sh. tamizrad discourse and genre
TRANSCRIPT
Discourse and genre
Dr. TajeddinBy: Sh. Tamizrad
Fall 2014
Content
• What is a genre?
• Relationship between genres
• Written genres across cultures
• Spoken genres across culture
• Steps in genre analysis
• The social and cultural context of genre
• Applications of genre analysis
What is a genre?
• Schmidt (2002):
A type of discourse that occurs in a particular
setting, that has distinctive recognizable patterns
and norms of organization and structure and that
has particular and distinctive communicative
functions.
Some examples of genre
• A letter to the editors
• News
• Reports
• Parliamentary speeches
• Summing up in a court of law
Use of the notion of genre
• Teaching ESP: based on Swales (1981, 1990)
• Teaching of writing: Sydney School (Hyon 1996)
• Schematic structure, generic structure
Genres are …
Ways in which people get things done
through their use of spoken and
written discourse.
Genre embedding ?
• Bhatia (1997) : Genre embedding is
when a genre is used for another
‘conventionally distinct’ genre.
Defining Genre
• Martin (1984): A staged, goal-oriented,
purposeful activity in which speakers engage
as members of our culture.
• Swales (2004): Definitions are often not true in
all possible worlds and all possible times and
can prevent us from seeing newly explored or
newly emerging genres for what they really are.
Defining Genre
• Swales (2004): Genres are dynamic and open
to change, but it is not a case of ‘free for all’ or
‘anything goes’.
• Devitt (2004): Conformity among genre users
‘is a fact of genre, for genres provide an
expected way of acting’.
• Constraint and choice are necessary and
positive component of genres.
Genre Category
Cook (1989):
• Author or speaker
• Intended audience
• Purpose of text
• The situation in which the
text occurs
• The physical form
• The title
• Pre-sequence to the text
• Content of the text
• The level of formality
• Particular uses of language
• The style or register
• Spoken or written
• Askehave and Swales (2000):
While discourse structure is clearly a
characterizing feature of some genres, it is not
always the case that every instance of a particular
genre will have exactly the same discourse
structures (nor indeed the same communicative
purpose).
• Swales (2002): Genres are seen
as ‘resources for meaning’ rather
than ‘systems of rules’.
Relationship Between Genres
• The way a use of one genre may assume, or depend
on the use of a number of other interrelated genres.
• Job interview
Relationship Between Genres
• Genre chain Vs. Genre network
• Genre repertoire
– Phone calls, an email, casual conversation, a letter, a fax
• Genre sequence and hierarchy
• Occluded or supporting genre Vs. Open genre
Job
advertiseme
nt
Position
description
Letter of
applicationResume
Job
interview
Offer of
appointment
Negotiation
of offer
Written genres across cultures
• Kaplan (1966): Different patterns in the academic
essay of student from different languages and
cultures.
• Connor (1996): Contrastive rhetoric
• Connor (2004): Intercultural rhetoric
Contrastive Rhetoric
• Leki (1997): Contrastive rhetoric can be seen,
not as the study of culture-specific thought
patterns, but as the study of ‘differences or
preferences in the pragmatic and strategic
choices that writers make in response to
external demands and cultural histories.
Contrastive Rhetoric
• Canagarajah (2002): Contrastive rhetoric
research needs ‘to develop more complex types
of explanation for textual differences’ if it is to
enjoy continued usefulness in teaching of
academic writing.
Spoken genres across culture
• Nakanishi (1998): Examination of going on a first
date in Japanese and U.S.
• 61 women and 67 men Japanese
Conclusion: While there maybe ways of performing
the same genre across cultures that are quite the
similar, there may be parts of the genre that are
significantly quite different.
Steps in genre analysis
1. Consider what is already known about the
particular genre. (knowledge of situational, cultural context as well
as conventions that associated with the genre).
2. Refine the analysis by defining the speaker or
writer of the text, the audience of the text and
their relationship, the goal and purpose.
3. Select collection of texts to examine.
The Discourse Structure of Genres
• The example of discourse analysis of theses and
dissertations
• Conclusion: There are at least four different types
of pattern that writers choose from, depending on
the focus and orientation of their thesis or
dissertation. Simple traditional, complex
traditional, topic-based and compilations of
research articles.
Applications of genre analysis
• Hammond and Macken-Horarick (1999): Genre-based teaching
can help students gain access to textx and discourses which
help them participate more successfully in L2 spoken and
written interactions.
• Luke (1993): Teaching ‘genre of power’ leads to uncritical
reproduction of the status quo and does not necessarily provide
the kind of access we hope for our learners.
• Chiristie (1993) and Martin (1993): Not teaching genres of
power is socially irresponsible.
Applications of genre analysis
• Hammond and Macken-Horarick (1999): Genre-based teaching
can help students gain access to textx and discourses which
help them participate more successfully in L2 spoken and
written interactions.
• Luke (1993): Teaching ‘genre of power’ leads to uncritical
reproduction of the status quo and does not necessarily provide
the kind of access we hope for our learners.
• Chiristie (1993) and Martin (1993): Not teaching genres of
power is socially irresponsible.