowers the reader's guard. The second sentence narrows it to a single action, and the repeated “You can” turns sympathy into responsibility. The call to action works because the appeal first makes helping feel possible.

The analysis is stronger because it explains what the convention does here, not just that it's there. Even so, a few habits can pull an analysis back into description.

3 Common Mistakes With Text-Type Conventions

1. Naming the convention and moving on

“The advert has a slogan.” Explain what the slogan makes the audience believe or remember.

2. Ignoring the visual side

In multimodal texts like ads and infographics, layout, colour and images can matter as much as the words.

3. Treating every text type the same way

A blog and a speech can share a topic but reach their audience in very different ways. Let the text type shape what you look for.

IB English Text Types Checklist

Before you start writing, check that you can identify:

• the text type
• the intended audience
• the creator's purpose
• the conventions you'd expect
• which conventions are used, bent or missing
• how those choices connect to the guiding question

If your notes cover these, you have a strong base for your Paper 1 response. But what if they do, and your analysis still feels flat?

What If You Know the Text Types but Still Can't Analyse Them?

This is a common point of difficulty.

A student may recognise every convention on this list and still struggle to explain why it matters in an unfamiliar text. The gap is usually the step between spotting a feature and explaining its effect, which our guide to IB English authorial choices covers in detail.

That is where focused subject support can help.

At Mentor Match, 1:1 IB English tutoring starts with a diagnostic that shows exactly where your Paper 1 analysis stalls, then builds practice across the full range of text types.

Book a free session.

FAQs

1.What are the text types in IB English Language and Literature?

Non-literary text types on the IB's list include advertisements, appeals, blogs, brochures, cartoons, infographics, interviews, photographs, reports, social media posts and sets of instructions. Speeches, letters, opinion columns and essays can be literary or non-literary.

2.Which text types appear in IB English Paper 1?

Two unseen non-literary passages, each from a different text type. Any non-literary type can appear, so practise a wide range.

3.Do I need to memorise every IB English text type?

No. The IB's list isn't exhaustive, so a method you can apply to any text type is more useful than memorising them all.

4.Do I have to answer the guiding question in Paper 1?

It isn't compulsory, but your analysis needs a clear focus. You can choose another technical or formal aspect of the text as your entry point instead.

5.Does this apply to IB English A: Literature?

Not for Paper 1. The Literature course studies only literary texts, so non-literary text-type conventions are specific to Language and Literature.