An investigation into layout features of english texts introducing world cultural heritage sites in the united kingdom

ndscape. This landscape 
was greatly appreciated from the 18th century 
onwards by the Picturesque and later Romantic 
movements, which celebrated it in paintings, 
drawings and words. It also inspired an awareness of 
the importance of beautiful landscapes and triggered 
early efforts to preserve them. 
Il
lu
s 
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The findings of the layout in ETWHS in the UK are 
presented in the table below: 
Table 1. Distribution of layout patterns in ETWHS 
Patterns Occurrence Rate 
Pattern 1 (H + Intro + Illus + BC) 24 92.3% 
Pattern 2 (H + Intro + Illus) 2 7.7% 
Total 26 100% 
From the statistics in Table 1, it is easy to realize that 
pattern 1 including four elements is employed at a higher 
frequency (92.3%). On the contrary, pattern 2, which 
consists of three elements,shows a lower frequency (7.7%). 
In sum, to build up an English Text Introducing World 
Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK, it is necessary to have four 
parts namely the Headline, the Introduction, the Illustration 
and the Body Copy so that the readers can get an overview 
and profound knowledge about World Cultural Heritage 
Sites. Pattern 1 is a typical one of an English Text 
Introducing World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK. 
3.2. Components of Layout in ETWHS 
3.2.1. The Headline 
The Headline is the title of a text and is considered as 
an indispensable part of any type of discourse, especially 
written discourse. The headline usually catches the readers’ 
eyes and arouses their attention to the text. Hence, the 
headline tends to come first in the text in the most effective 
and fascinating way. According to Brown and Yule (1983), 
“what the speaker or writer puts first will influence the 
interpretation of everything that follows”. 
The headline in ETWHS usually includes proper nouns 
referring to place-name and proper nouns mentioning both 
place-name and name of Saints,Kings. 
The table below illustrates the headline in ETWHS 
Table 2. Distribution of the Headline in ETWHS 
Types of Headlines Occurrence Rate 
Noun / Noun Phrase + Place name 
Place name + Noun / Noun Phrase 
21 80.8% 
Noun / Noun Phrase + Name of 
Saints / Kings + Place name 
Place name + Noun / Noun Phrase 
+ Name of Saints / Kings 
4 15.4% 
Explorer’s name + Noun / Noun 
phrase 
1 3.8% 
Total 26 100% 
Below are some typical instances: 
(3.3) Tower of London ( 
(3.4) Blenheim Palace ( 
(3.5) Castles and Town Walls of King Edward 
inGwynedd ( 
(3.6) Historic Town of St. George and 
RelatedFortifications, Bermuda 
( 
(3.7) Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey, 
andSt. Martin's Church ( 
46 Hoang Thi Nhung, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa 
(3.8) Gorham's Cave Complex 
( 
As can be seen from the above examples, a headline 
may be formed by a noun or a noun phrase. In addition, the 
conjunction “and” is frequently used when World Cultural 
Heritage Sites comprise more than one heritage sites. 
It is clear from Table 2 that all English Texts Introducing 
World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK contain a headline. 
Furthermore, the writers have a strong tendency to use the 
headlines that consist of proper names referring to place-
name (making up 80.8%), whereas the headlines including 
proper names referring to both place-name and name of 
Saints /Kings account for 15.4%.Only one headline that 
includes an explorer’s name takes up 3.8% as presented in 
example (3.8). Gorham discovered the cave in 1907 and the 
cave was named after Captain Gorham. 
3.2.2. The Introduction 
Placed under the headline in a distinguished paragraph 
with a smaller font size than that of the headline, the 
introduction provides background information of what is 
going to be about. The introduction is usually constructed 
within only a few sentences in order to help the readers 
have a general picture of the heritage sites mentioned. The 
typical examples are presented as follows: 
(3.9) The Town of St George, founded in 1612, is an 
outstanding example of the earliest English urban 
settlement in the New World. Its associated 
fortifications graphically illustrate the development of 
English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th 
century, being adapted to take account of the 
development of artillery over this period. 
(Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda 
(3.10) The massive White Tower is a typical example 
of Norman military architecture, whose influence was 
felt throughout the kingdom. It was built on the Thames 
by William the Conqueror to protect London and assert 
his power. The Tower of London – an imposing fortress 
with many layers of history, which has become one of 
the symbols of royalty – was built around the White 
Tower. 
(Tower of London-  
3.2.3. The Illustration 
The illustration is an indispensable part in an English 
Text Introducing World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK. 
In fact, all these texts are accompanied by pictures, as 
Wyrick (2005) claims that put pictures “to make your 
reader feel, first make them see”. As a result, pictures or 
illustrations provide scenic views of World Cultural 
Heritage Sites to attract the readers’ attention and to 
stimulate their desire to pay a visit to these World Cultural 
Heritage Sites, for “by appealing to the reader’s senses, it 
can enable them to imagine the subject being 
described”.Together with the power of words, the 
illustration may enhance the effectiveness and makes the 
whole text more vivid and more convincing. Here are some 
illustrations: 
(3.11) Liverpool-Maritime Mercantile City 
( 
(3.12) Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, 
and St Martin's Church 
( 
3.2.4. The Body Copy 
The Body Copy is considered the core of an English Text 
Introducing World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK as it 
presents detailed information about the heritage. The Body 
Copy of an this kind of text is always divided into five 
sections under subheadings namely brief synthesis, criteria 
for recognition of World Cultural Heritage Sites, integrity, 
authenticity and protection and management requirementsas 
presented in example (3.1). Based on the contents of the 
Body Copy, it can be clearly seen that “Brief synthesis” 
refers to origin, location, establishment and development 
period of heritage sites; “Criteria for recognition of World 
Cultural Heritage Sites” mentions the quantity of criteria 
gained by the cultural heritage sites; “Integrity” shows the 
condition of being unified, unimpaired, or sound in 
construction of the heritage sites; “Authenticity” refers to 
the current state of the heritage sites; “Protection and 
management requirements” gives solutions in order to 
maintain and preserve the heritage sites. 
4. Conclusion 
In summary, the study reveals that the layout of English 
Texts Introducing World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK 
consists of 2 patterns. It is easy to realize from the statistics 
that pattern 1(H + Intro + Illus + BC) including four 
elements is employed at much more frequency (92.3%). On 
the contrary, pattern 2 (H + Intro + Illus) which consists 
of three elements is at much lower frequency (7.7%). 
Therefore, to build up an English Text Introducing World 
Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK, it is necessary to have 
ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO. 12(133).2018 47 
four components namely the Headline, the Introduction, 
the Illustration and the Body Copy. The Headline 
attracts the readers’ attention at the first sight and helps 
them easily remember the heritage. The Introduction gives 
background information about the heritage. The 
Illustration with vivid and beautiful images performs the 
duty of supporting the title to persuade the readers to 
believe in what is written in the Body Copy. The last 
component, the Body Copy, which is the most important 
part of the text, provides location, origin, development 
process, striking features and detailed information about 
the heritage.The Body Copy is divided into many sections 
namely brief synthesis, criteria for recognition of World 
Cultural Heritage Sites, integrity,authenticity and 
protection and management requirements. All of these 
components make an English Text Introducing World 
Cultural Heritage Sites in the UKmore informative and 
impressive. It is suggested that layout features are very 
useful and necessary for building up a complete English 
Text Introducing World Cultural Heritage Sites in the UK. 
Proper use of layout in writing this kind of text helps 
readers obtain an overview and profound knowledge about 
World Cultural Heritage Sites. Besides, layouts in ETWHS 
help ETWHS convey the important and meaningful 
information about heritage sites towards readers in a 
coherent and logic order and assist readers to get insights 
into these heritage sites. 
REFERENCES 
[1] Brown, G. and Yule, G. (1983), Discourse Analysis, Cambridge 
University. 
[2] Delin, J. (2000), The Language of Everyday Life, Sage Publications. 
[3] Hornby, A.S. (1995), Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 
Oxford University Press. 
[4] Leech, G. (1966), English in Advertising, London, Longman. 
[5] Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition (2010), 
Cambridge University Press. 
[6] Palmer, J.D. (1983), Getting into Texts: Coherence in English, Cross 
Current X2. 
[7] Vahtikari, T. (2017), Valuing World Heritage Cities, London and 
New York: Routledge. 
[8] Wyrick, J. (2005), Steps to Writing Well – 6th Edition, Thomson 
Wadsworth. 
[9] Dictionary.com:https://www.dictionary.com/browse/layout (retrieved 
on July 27th, 2018). 
[10] The Law dictionary https://thelawdictionary.org/layout/(retrieved on 
July 27th, 2018). 
[11] UNESCO website: (retrieved on July 24th, 
2017).
(The Board of Editors received the paper on 15/8/2018, its review was completed on 15/9/2018)