Week 9 Lecture Notes

8/10/2019 Week 9 Lecture Notes

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TXGX6304:

Language for Specific Purposes

Dr. Cecilia Cheong Yin Mei

Email:[email protected]

Room:TD13, 2ndFloor

Bakawali Building

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Tel. no.:03-7967 3139

or

Multimedia Planning Unit

Anggerik Building

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Overview(Weeks 9, 11 - 14)

Week Topic

Week 9

G1: 11 Nov

G2: 31 Nov

Approaches/ Practices in LSP

Application of Approaches to LSP

Week 11

G1: 25 Nov

G2: 27 Nov

The Practice of LSP in the Academic and Research Domain

Week 12

G1: 2 Dec

G2: 4 Dec

The Practice of LSP in the Professional Domain

Week 13

G1: 9 Dec

G2: 11 Dec

New Media genres & Multimodality

Seminar: Reflective paper (based on Weeks 8-10 work)

(25%)

Week 14

G1: 16 Dec

G2: 18 Dec

Seminar: Reflective paper (based on Weeks 8-10 work)

(25%)

31 Dec 2014

@ 35 p.m.Final Examination


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Approaches/ Practices in LSP

Earliest work, 1960s, quantitative study of the formal features ofbroad language varieties or registers (e.g. Barber, 1962; Halliday,McIntosh & Strevens, 1964)

Rhetorical approach to the description of scientific and

technological text; rhetorical purpose: defining, classifying,generalising, describing, exemplifying, comparing and

contrasting, sequencing, identifying cause and effect, etc (e.g.Trimble, 1985)

Dynamic situational-functional facets of communicative practices

Focus on specific genres and communicative purposes, not just

formal features (Swales, 1990)


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What is Genre?

The term genre comes from the Latin genus,

A fundamental concept in philosopher Aristotles system of

classification of entities having some common characteristics:

a particular class or category or type or kind or style of acommunicative practice, which is described, classified and recognized

to belong to its group in accordance to some characteristic and

distinctive features of its form, content or employed technique


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Application of Approaches to LSP

(Discourse Analysis)

Genre Analysis

1) The American New Rhetoric School - more contextually thanlinguistically grounded; stressed the flexible and dynamic nature

of generic structure potential

2) Hallidayan linguistics / SFL in Australia- focused on primaryand secondary school genres rather than those of the university


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Genre Analysis

3) The British and now internationally practised ESP

Deeper and narrower approach with models for genre analysis(e.g. Swales 1990, Bhatia 1993.)

Swales - academic discourse; Bhatia - business, academic and

legal genres

Predictable formulaic aspects of certain genres (move structureand typical patterns of linguistic realisation)

Models of generic structure used as a basis for the developmentof pedagogic materials (e.g. Swales & Feak, 1994)


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Other discourse analysis

- contrastive rhetoric, corpus linguistics and ethnographically influenced

methods

4) Contrastive rhetoric - study of similarities and differences betweentwo languages and how the influence of the L1 may affect the wayindividuals express themselves in the L2 (e.g. Kaplan 1966, Connor,1996)

5) Corpus linguistics - collection, structuring and analysis of largeamounts of discourse usually with the assistance of computers (e.g.Sinclair & Cobuilt project, 1991; Bibersregister analysis, 1988)

6) Ethnography - views text as one feature of the social situationwhich includes the values, roles, assumptions, attitudes andpatterns of behaviour of participants or text producers and receivers;emphasises direct observation, interview and other modes ofanalysing the situational context in addition to textual analysis


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LSP & Genre Theory

Attempt to describe and explain regularities of purpose, form and situated social

action.

Why Genre Theory & Analysis?

Pedagogic potentials of genre analysis

Genre Analysis is known for its various pedagogic implications. Genre is averypowerful pedagogic toolbecause it defines the kinds of discourse the

students need to be able to produce, and alsoconsidering its social context

and purposeit can explain whya discourse is the way it is(Kay and Dudley-

Evans, 1998 : 310).

The best-realized link between discourse analysis and contemporary L2

pedagogy(Poole, 2002: 76):

o it aids writing instructors via yielding analyses of different

academic/professional texts, and also

o helps them provide appropriate discourse awareness for their students.


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Genre

Abstract, socially recognised ways of using language.

Miller (1984) defines genre as typifiedrhetorical actionsthat respond

to recurring situations and become instantiated in the communities

behaviour.

A similar group of texts depend on the social context of their creation

and use.

Relates a text to other texts like it, and to the choices and constraints.

Recurrent use of conventionalised forms.


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Swalesdefinition of genre:

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members

of which share some set of communicative purposes. These

purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent

discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the

genre. This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the

discourse and influences and constrains choices of content andstyle. Communicative purpose is both a privileged criterion and

one that operates to keep the scope of a genre here and conceived

narrowly focused on comparable rhetorical action. In addition to

purpose, exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity

in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience. I f allhi gh probabil ity expectations are realized, the exemplar will be

viewed as prototypical by the parent discourse community.

Swales (1990: 58)


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Explanation on Swaless(1993) definition:

Genre is seen as a class of communicative events that are characterized both

by their communicative purposesand by various patterns of structure,

style, content, and intended audience (Swales, 1990).

These shared communicativepurposesand structures are recognized by theexpert members in the area/discpline, and are responsible for shaping a

genre and providing it with an internal structure a schematic structure.

The rational that shapes the schematic structure of the discourse also gives

rise to constraining conventions .

(Swales, 1990, p. 53)


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Bhatia (1993) concurs with Swales in that the most important aspect of

genre is the recognisability and sufficient standardization, which is

based on a set of mutually accessible conventions which most

members of the professional or institutional organisation share, in thatthe members of the discourse or professional community may recognise

the genre as a typical and valid example of the particular genre.

Bhatia offers his definition of genre as:

... a recognizable communicative event characterized by a set of

communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the

members of the professional or academic community in which it

regularly occurs. Most often it is highly structured and conventionalized

with constraints on allowable contributions in terms of their intent,

positioning, form and functional value. These constraints, however, are

often exploited by the expert members of the discourse community to

achieve private intentions within the framework of socially recognized

purpose(s).

Bhatia (1993: 13)


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Explanation on Bhatias(1993) definition:

Even though genre is a recognizable communicative event , it is primarily the

communicative purpose(s) that it is intended to fulfil. The communicative

purpose(s) is the factor that shapes the genre and gives it an internal

structure.

Specialist members of any professional and academic community can

recognized the genre of its discourse community.

The writer has the freedom to use linguistic resources in any way s/he likes to

achieve its communicative purpose(s) but must conform to certain standard

practices within the boundaries of a particular genre without being noticeably

odd.

Members of the professional or academic community have greater knowledge

of the conventional purpose(s), construction and use of specific genres than

the non-specialists.


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The texts that belong to one genre share a set of communicative purposes.

The recognition of the structure is important in understanding the genre as

the rational that shapes the structure gives rise to constraining conventions.

For example, the purpose of a research paper differs from that of a

newspaper article.

Thus, the different communicative purpose places constraints on the formalfeatures of the text, the discourse structure, and the lexical and grammatical

choices.

The above definition by Swales (1990) emphasises the purposive nature of

genres and concerns the way genres look. The communicative purposes

constitute the rationale for the genre, which means that the purpose of a

genre constructs a particular textstructure, and a host of conventionalised

verbal and visual rhetorical strategies.


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The diagram below conceptualises the interdependency of the three

constituents of Swalesgenre model, which capture the essence of what is

called genres.

Communicative purpose

realised by

Move Structure

realised by

Rhetorical strategies

Swales three-level genre model


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Discourse Community

Within a community, language plays an important role in discourse practices.

In Swales genre analysis, the importance of the discourse communities is

highlighted.

According to Swales, discourse communities are socio-rhetorical networksthat form in order to work towards sets of common goals.

One of the characteristics that established members of these discourse

communities possess is familiaritywith the particular genres that is used in

the communicative furtherance of those sets of goals (Swales, 1990).


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Swales (1990) has identified six characteristics of a discourse community as

follows:

A discourse community:

1. has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.

2. has mechanisms of inter-communication among its members.

3. uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information andfeedback.

4. utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative

furtherance of its aims.

5. has acquired some specific lexis.

6. has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant

content and discoursal expertise.


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Genre set

A set of genres interacting to accomplish communicative purposes.

An example Academic/Research Domain

Samraj (2005: 141) researched on genre sets in academic communities. She

categorized research articles introduction and abstracts as a genre set.

An example

Professional DomainWithin professional communication, Devitt (1991, p. 340) has investigated the

accountants genre system, a set of genres interacting to accomplish the work of

the tax department and shown that any text is best understood within the

context of other texts(1991, p. 336).

Concept - Genre set as a system of interrelated genres

Bazerman (1994) has extended Devitts concept of genre set into the notion of

systems of genres. He has explored the system for patent creation and has stated

that studying a genre system entails analyzing interrelated genres produced

through generic turns by multiple participants belonging to that system


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Function Analyzing genre sets for characterizing disciplinary and

interdisciplinary genres

Miller (1994) has stated that we can characterize a culture by its genre set.

Thus, we might claim that the comprehensive characterization of a

disciplinary culture will need to include a discussion of its genre set.

Disciplinary norms in academic writing may be manifested not just in termsof the genres important to that discipline and variation in generic structure but

also in the relationships among related genres.

In other words, to understand academic writing across disciplines, we need to

not just consider how a particular genre varies across disciplines but we also

need to investigate how two or more genres are related to each other in

different disciplines.


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A Genre within another Genre

Bhatia (1993) - two genres fulfill different communicative purposes and

hence possess different macro-organizations.

Samraj (2005: 142) noted that though the research article introduction is strictly

a part of the research article and hence a part-genre (Dudley-Evans, 1997), it has

also been shown to have a well-defined purpose and overall organization

(Swales, 1990).

Bhatia (1997) refers to all academic introductions, including research article

introductions, as genres.

In addition, the two genres, research article introductionsand abstracts, appear

to be related, though the nature of the relationship is not completely clear. Bothgenres are related to the research article: one genre is central to the research

article itself, and the other has been said to be an article synopsis (Bhatia, 1993).

Bhatia has stated that these two genres fulfill different communicative

purposesand hence possess different macro-organizations.


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Systems of Genres

Bazerman (1994:97) - all the interrelated genres that interact with each other

in specific settings.

Bazerman (1994:97) proposed the concept ofsystems of genres, which refer to all

the interrelated genres that interact with each other in specific settings. He

described the systems of genre:

...would be the full interaction, the full event, the set of social relationships as ithas been enacted. It embodies the full history of speech events as intertextual

occurrences, but attending to the way that all the intertext is instantiated in

generic form exablishing the current act in relation to prior acts.

Bhatia (2004:55) stated that the notion of systems of genres is morecomprehensive than the notion of genre sets, and is a very useful tool for

investigating intertextually and interdiscursively related genres embedded within

a specific professional activity.


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Genre Chain

Fairclough (2003) defines genre chains as different genres which are

regularly linked together, involving systematic transformations from genre

to genre, such as official documents, associated press releases or press

conferences, reports in the press or on television, etc.

Swales (2004:18-20) illustrated a genre chain:

Call for Abstract Conference Abstract Review Process (Accept/Reject)

Instructions ... Oral Presentation Conference proceedings/Selected

papers for publication


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Genre Networks

Tadorov (1990:15) remarked:

Where do genres come from? Quite simply, from other genres. A new genre is

always the transformation of an earlier one, or of several: by inversion, by

displacement, by combination.

Geertz (1983: 20-21) perception of the development:

... we more and more see ourselves surrounded by a vast, almost continuous

field of variously intended and diversely constructed works we can order onlypractically, relationally, and as our purposes prompt us.


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Genre Colony and Supergenre

Bhatia (2004:57-59) noted that most super genres can be regarded as colonies

of related genres, with members not necessarily respecting disciplinary or

domain boundaries. In the case of business, there are advertisements, sales

promotion letters, news reports, business reports, book reviews, book blurbs,

etc.

Genre colony brings a degree of versatility to genre identification and

description. It allows principled relationship between supergenres, genres and

sub-genres. It also makes it possible to relate these categories to features of

context.


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Generic Description

Versatility in Generic Description

(Adapted from: Bhatia, 2004)

IDENTIFICATION

CRITERIA

Rhetorical Act

Communicative Purpose

(General)

Communicative Purpose(Specific)

Medium

Product/Service

Participants

GENRE SPECIFICATION

DESCRIPTION EVALUATION

Promotional Genres

Book Blubs Advertisements Job Applications

TV Ads Print Ads Internet Ads

Car Ads Airline Ads Cosmetic Ads

for holiday travellers for business travellers

GENRE

LEVEL

Generic value

Genre Colony

Genre

Sub-genres

Sub-genres

Sub-genres


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Genre Mixing and Hybrid Genres

The relationship between texts and genres is a potentially complex one. A textmay not be in a single genre, as it may mixor hybridizedifferent genres

(Bhatia, 2004; Fairclough, 2003). Genre mixing is an aspect of the

interdiscursivity of texts. A number of social researchers and theorists have

drawn attention to ways in which social boundaries are blurred in

contemporary social life, and to the forms of hybridity or mixing of social

practices (Fairclough, 2003).

Bhatia (2004: 90) and Fairclough (1992: 207) identified hybrid genres.

They are:

genres which are the result of the blurring of boundaries between

discourses, and which appear to be especially prominent in the domain of

contemporary media.

(Fairclough, 2003: 35)


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Schools of genre theory

(1) The New Rhetoric approach - more contextually oriented

(2) Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach

more linguistic in approach

(3) The English for Specific Purposes (ESP) approach

Differ in:

the emphasis they give to text or context

the research methods they employ

the types of pedagogies they encourage


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(1) The New Rhetoric approach

This approach, adopted particularly in North America, is influenced by post-

structuralism, rhetoric and first language composition

It studies genre asthe motivated, functional relationship between text type

and rhetorical situation(Coe, 2002: p. 195).

The focus here is mainly on the rhetorical contexts in which genres are

employed rather than detailed analyses of text elements (e.g. Freedman &

Medway, 1994).

Focuses more on situational context, and emphasises on the social purposes

and the actions resulting from these purposes within specific situations.

The emphasis on the socially constructed nature of genre has helped to

unpack some of the complex relations between text and context, and theways that one reshapes the other.

As the focus is in the action(rather than substance or form) that the genre is

used to accomplish, the methodology is ethnographic the activities,

attitudes, beliefs , values and patterns of behaviour (culture) of the discourse

community engaging in the genre(s)


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The New Rhetoric approach emphasizes the flexible and dynamic nature of

genres and the link between rhetorical forms and social needs.

Studies in this approach tend to explore how genres evolve in different

sociocultural settings to achieve particular purposes, making them dynamic in

nature.

The New Rhetoric approach to the study of research articles helps us to see the

changes that have taken place in text production over a long period of time,linking these changes to the changing social needs and that texts are dynamic

and not static products.

The studies in this approach indicate that genres are shaped by social factors and

that texts occur in social contexts and employed by specific communities to

achieve recognized goals.


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Year Researcher Research

1987 Bazerman Traced the evolution of the scientific articles, highlighting that the

rhetorical forms have arisen from social needs; how production of

texts evolved in order to negotiate scientific knowledge at differingtimes and places;

The changing nature of scientific articles is necessary to cater to

changing social needs.

1988 Bazerman Observed changes in the length, referencing and argument in

research articles in physics which are a reflection of increasing

knowledge, competition amongst other researchers and readersexpectations.

1995 Berkenkotter &

Huckin

In their analysis of biology research articles since 1944 argued that

the increasing promotion of results was brought about to

accommodate the increasingly selective reading by researchers who

are usually such busy people inundated with an expansion of

information in the sciences.

1996 Atkinson In his analysis of research writing from the seventeenth century

found that papers became less affective and more focused, more

informational rather than narrative-like over a period of time.


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(2) The Systemic Functional Linguistics(SFL) approach

Known in the US as the Sydney School approach (e.g. Hyon, 1996 and

Johns, 2002), because it was developed at the University of Sydney based

on Hallidays (1994) Systemic Functional Linguistics, a model thatidentifies the close correlations between formand function.

This model of genre stresses the purposeful, interactive, and sequential

character of different genres, and the ways language is systematically

linked to context through patternsof lexico-grammatical and rhetorical

features(Christie & Martin, 1997).

It is interested in both the context in which genres are produced as well

as in the linguistic features of the genres themselves.

Motivated by a commitment to language and literacy education; links

language to its context of use, studying how language varies from one

context to another and the underlying patterns which organise texts so

that they are culturally and socially recognised as performing particular

functions. Genre theory here suggests that texts occur not in isolation

but in social contexts and they are goal oriented and culturally

determined (Martin, 1984 in Eggins, 1994).


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Certain cultures in a discourse community may have certain restrictions

regarding language use by its members in the community requiring a

particular structure for its communicative purpose to be achieved.

Discourse is analysed for its structural characteristics, its crucial semanticattributes of the structural elements and its lexico-grammatical patterns (Hasan,

1984; Halliday, 1985, 1994). In examining the generic structures, the values of the

field, tenor and mode (the components of its contextual configuration)

determine the range of textual structures available within a genre. Thus,

different social situations will produce different genres because each social

situation has its own configuration of values.

E.g. A first year university lecture in Biology combines choices from that

particular field(topic) with the ways in which lectures are conducted and

the lecture activates the choices brought about by the (tenor)

relationship between the lecturer and the audience, in this case first year

students. The lecture can be identified by the mode (form/style/manner)

of discourse which usually would be semi-spontaneous speech (Lewin et at.,2001, p. 8).

Systemic functional linguists show how lexico-grammatical choices are

determined by topicand writer-reader relationships (Halliday and Martin, 1993).


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Year Researcher Research

1985 Halliday &Hasan Classified texts according to genre. The Generic Structure Potential

specifies the obligatory and typical optional elements of the genre

and the ordering.

1985 Martin Provides a generic systems network which captures the features ofa genre based on the similarities and differences between text

structures which thereby define text types.

1987 Ventola System of genre realization which allows for texts which have

missing obligatory elements to be recognized as being within a

genre.

1994 Halliday Views language as a resource for making meaning and proposesthat the language system has evolved to express three kinds of

meanings: experiential meaning (how language is used to represent

our understanding of the world around us), the interpersonal

meaning(how language is used to create relationships with others),

and the textual meaning (how textual resources are necessary to

create cohesive and coherent texts).

2001 Martinez Examined research articles within the context of genre analysis

using the framework of transitivity in Systemic Functional

Linguistics. This approach suggests that each stage of a genre

exhibits certain predictable lexico-grammatical choices. The

distribution of material, mental, verbal, relational and existential

processes in the different sections of the research article shows a

relationship between the characteristic process types and the

functions of the sections.


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(3) The English for Specific Purposes (ESP) approach

Developed by practitioners working in the field of ESP in the 1980s - i.e.

John Swales, Vijay Bhatia. The motivation for GA was the goal of

developing pedagogic materials for non-native speakers of English.

Influence L2 writing instruction, grounding teaching in a solid research

base and drawing strength from an eclectic set of pedagogies and

linguistic theories; to provide students with a knowledge of relevant

genres so that they can work effectively in their target contexts.

This approach is more linguistic in orientation and sees genre as a class of

structured communicative events employed by specific discourse

communities whose members share broad social purposes(Swales, 1990:

pp. 4547).

These social purposes are the rationale of a genre and help to shape the

ways it is structured and the choices of content and style it makes

available (Johns, 1997).


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The most influential ESP genre-analysis framework was established by

Swales (1981, 1990) and has set the standard for a formalistic approach to

genre analysis of academic, professional and scientific discourse studies.

In the ESP approach, textual patterns or organisation in a genre is analysed

by breaking the text up into moves. Swalesmoves analysis not only looks at

the structure but also studies the lexico-grammatical features of moves.

The ESP approach focuses on the structure and typical linguistic realizationsof certain genres.

l b l k


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Year Researcher Title

1981 Swales Aspects of Article Introductions

1984 Crookes Towards a Validated Analysis of Scientific Text Structure

1986 Dudley-Evans Genre Analysis: An Investigation of the Introduction andDiscussion Sections of MSc Dissertation

1988 Hopkins

Dudley-Evans

A Genre-Based Investigation of the Discussion Sections in

Articles and Dissertations

1990 Swales Genre Analysis: English in Academic and research Settings

1991 Bhatia A Genre-Based Approach to ESP Materials

1991 Nwogu Structure of Science Popularizations: A Genre-Analysis

Approach to the Schema of Popularized Medical Texts1993 Bhatia Analysing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings

1994 Brett A Genre Analysis of the Results Section of Sociology

Articles

1997 Holmes Genre Analysis, and the Social Sciences: An Investigation of

the Structure of Research Article Discussion Sections in

Three Disciplines

1997 Nwogu The Medical Research Paper: Structure and Functions

1999 Williams Results Sections of Medical Research Articles: Analysis of

Rhetorical Categories for Pedagogical Purposes

1999 Posteguillo The Schematic Structure of Computer Science Research

Article

2000 Feak, Reinhart

Sinsheimer

A Preliminary Analysis of Law Review Notes

2002 Button Generic Moves in Ph.D Thesis Introductions

Genre Analysis Studies based on Swales Framework


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Comparison of the

3 genre schools

ESP Analysis Australian Genre

Theories

New Rhetoric

Studies

Researchers ESP scholarship

interested in L2

teaching

Systemic-functional

linguists

North American

scholarship

interested in L1

teachingObjective Pedagogical Pedagogical Pedagogical

Setting Non-Native Speakers

of English, EAP,

English for

Professional

Communication for

adult L2 learners

Primary; secondary,

adult education for

minorities, migrant

workers and other

mainstream groups

Native Speakers of

English in

undergraduate

schools

Genre Theory Genre asCommunicative

events characterized

by their communicative

purposes and by

various patterns of

structure, style,

content and intended

audience (Swales,

1990, p. 58)

Genre as Staged-goal-oriented social

processes

(Martin, Christie and

Rothery, 1987)

Genre as socialaction with social

purposes (Miller,

1984)

Text Analysis Structural move

analyses to describe

global organizational

patterns

Analysis of linguistic

features within

Hallidayan schemes

of linguistic analysis

Text analysis based

on ethnographic

methods


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Historical development of written discourse analysis (1)

STAGE ANALYSIS FINDINGS EXAMPLES

T

E

X

TU

A

L

I

Z

A

TI

O

N

Statistical significance of

lexico-grammar

Passives in EST: Nominalizations in

legal English; Noun-verb

combinations in legal texts

Halliday et al.

(1964); Barber

(1962); Crystal

and Davy (1969);

Spencer (1975)

Textualisation of

distinctive lexico-

grammatical resources

Tenses in the rhetoric of science; En-

participles in chemistry texts; Tenses

in reporting past literature; Nominals

in academic writing

Swales (1974);

Oster (1981);

Dubois (1982);

Trimble (1985)

From textualization to text

and discourse

Relationship between semantics and

pragmatics of text; Coherence in text

interpretation; Intertextuality

Van Dijk (1977);

de Beaugrande

and Dressler

(1981); Brown

and Yule (1983)


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O

R

G

AN

I

Z

A

T

I

O

N

Textual patterns leading to

text types, highlighting

rhetorial patterns

Rhetorical structures; Rhetorical-

grammatical structures in science

texts; Predictive structures in

economics textbooks

Widdowson

(1973); Selinker

et al.(1973);

Tadros (1985);

Candlin et al.(1980)

General global patterns of

discourse organization

Rhetorical patterns; Problem-solution

patterns; Schematic structures;

Macro-structures

Coulthard

(1977); Hoey

(1983); van Dijk

(1988)

Cognitive structures and

rationale in genres

Move structures in genres;

Qualificational patterns; Generic

structure potential

Swales (1981a,

1990); Bhatia

(1982, 1993);

Hasan (1985)



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Explanation:

In its initial phase, genre theory was used for the description of variations in

the use of language for specific purpose texts as a basis for designing languagelearning and teaching programmes (Bhatia 1991; Kathpalia 1992; Swales 1990).

As such the main emphasis during this phase was on the analysis of linguistic

form with some attention given to context, although the basis of genre theory

has always been the relationship between text and context both in a narrow

sense of what surrounds the text as well as in a broader sense of what makes a

particular genre possible and how it is used in specialized contexts.

The earlier phase was also restricted in another sense, in that the focus of

much of genre analysis was on a limited range of specialized genres, specifically

those embedded in scientific, technological, business, legal and research

contexts (Bhatia 1982, 1993; Swales 1981, 1990; Trimble 1985), as these were

seen as crucial for the development of LSP programmes.


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C

O

N

T

E

X

T

U

A

L

I

ZA

T

I

O

N

Socio-cognitive aspects of

genres; development and

exploitation of generic

resources

Genre development and change;

Genre mixing, embedding;

Appropriation of generic resources;

Systems of genres

Berkenkotter and

Huckin (1995);

Bazerman

(1994); Bhatia

(1997a, 1998a)

Multidimensional, andmulti-perspective analyses

of professsional and

institutional genres

Why do professional use languagethe way they do?; Disciplinary

variation and conflicts in genres

Swales (1998);Bhatia (1999c,

2000); Hyland

(2000); Candlin

and Hyland

(1999)

Language as criticaldiscourse; Language as

social control; Language in

and as social interaction

Discourse, change and hegemony;Social control in institutionalized

discourses; Language and ideology;

Language as mediated discourse

Fairclough (1992,1993,1995);

Sarangi and

Slembrouck

(1994); Scollon

(1998)


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Explanation:

In more recent years, however, genre theory has taken a more serious look

at context in a much broader sense, paying particular attention to more

comprehensive understanding of text/context interactions focussing not

simply on form and context of LSP genres, but more importantly on how

these specialized genres are constructed, interpreted, used and exploited in

the achievement of specific goals in highly specialized academic, professional

and institutional as well as other workplace contexts.

Genre analysis has become firmly established as one of the most popular

frameworks for the study of specialized genres in academic, professional

and institutional as well as other workplace contexts.


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There has also been a corresponding expansion of the range of specialized

genres targeted for analysis. There is an increasing interest in looking beyond

the conventional LSP genres to explore a much wider range of professional,

corporate and institutional as well as workplace genres (Bargiela-Chiappini &Nickerson, 1999; Gillaerts & Gotti, 2005) realized not only through the

conventional spoken and written modes, but also through a variety of non-

traditional semiotic modes, including the visual and the Internet.

Swales (2007:9-10) noted:

Sunny Hyons paper was a valuable map-making exercise that made much

sense in the mid 1990s. ...what might be called the genre movement has

coalesced somewhat so that the divisions among the traditions have become

much less sharpalthough by no means disappeared. This rapprochement

can be seen in a number of recent books. Even a cursory reading of the

following quartet shows trends toward assimilation of views and a shared

appreciation of previous work...


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ESP tradition: Vijay Bhatia (2004) Worlds of written discourse: A genre-based view

NR tradition: Amy Devitt (2004) Writing Genres

SFL tradition: John Frow (2006) Genre

ESP tradition: John Swales (2004) Research Genres: Explorations and applications

One short quotation from each to indicate something of this coming together of views:

Bhatia (2004: 20):

Discourse as genre, in contrast, extends the analysis beyond the textual product to

incorporate context in a broader sense to account for not only the way the text is constructed,

but also the way it is often interpreted, used and exploited in specific institutional or more

narrowly professional contexts to achieve specific disciplinary roles.

Devitt (2004: 31):

I propose, then, that genre be seen not as a response to recurring situation but as a nexusbetween an individuals actions and a socially defined context. Genre is a reciprocal dynamic

within which individuals actions construct and are constructed by recurring context of

situation, context of culture, and context of genres.

Frow (2006: 3):

And I try to stress that genres are not fixed and pre-given forms by thinking about texts asperformances of genre rather than reproductions of a class to which texts belong, and byfollowing Derrida in stressing the importance of edges and marginsthat is, stressing the

open-endedness of generic frames.

Swales (2004: 31, in Bazerman 2007:148):However, there is a needat least at timesto see genres as networks of variously

distributed strategic resources.


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Some of the consolidating trends that seem to emerge from these volumes andfrom other publications would include:

a) a balance between constraint and choice;

b) the role of local contextual coloring in the realization of genre exemplars;

c) a greater sense that genres and genre sets are always evolving in response to

various exigencies (difficult/urgent situations); and

d) a consequent more nuanced (hardly noticeable difference in) approach to

genre awareness-raising and genre acquisition.


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This coming together of views shows that:

The description and explanation of genre is more comprehensive now

compared to the definition by Swales in 1990. Therefore, a morecomprehensive genre analysis is required to analyze texts/genres

comprehensively, especially when analyzing new, unfamiliar, mixed and

deceptive genres.

GA is moving away from textualizationto contextualisation.

Genre Analyst

Frames of Social Action (Using templates to analyze familiar genres)

Language Standards (Identifying genres which comply or deviate)

Genre Analyst and Applied Genre Analyst

Biological Species (Tracking down unfamiliar genres and linking them)Families and Prototypes (Identifying new genrescolony/constellation)

Applied Genre Analyst

Institution (How/Why the genre is developed? Ethnography, Socio-critical and Socio-

cognitive perspective)

Speech Acts (Linking Genre-Discourse analysis, discursive practices)


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Swales (2007) identified two categories of genre analysts:

1. The work of genre analysts is to track these textual regularities andirregularities and explain them in terms of the relevant and pertinent social

circumstances and the rhetorical demands they engender.

2. The work of those genre analysts with applied aspirations would then

refashion these findings so that, by comparison and contrast, by episodic

dissection, by rhetorical consciousness-raising, and by task designs such asthe systemic-functionalists wheel of genre, they can become more

transparent to those who would wish or need to become better consumers

or producers of textual exemplars in the targeted genre or genres.


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Example 2:

To analyze a Sales Letter (Professional and Promotional Genre), a genreanalyst can use Swaless(1990) three level model genre analysis.

To explain the 2nd level (Rhetorical Structure), a genre analyst can use

Bhatias(1993) 7-move structural description for sales letter.

Since the genre is richer compared to Introduction in a Journal Article, atext analyst with applied aspiration may analyze beyond linguistic

features to explain the 3rd level (Rhetorical Strategies) such as

metadiscourse, disciplinary discourses (e.g. advertising/promotional

discourse).


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Example 3:

To analyze a Webpage (Professional and New/Promotional/Mixed Genre),a genre analyst can use Swaless(1990) three level model genre analysis.

To explain the 2nd level (Rhetorical Structure), one can use Bhatias(2004)

9-move structural description for advertisements.

To explain the 3rd level (Rhetorical Strategies), a genre analyst may limithis explanation to the text in the webpage.

However, a text analyst with applied aspirations may include **analysis of

multimodal discourse analysis, navigational modes, intertextuality and

interdiscursivity to explain the 3rd level (Rhetorical Strategies). He may

also adopt ***a more comprehensive 7 step models/frameworks such as

Bhatia (1993, 2004).


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Example 4:

To analyze an advertorial (Professional and Mixed/Unfamiliar Genre), a

genre analyst can use Swaless(1990) three level model genre analysis.

To explain the 2nd level (Rhetorical Structure), a genre analyst can use

Bhatias(1993) 9-move structure for advertisements.

To explain the 3rd level (Rhetorical Strategies), a genre analyst may limit hisexplanation to the text in the advertorial.

However, a text analyst with applied aspirations will adopt ** and ***,

instead of Swaless (1990) three level model genre analysis which focuses

on the textual level.

_________________________________________________

** multimodal discourse analysis, navigational modes, intertextuality andinterdiscursivity

*** 7 step models/frameworks such as Bhatia (1993, 2004)


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Example 5:

To analyze non-established, unfamilar and deceptive genres, the genre

analyst requires more applications in GA.

A text analyst with applied aspirations may need to use Bhatias(2004)

revised 7 step model genre analysis and Bhatias(2004) multidimensional

and multiperspective genre analysis.

The models address the textualperspective/dimension (linguistic/lexico-

grammatical features, generic/rhetorical structures, intertextuality,

interdiscursivity) and social (ethnographic, socio-critical and social)

perspective/dimensions.


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Metaphors of genre

Swales (2004: 61-68) offered a suite of six metaphors to illuminate the

understanding of genres:

Frames of Social Action Guiding Principles

Language Standards

Conventional ExpectationsBiological Species Complex Historicities

Families and Prototypes Variable Links to the Center

Institutions Shaping Contexts; Roles

Speech Acts Directed Discourses


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Explanation:

Frames of Social Action Guiding Principles

Genres are not just forms. Genres are forms of life, ways of being. They are

frames of social actions. (Bazermam, 1997: 19)

Language Standards Conventional Expectations

Language standards provide linguistic etiquette or rules. Similarly, genres

also have etiquette. Etiquettes for genres are not absolute but they are

conceived in terms of what is socially and rhetorically appropriate and thus

are subject to change over time. (Devitt, 1997).


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Explanation:

Biological Species Complex Historicities

It is a useful way of thinking about how genres evolve, spread, and decline. In

the analogy of genre, the periphery might be the places where some

technological advance first took root, the influence of some remarkable

individual, or the development of some splinter groups. The history of genres

and evolutionary understanding provides the perspectives of their texted pasts,

presents, and futures. (Swales, 2004: 63-65)

Families and Prototypes Variable Links to the Center

An extension of Biologicalspeciesmetaphor. One family member can take on

many of the characteristics of another member as part of the process of genericevolution. (Swales, 2004: 65-66)


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Explanation:

Institutions Shaping Contexts; Roles

A genre is not just a visible and/or audible product but a complex institution

involving more or less networks and the values they support. The

institutional metaphor allows one to identify the genresprimary and typical

roles. (Swales, 2004: 66-67)

Speech Acts Directed Discourses

Fishlov (1993) noted the metaphor is only pertinentto those cases in which

the organizing principle of the text can be described in terms of a distinct

communicative situation. Bazerman (1994) related speech acts to thesystems of genres (interrelated genres that interact with each other in

specific settings) that orchestrate the patents. Speech acts can give a new

kind of precision to rhetorical aims and means.


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Bhatia 1993 (pp. 22-36) Bhatia 2004 (pp. 163-167)

1. Placing genre-text in a situational context

2. Surveying existing literature

3. Refining situational/contextual analysis

4. Selecting corpus

5. Studying the institutional context

6. Levels of linguistic analysis

a. Lexico-grammatical features

b. Analysis of text-patterning or

textualizationc. Structural interpretation of the text-

genre

7. Specialist information in genre analysis

1. Placing genre-text in a situational context

2. Surveying existing literature


4. Selecting corpus

5. Textual, intertextual and interdiscursive

perspective

(an extension of No 6 in Bhatia 1993)

6. Ethnographic analysis

7. Studying institutional context(similar to No 5 in Bhatia 1993)

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

7 Steps in Analyzing Unfamiliar Genres:


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Bhatias(2004: 163-168) seven steps in analysing genres:

1. Placing the given genre-text in a situational context

2. Surveying existing literature on:

linguistic analyses of the genre in question or other related or similar

genres;

tools, methods or theories of linguistic/discourse/genre analysis which

might be relevant to this situation;

practitioner advice, guide books, manuals etc. relevant to the speech

community in question;

discussions of the social structure, interactions, history, beliefs, goals, etc. of

the professional or academic community that uses the genre in question.


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defining the speaker/writer of the text, the audience, their relationship and

their goals;

defining the historical, socio-cultural, philosophic and /or occupational

placement of the community in which the discourse takes place;

identifying the network of surrounding texts and linguistic traditions that

form the background to this particular genre-text; and

identifying the topic/subject/extra-textual reality that the text is trying to

represent, change or use and the relationship of the text to that reality.


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4. Selecting corpus

define the genre/sub-genre that one is working with well enough so that it

may be distinguishable from other genres either similar or closely related in

some ways. The definition may be based on the communicative purposes and

the situational context(s) in which it is generally used, and some distinctive

textual characteristics of the genre-text or some combination of these;

make sure that onescriteria for deciding whether a text belongs to a specific

genre are clearly stated;

decide on ones criteria for an adequate selection of the corpus for ones

specific purpose(s). A long single typical text for detailed analysis, a few

randomly chosen texts for exploratory investigation, a large statistical sampleto investigate a few specified features though easily identified indicators, etc.


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5. Textual, intertextual and interdiscursivity

statistical significance of lexico-grammar

text patterning or textualization

cognitive or discourse structuring

analysis of the role of intertextuality and interdiscursivity

6. Ethnographic analysis


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This may focus on some of the following issues in the context of the typical

sites of engagement:

What physical circumstances influence the nature and construction of

genre?What are the critical moments of engagement or interaction?

What modes of genre construction or communication are available at the

critical moments or sites?

Information on most of these aspects may be achieved through a set of

ethnographical procedures, which may include the following:

Accounts of practitioner advice, guide books, manuals written for members

of the relevant discourse community in question;

Discussion of the social structure, interactions, history, beliefs, goals;

Detached observational accounts of expert behaviour;

Lived experiences of expert members of the community of practice;

Convergent narrative accounts of first-hand experiences of active

professionals.

Textography of discursive practices. Genres are social actions situated in

disciplinary practices, and are products of the environment in which each

takes shape.


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Interrelationship of Approaches to Discourse Analysis:text context and semiotic mode


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Context

Ethnographic analysis

MultimodalityMultimodal discourse analysis

Text

Conversation analysis

Corpus-based analysis

text, context and semiotic mode

(Bhatia, Flowerdew & Jones, 2008)


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Critical Genre Analysis (CGA)

Multidimensional and multi-perspective approach to genre-based analysis of

written discourse draws on several types of analytical data. It draws on:

textual data by treating genre as a reflection of discursive practices of

disciplinary communities,

ethnographicdata, in that it seeks to observe genres in action, grounded in

narrated insightful experiences of expert members of the community ofpractice

socio-cognitive and institutional data, as it draws on historically and

structurally grounded accounts of the conditions under which systems of

genre are constructed, interpreted, used and exploited by expert members

of disciplinary cultures of achieve their typical goals within the construct oftheir everyday professional activities.

Multi-dimensional analytical perspective( h )


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MULTI-DIMENSIONAL

ANALYTICAL

PERSPECTIVE

(Bhatia, 2004)

TEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE

Analysis of:

* Statistical significance of lexico-grammar

* Textual corpora

* Textualisation of lexico-grammatical resources

* Discoursal / rhetorical or cognitive structures

* Intertextuality and interdiscursivity

* Generic conventions and practices

ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

Analysis and understanding of:

* Critical sites of engagement or moments of

interaction* Practitioner advice and guidance

* Social structure, interactions, history, beliefs,

goals of professional community

* Physical circumstances influencing genre

construction

* Modes available for genre construction &

communication

* History and development of the genre

Analysis and understanding of:

* Patterns of generic integrity

* Patterns of audience reception

* Nature and function of disciplinary cultures

* Modes and patterns of professional practice

* Appropriation of generic resources

* Use of exploitation of rhetorical strategies

* Patterns of Interdiscursivity

SOCIO-COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

Analysis and awareness of:

* Patterns of language, ideology and power

* Interaction of language and socialstructures

* Interaction between discourse and social

changes

* Discourse and social practices

* Cross-cultural, intercultural constrains

SOCIO-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE


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Tip of the Iceberg analogy


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Genre Analysis

Critical

Genre Analysis

Tip of the Iceberg analogy

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