Representational language is defined by McRae as language which "in order that its meaning be decoded by a receiver, engages the imagination of the receiver" (McRae, 1991, p. 3). This is defined in contrast to referential language "which communicates on only one level usually in terms of information being sought or given" (McRae, 1991, p. 3). What does this mean? In simple terms representational materials are texts (here I take this to mean reading texts), where meaning can be decoded in several ways and where the decoding must be worked out by the imagination. Examples of this kind of text could be advertising materials, poetry or news headlines. Referential materials are texts that use language which is normally decoded in the same way by all receivers. The words of the text "mean what they say, no more and no less" (McRae, 1996, p.17). The simplest example of this kind of text could be a recipe, a bus timetable or, it must be said, almost any reading text found in an EFL textbook.