TL;DR: A non-linear text presents information so the reader can enter it at any point rather than reading it in sequence: graphs, charts, tables, infographics, maps, timelines and graphic organisers. DepEd's MATATAG English curriculum names it directly in Grade 7 Quarter 3, where learners must analyse how non-linear texts such as graphs, charts, infographics and graphic organisers represent or summarise the contents of informational texts; Grade 8 extends the same competency to photographs and cartoons. The classroom task built on this is transcoding, meaning turning a graphic into a paragraph or a paragraph into a graphic. A good transcoded paragraph names what is shown, the units and period, the extremes, the pattern, and at most one figure you worked out yourself, and it stops before explaining why.
Non-linear text is one of those topics where the definition takes ten seconds and the actual skill takes practice, which is why worksheets on it feel harder than the textbook page. This guide gives the definition, the types DepEd names, and worked examples in both directions with the reasoning spelled out. Where data appears below it is made up for teaching purposes and labelled as such. For the texts these graphics usually sit inside, read our companion guide on informational text.
What Makes a Text Non-Linear?
The distinction is about reading path, not about pictures. A linear text is designed to be read in one order, from the first word to the last, and the writer controls the sequence: a short story, a news report, an essay, a set of instructions written as prose. A non-linear text is designed so that the reader chooses the entry point and the order: you can look at one bar of a bar graph, one cell of a table or one branch of a flowchart and understand it without reading the rest.
That gives you a practical test for an exam. Ask: can I start in the middle and still make sense of what I am looking at? If yes, it is non-linear.
| Non-linear text | Best at showing | What it hides |
|---|---|---|
| Bar graph | Comparing amounts across categories | Change over time within a category |
| Line graph | Change over time, and rate of change | The size of the underlying counts, if unlabelled |
| Pie chart | Parts of one whole | Comparison between two different wholes |
| Table | Exact values, many variables at once | The overall pattern, unless you look hard |
| Venn diagram | Overlap and difference between sets | Quantity, unless numbers are written in |
| Flowchart | Order of steps and decision points | How long each step takes |
| Timeline | Sequence and gaps between events | Cause, which readers wrongly infer from order |
| Concept map | Relationships between ideas | Which relationship matters most |
| Infographic | A whole argument at a glance | Its own sources, which are often tiny or absent |
| Editorial cartoon | A stance, compressed into an image | Nuance, deliberately |
Where Non-Linear Text Sits in the Curriculum
Under the MATATAG English curriculum, Grade 7 Quarter 3 carries a competency requiring learners to analyse how non-linear texts represent or summarise the contents of informational texts, naming graphs, charts, infographics and graphic organisers. The parallel Grade 8 competency extends the same list to photographs and to cartoons or sketches. In both cases the competency sits inside the informational text subdomain rather than standing alone, which tells you how it is meant to be taught: as a way of reading and evaluating information, not as a drawing exercise.
The previous 2016 English curriculum framed the same skill as transcoding, moving information from linear to non-linear form and back, and DepEd's own learning modules still use that wording. The word survives in classrooms even where the competency code has changed. For how the curriculum was reorganised, see our MATATAG curriculum guide.
Worked Example: Turning a Table Into a Paragraph
The data below is made up for this guide. No survey was conducted and these are not real figures for any school.
Illustrative: how the 40 learners of one Grade 7 section travelled to school on the day of a class survey
| Mode of travel | Number of learners |
|---|---|
| Walking | 14 |
| Tricycle | 11 |
| Jeepney | 9 |
| Private vehicle | 4 |
| Bicycle | 2 |
| Total | 40 |
A model transcoded paragraph:
The table shows how the 40 learners of one Grade 7 section travelled to school on the day of a class survey. Walking was the most common mode, reported by 14 learners, followed by tricycle with 11 and jeepney with 9. The least common were private vehicle, with 4 learners, and bicycle, with 2. Taken together, 34 of the 40 learners, or 85 percent, reached school either on foot or by public transport.
Why each sentence is there:
- Sentence one names the source, the whole and the moment. Forty learners, one section, one day. Without the total, every number that follows is unreadable; without the date, a reader cannot judge whether it still holds.
- Sentence two gives the top of the ranking with the actual counts. Ranking without figures is vague; figures without ranking is a re-typed table. You need both.
- Sentence three gives the bottom. Extremes at both ends define the spread, and markers look for both.
- Sentence four adds one derived figure. The 34 and the 85 percent are not in the table; the writer worked them out. One such calculation shows understanding. Four of them turn the paragraph back into a list.
- Nothing explains why. The table cannot show why learners walk. Writing "because most learners live near the school" would be an invented cause, and it is the most common reason this task loses marks.
Worked Example: Turning a Paragraph Into a Graphic
The reverse task is choosing the right organiser, and the right choice follows from the structure of the passage rather than from personal preference.
Illustrative passage: To secure a barangay clearance, a resident first fills out the request form at the barangay hall and presents a valid identification card. The staff then verify the applicant's residency against the barangay records. Once residency is confirmed, the applicant pays the processing fee at the treasurer's window. The clearance is finally signed and released, usually on the same day.
This is a sequence, signalled by first, then, once and finally, so the organiser has to preserve order: a flowchart or a numbered process chain. A Venn diagram would be wrong here, because nothing in the passage overlaps.
| If the passage is structured as | Use this organiser |
|---|---|
| Sequence or process | Flowchart, process chain, timeline |
| Comparison and contrast | Venn diagram, T-chart, comparison table |
| Cause and effect | Cause-effect chain, fishbone diagram |
| Problem and solution | Problem-solution chart with a column for each |
| Description or classification | Concept map, tree diagram, table |
If you are unsure which structure a passage has, our guide to the four expository structures sets out the signal words for each.
How to Read a Non-Linear Text: A Seven-Step Routine
- Read the title. It tells you what the whole thing is about and often what it leaves out.
- Read the axis labels or column headings. A graph with unlabelled axes is not evidence of anything.
- Find the units and the scale. Pesos or thousands of pesos, learners or percentage of learners: these are different claims.
- Check where the vertical axis starts. If it does not start at zero, small differences will look dramatic. This is the single most common distortion.
- Check the range shown. A line graph covering three years inside a twenty-year record can point the opposite way to the full record.
- Find the source and the date. No source and no date means you cannot verify it, which is itself a finding worth writing down.
- Ask what is missing. A pie chart with an "others" slice larger than its named slices is hiding most of the answer.
Traps Worth Naming in an Answer
- Truncated vertical axis. Exaggerates differences without falsifying a single number.
- Percentages with no base. A 100 percent increase can mean two cases became four.
- Cherry-picked date range. True for the window shown, misleading about the trend.
- Two pie charts compared directly. Slices of different wholes are not comparable unless both totals are given.
- Order read as cause. A timeline shows that one thing followed another, never that it was caused by it.
- An infographic with no sources. Design quality is not evidence quality.
Naming any of these in an evaluation task is exactly what the curriculum's credibility competencies are asking for: judging accuracy, relevance, timeliness and objectivity rather than only extracting figures.
Disclaimer: curriculum competencies and their quarter placement are set by DepEd and revised from time to time. Confirm current requirements with your teacher or against the official curriculum guide before relying on this for graded work. Our DepEd English curriculum guide tracks how the subject is organised.
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Sources
- DepEd — MATATAG Curriculum, English (Grades 2-10), August 2023
- DepEd Learning Resource Portal — English learning materials on linear and non-linear texts
- DepEd — DO 010, s. 2024, Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum
- SchoolFinderPH — Informational Text Guide
- SchoolFinderPH — MATATAG Curriculum Guide
