Lecture (8) Genre Analysis · 2) For Paltridge, genre -based pedagogy provides access ... classroom can be seen as a series of tasks – some having a communicative aspect, others

Lecture (8)

Genre Analysis

Genre means “ kind “ or “ form” and it refers to major types of literature: poetry, drama & epic.

In the field of Applied Linguistics, genre refers to different communicative events which are associated with particular setting and which have recognized structures and communicative functions.

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. （Swales，1990）

Examples of communicative events:e.g. Wedding ceremony?

Concert?Sales encounter?Class lecture?Academic conference?

Genre

These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre.

Question to consider: 1. What are the purposes of Wedding ceremony?2. What is the rationale of wedding ceremony? 3. Are Western ceremony similar as that of

Arabic ones in terms of rationale?

Genre

This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains the choice of content and style.

LOVE IS A JOURNEY

In addition to purpose, exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience. If all high probability expectations are realized, the exemplar will be viewed as prototypical by the parent discourse community. (Swales, 1990: 58)

Genre

Register and Genre

Genres Register Genres are specific communicative event.

Communicative purposes is the distinctive feature of genres. / eg. lectures

Register is a type of language.

associated with a particular field of activity

or profession.

This lg. may be used for various purposes. /eg.

Instruction manuals

Register and Genre

An approach that attempts to explain regularities in texts in terms of shared communicative purposes within discourse communities.

Investigates the discourse which share some common communicative purposes.

Aims not only to describe the discourse features but also to explain the features in the light of communicative purposes and the institutional culture.

Genre is SOCIAL ACTION

Getting into Graduate SchoolStatements of PurposePersonal Statements

Finding Your Voice in the Academic CommunityCommunicating with SeniorsCommunicating with Co-authorsRequests and RemindersWriting Apologies

Establishing Yourself in Graduate SchoolSmall Grant ApplicationsOther ApplicationsLetters of Recommendation

Supporting the Publication ProcessManuscript SubmissionsResponding to Reviewers and Editors

Moving on to an Academic or Research CareerCurricula VitaeExternal Job ApplicationsStatements of Teaching Philosophy

ExampleAcademic Supporting Genres (Swales, 2011)

1. Staging2. Communities of practice3. Conventionalised lexicogrammatical features4. Recurrent nature of genres5. Genre as a flexible concept6. Genre relations7. Intercultural nature of genres

Genre are staged. By staged, we mean that a genre has a specific

sequential structure.

Genres belong to particular communities of users.

Some genres are quite formulaic (like marriage vows). For example by the use of parallel grammatical structure and the use of material process verbs.

Genre knowledge develop through repeated exposure and practice.

Knowledge acquired through repeated exposure is stored in the form of shemata.

A “flexible”, rather than a “static” view is required : Swales (2004) metaphor Palrtidge (2006) prototype

These notions can be classified under the umbrella of genre relations

1. Genre set 2. Genre system3. Genre chain 4. Disciplinary genre

Types of genre relations

Genre set

Genre system

Genre chain

Disciplinary genre

A range of genres which a professional groupuses in the course of their daily routine.(Devitt, 1991)

A full set of genres (spoken or written) whichare involved in a complete interaction.(Bazerman, 1994)

A chronologically related sequences of genresin a given interaction. (Raisanen, 2002)

All those genres associated with a professionor discipline. (Bhatia, 2004)

How there are references in one text to other texts.

Intertextuality has various forms:

A) From Fairclough viewpoint (1992)

B) From Devitt viewpoint (1991)

Various forms of

intertextuality

Fairclough (1992)

1) Manifest intertextuality

(quotation, citation, paraphrase)

2) Constitutive intertextuality

(generic features which do not

leave an obvious trace from the

source)

Various forms of intertextuality

Devitt (1991)

Referential Functional Generic When one text

refers directly to

another one.

When a text is part of a

larger system of texts,

dealing with a particular

issue.

When a text draws

on similar texts

created in a similar

situation.

Genres are likely to be subject to intercultural variation.

Various writers prefer to see the differences among cultures in terms of “ the differences or preferences in the pragmatic and strategic choices that writers make in response to external demands and cultural histories.

A number of differences were noted both at the level of assessment by members of the two communities of practice & at the level of rhetorical structure.

The ESP School The Sydney School The New Rhetoric School (Rhetorical Genre

Studies)

Started by:

Swales (1990)

Bhatia (1993)Investigating

academic genres

(primarily research articles)

More interested in business and legal

genre.

Communicative purposes are expressed in stages or

sequenced manner, a text being built up systematically

through a series of what are called moves and steps.

Swales’s CARS (Create a Research Space ) Model

MoveEstablishing a territory

MoveEstablishing a niche

Move Occupying the niche

Step 1 Step 1 Step 1

Step 2 or or

Step 3 orStep 2

Claiming centrality

Making topic generalization

Reviewing items of previous research

Counterclaiming

Indicating a gap

Question Raising

or

Counting a tradition

Outlining Purposes

Announcing present research

Announcing principal findings

Indicating researcharticle structure

Step 3

Another example of schematic structure: Bhatia (1993) suggests the

following model of seven typical moves for the genre of sales

letters:

1- Establishing credentials. offering the product/ service

2- Introducing the offer. essential detailing of the offer

3- Offering incentives. Indicating value of the offer

4- referring to enclosed documents.

5- inviting further communication.

6- using pressure tactics.

7- ending politely.

Bhatia (2004) contrasts what he refers to as the relatively

simplicity as the “ideal world” with the greater

complexity of the “real world”.

The “real world” incorporates three main insights:

1- The genres occur in relation to other genres & shouldn’t

be considered in isolation,

2- The genres are dynamic & have propensity to develop.

3- There are disciplinary differences in genres .

• 1- Placing the given genre-text in a situational context.• 2- Surveying the existing literature. • 3- Refining the situational / contextual analysis. • 4- Selecting a corpus. • 5- Selecting the institutional context. • 6- Levels of linguistic analysis. • 7- Consulting with specialist informants.

• Application of ESP genre theory has focused on tertiary-level context, helping students to prepare for both undergraduate and postgraduate study.

• One of the most applications of the results of ESP genre has been Swales CARS model & adaptations to various contexts. Swales already suggested “consciousness raising” rather than “over teaching”.

• Through these six main resources and strategies, writers move toward expert genre knowledge (Tardy, 2009)

1) Prior experience & repeated practice. 2) Textual interactions. 3) Oral interactions. 4) Mentoring & disciplinary participation. 5) Shifting roles within a genre network. 6) Resource availability.

This approach to genre was developed

among followers of the SFL by Halliday,

under the leadership of Martin.

Martin defines genre as a staged goal-

oriented, purposeful activity.

Sydney School, like ESP School, share the notion of staging. In

SFL, this notion was referred to as schematic structure OR

structural formula

Sydney school emphasizes communicative purpose & staging as the distinctive features of the letter.

A traditional concept based on the form of text such as poetry, novels, drama, fairy tales etc.

Text type

Genre names overlap with text types, but the conceptualization is different.

Text types are classified on the basis of format and formalstructure.

Genre is recognized as a communicative event sharing some communicative purposes.

This difference in conceptualization results in different ways and methods in interpreting discourse.

Genre and text type

• Genre: Can be recognized according to external criteria and are named by their users.

• E.g. Laboratory reports, research articles, lectures.

• Text types OR Elemental Genres: Rhetorical modes that follow systematic internal discourse patterns.

• E.g. problem – solution, exposition – argument. • Text types combine together to create what are called

“macro-genres”

To show how schematic structure & form-function correlations

interact, Coffin (2006) did an interesting work: He shows how

the school genre of historical account typically develops

according to three stages:

Background

Account sequence

Deduction

Here, the writer chronicles events as they unfolded in the pasttime. Events play an agentive role in producing subsequentevents. In the grammar, this is realized as nominalizations ininitial clause (thematic) position.

• In contrast to ESP, with its pedagogic focus on tertiary-level contexts, Sydney School genre theory has been developed within the context of Australia, where it has been used as a tool for developing a fully fledged pedagogy. (Martin & Rose, 2012)

• Sydney School linguistics have applied their genre model to the teaching of reading.

• The description of generic stages or phases, is used to inform the preparation before reading; the teacher is able to paraphrase the text which is about to read.

As RGS Scholars as A.M. Johns

(2002) say, this approach has a

much more social way of looking

at genre. RGS claims some negative

aspects towards linguistic approaches:

Linguistic approaches don’t pay attention to this fact

that genres are all the time evolving.

They fail to account the multiple purposes of genres.

They neglect the potential for creativity within genres.

They fail to take account of genres’ intertextual nature.

They fail to take account of genres’ hybrid nature.

ESP School

& Sydney

School are

both

linguistic

approaches

Hyon (1996) RGS focuses more on situational context, social

purposes & actions resulting from these purposes rather than

linguistic forms.

Miller (1984) He claims that a definition of genre should be

focused on the action it is used to accomplish rather than its

substance or form.

For RGS, genre focuses on action & it must be related to

cognition. According to RGS, genre is linked to procedural

knowledge & background knowledge.

• The fluidity of genres • Reflexivity of genres • How genre is often complemented with other theories

• RGS has primarily focused on genres in academic & professional contexts. RGS is combined with a familiarisation on the part of learners with the target context & related genres.

• Some overt pedagogical issues : META-GENRE AWARENESS ( an awareness which stresses the interaction between genre & context)

Similarities

between

these three

schools

They insist on the limitation of traditional

conceptions of genres which focused only on

recurring textual feature.

They stressed the need to recognize the

social dimensions of genres.

They emphasized the addressee, the context

& the occasion.

Paltridge (2001) discussed the limitations of the genre approach in general:

The difficulty in assgining texts into specific genre categories.

The difficulty for teachers who are working in communities where the target language. is not widespread use.

The question of creativity. The difficulty of the teachers of finding suitable texts &

lack of familiarity with the particular features of the target genre.

1) For Paltridge, genre-based teaching , develops the acquisition of generic competence, that is the ability to respond to new genres.

2) For Paltridge, genre-based pedagogy provides access to genres which have high cultural capital, that is genres which are highly valued by society.

3) For Paltridge, genre-based pedagogy allows for the inclusion of the best aspects of other syllabus types.

To enable learners to use language functionally, so the teaching combines language forms and functions.

To examine the structure of discourse, the relationship between language forms and discourse functions as well as linguistic features.

Methodology:

Human activity, whether in employment or in the classroom can be seen as a series of tasks – some having a communicative aspect, others not. (Swales, 1990 )

Task is central to methodology.

Swale’s definition of task:

One of a set of differentiated, sequenceable goal-directed

activities drawing upon a range of cognitive and

communicative procedures relatable to the acquisition of

pre-genre and genre skills appropriate to a foreseen or

emerging sociorhetorical situation.

Current Needs: Why do college students write in English in their undergraduate study in the Arab world?

Genres

Course papers ?

Application documents ?

Research articles ?

Potential needs in future graduate study in Jordan:Write research articles? Cover letter to editors?Reply to revision requests?….

Potential needs for graduate study overseas

Getting into graduate school

Studying at English-medium universities

• Statements of Purpose

• Curricula Vitae• Application for

financial aid• Communicating

with Seniors

• Experimental report

• Course paper• Research

proposal• Thesis and

Dissertation• Research article

• Communicating with Seniors: Requests and apologies• Statements of Purpose • Curricula Vitae• Recommendation letter• Application for financial aid• Course paper

To develop Arab students ability to produce generically acceptable texts in terms of organization and style;

To develop their study skills in handling academic study such as note-taking from reading, evaluating facts and opinion; giving definition, making summary, describing and interpreting tables and graphs;

To improve accuracy in writing.

Genre Purpose Discourse structure

Style Writing & Editing

Skills

Request letter and reminders

Foregrounding important information

Recommendation letter 1 Thinking about the audience and impact

Recommendation letter 2 Supporting statements with evidence

Application for financial aid 1

Supporting statements with evidence

Curriculum Vita 1 Organizing information

Curriculum Vita 2 Getting the style right

Statement of purpose 1 Supporting statements with evidence

Statement of purpose 2 Making notes for writing

Course paper Taking notes when readingEvaluating informationMaking summary and definitionDescribing and interpreting dataMaking comments

Task One. Think about the following questions.

1. What would you do if you found a reference that is essential to your research not available in your country?

2. Have you ever asked the author to send you the reference?3. If you do, how would organize your message?

Task Two: Here are two email messages to ask for help. Which

do you prefer and why?Text A

Dear Professor Swales,I have been interested in your work for some time, and I am currently writing a thesis on the history of English for Specific Purposes in the Arab World. In this context, I have seen a reference to a 1983 volume on this topic, which you co-edited with Hassan Mustafa. I have looked for it here in Jordan, but in vain; I found it is not available. Would you be able to send me a copy? I am looking forward to hearing from you soon,

With respectMs Fatima Abdulla

Text B

Dear Professor Swales,Would you be able to send me a copy of the 1983 volume on English for Specific Purposes in the Arab World, which you co-edited with Hassan Mustafa? I have looked for it here in Jordan, but in vain; I found it is not available. I am currently writing a thesis on the history of English for Specific Purposes in the Arab World. I have been interested in your work for some time. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

With respect,Ms Fatima Abdulla

Task ThreeWhich of the following closings would you choose?

a) Thanks for reading my application & looking forward to hearing back soon.b) In closing, this applicant iterates his deep interest in the position and

expresses his profound appreciation of your careful review of his case.c) Thank you for your consideration and looking forward to hearing from you

in due course.

Task One: Discuss the following questions

1. What is the purpose of PS? What is it used for?2. What information do you expect to find in it?3. What characteristics do you think PS should have?4. What is the writing style of PS?

Task Two: Compare the beginnings (Hook) of two PS and decide which one is more effective.

Text A

I remember hearing the loud snap resonating across the field and having nodoubt it was broken. Looking down at my forearm during the high schoolfootball game, the distal end dangling as both the left radius and ulna hadbeen broken at midshaft. I felt certain I had experienced my last footballevent. …

Text B

My initial interest in economics was kindled by curiosity about the workingsof the economy. In the past twenty years, Jordan went through a series ofeconomic reforms, including privatization of state-owned enterprises,reform of non-tradable shares, and reform of agricultural taxes and charges.Growing up in the midst of these social reforms has led me to experiencethe progress and chaos, and the opportunities and pitfalls caused by policychanges. My interest in economic issues grew as I entered university, and Ibegan to wonder about the forces driving the economy and question thevalidity of government economic policies.

Move 1: Hook (a narrative to grab the reader’s attention)

Move 2: Program (why this particular specialization / location)

Move 3: Background (evaluation of skills, landmarks of achievement)

Move 4: Self-promotion (distinctive individual qualities)

Move 5: Projection (personal professional goals/career trajectory)

Genre-based approach to the relevant content for students. Focus on discourse patterns and linguistic features of a genre. Make use of the resources from genre-based studies and

develop or adapt materials.