1 Empowering ESP practitioners: Rethinking the paths to ‘specialized knowledge’ through the lens of genre analysis An Cheng Department of English Oklahoma State University

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3 (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984; Mackay & Mountford, 1978; Robinson, 1980; Selinker, Tarone, & Hanzeli, 1981; Schleppegrell & Bowman, 1986; Swales, 1985).

4 (Mackay & Mountford, 1978; see also Holden, 1977; Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984; Robinson, 1980; Selinker, Tarone, & Hanzeli, 1981; Schleppegrell & Bowman, 1986; Swales, 1985; Basturkmen, 2006, 2010; Belcher, 2009; Belcher, Johns, & Paltridge, 2011; Paltridge & Starfield, 2013).

5 What kinds of needs? How specific? Collaborate, corporate, team-teaching, or not at all? Wide-angled or narrow-angled? Product-oriented or process-oriented? Laurence Anthony Image from “ESP has frequently been a hotbed of conflict—the Wild West of ELT” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 158).

6 “The most frequently asked questions and the core of many debates in the field” (Tsou & Kao, 2014, p. 5) “A feeling of inadequacy” (Tsou & Chen, 2014) Turning away from specialized ESP teaching (Anthony, 2011; Cai, 2004) A part of teacher empowerment (Tsou, 2013)

7 Process-oriented skills (Anthony, 2011) Specialist knowledge vs. specialized knowledge (Fergusson, 2014)

8 Specialist knowledgeSpecialized knowledge Knowledge of content in the student’s content area Knowledge of disciplinary culture <- sociological and anthropological Knowledge of epistemological basis of disciplines <- philosophical Knowledge of genre and discourse <- linguistic (Tsou, 2013; Wu & Badger, 2009) Too much to learn Outdated easily Not easy to determine what a discipline is

9 The third knowledge of genre  Linguistic Understanding the language of the discipline/profession Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Structured: moves/steps as function units/indicators of communication functions Lexical grammatical features

10 OPENING SALUTATION SUBJECT ACTIONS TAKEN DISCUSSION OF ISSUES (with [optional] clear distinct issue headings) SOLICIT ACTION EXPRESS AVAIL ABILITY CLOSING SALUTATION The recurrent schematic structure of Tax Computation Letters (Flowerdew & Wan, 2006, p. 141).

The typical rhetorical organization of the introduction section of technical instructions Describing the goal of the instructions, Defining the intended readers of the technical instructions Motivating the readers to read the technical instructions Explaining the usage and conventions used in the technical instruction, including safety information Providing a list of tools and equipment necessary for completing the tasks described in the instruction 11

12 SOLICIT ACTION [politeness strategies and the avoidance of modal auxiliary] Please note that the filing date of the above return is on.... We look forward to receiving your agreement to the holdover application before...being the first payment due date of the provisional tax liability. (Flowerdew & Wan, 2006, p. 147).

13 Element of ‘specialized knowledge’ The paths to gaining the knowledge Knowledge of disciplinary cultures and values ??? <- ethnographic observation? Knowledge of epistemological basis A course about science/in science; a course about law/in law Knowledge of genre and discourse <- Linguistic Learning to Recognize genre as ‘structured’ communicative events Analyze function units (moves/steps) Categorize the conventionalized linguistic features that perform the moves and steps Defeating purpose?

14 Element of ‘specialized knowledge’ The paths to gaining the knowledge Knowledge of disciplinary cultures and values ??? <- ethnographic observation? Knowledge of epistemological basis A course about science/in science; a course about law/in law Knowledge of genre and discourse <- Linguistic Learning to Recognize genre as ‘structured’ communicative events Analyze function units (moves/steps) Categorize the conventionalized linguistic features that perform the moves and steps Defeating purpose?

15 Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Context Culture of discourse community Communicative purposes valued by discourse community Text Schematic structures (Moves and steps) Lexico-grammatical features Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis (Bawarshi & Reiff, 2010; see also Basturkmen, 2010; implied in Fergusson, 1997) )

16 Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Context Culture of discourse community Communicative purposes valued by discourse community Text Schematic structures (Moves and steps) Lexico-grammatical features Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis (Bawarshi & Reiff, 2010; see also Basturkmen, 2010; implied in Fergusson, 1997) )

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Additional ways to turn genre into a window into context Genre system Meta genre 18

19 Element of ‘specialized knowledge’ The paths to gaining the knowledge Knowledge of disciplinary cultures and values ??? <- ethnographic observation? Knowledge of epistemological basis A course about science/in science; a course about law/in law Knowledge of genre and discourse <- Linguistic Learning to Recognize genre as ‘structured’ communicative events Analyze function units (moves/steps) Categorize the conventionalized linguistic features that perform the moves and steps Defeating purpose?

20 Element of ‘specialized knowledge’ The paths to gaining the knowledge Knowledge of disciplinary cultures and values ??? <- ethnographic observation? Knowledge of epistemological basis A course about science/in science; a course about law/in law Knowledge of genre and discourse <- Linguistic Learning to Recognize genre as ‘structured’ communicative events Analyze function units (moves/steps) Categorize the conventionalized linguistic features that perform the moves and steps Use the genre features to read the disciplinary cultures and values as well as the epistemological basis

21 Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Context Culture of discourse community Communicative purposes valued by discourse community Text Schematic structures (Moves and steps) Lexico-grammatical features Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis

22 The need for and quantity of specialist knowledge will continue to be an elusive question The power of genre analysis enables us to ask the right questions Not constrained by issues of specificity Enable a particular stance of working with content experts

23 Thank you!