1. THEORY AND METHODS OF GENRE ANALYS: IMPORTANT CONCEPTS AND TERMS
5 October 2016

2. Which genres are the following extracts from?
Once upon a time there was a king and….
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
A 40-year-old Caucasian woman presented…
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss the potatoes with 3 tablespoons of olive oil…
Dear Sir or Madam, excuse me for approaching you in the following matter…
My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :~ kids FTF. ILNY, it’s a gr8 plc. BBL. XOXO

3. Try to come up with a definition or an explanation of the concept.
WHAT IS GENRE?
Try to come up with a definition or an explanation of the concept.

4. WHAT IS GENRE? ETYMOLOGY:
genus: “kind, class, category” – classificatory tool (traditional concept)
generare: “to create” – tool that helps us understand and act in social situations (modern reformulation)

5. WHAT IS GENRE? Ad 1: Traditional concept
especially used in literary works of art
textual regularities – analysis of style
social context disregarded

6. WHAT IS GENRE? Ad 2: Modern reformulation
a research framework for analyzing also non- literary discourse
used in pedagogy: professional writing
emphasis on social context

7. WHAT IS GENRE? Traditional Modern Literary discourse
Literary and non-literary discourse
Product
Product and process
Normalizing and static concept
Fluid and dynamic concept
Separation of:
form and content
product and process
individual and society
Integration of:
-form and content
-product and process
-individual and society
Form into which content is put
Event/process/action with social purposes
Classificatory tool
Socio-rhetorical tool

8. GENRE ANALYSIS English for Specific Purposes (ESP), EAP
(Swales, Bhatia)
focus on textual characteristics
structural move analysis, discourse community, word frequencies
research papers, science news
target audience – ESL/EFL students
teaching organizational and stylistic conventions
(guides and templates for academic writing)

9. Swales (1990: 58)
“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 discourse community, and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. The rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style… (E)xemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience.”

10. Word cloud (the most frequent words used in science news)

11. Structure of science news
Move one: Presenting Background Information
Move two: Highlighting Overall Research Outcome
Move three: Reviewing Related Research
Move four: Presenting New Research
Move five: Indicating Consistent Observations
Move six: Describing Data Collection Procedure
Move seven: Describing Experimental Procedure
Move eight: Explaining Research Outcome
Move nine: Stating Research Conclusions

12. GENRE ANALYSIS Systemic-Functional Linguistics – Sydney School
(M. A. K. Halliday)
register analysis
school genres (such as essays) – empowering students with linguistic resources for social success
target audience: primary/secondary students, immigrants
explicit teaching of genre: three phases (modeling, joint negotiation of text, and independent construction of text)

13. Muntigl and Gruber (2005: 3 – 5)
Genres are goal oriented.
Genres unfold in terms of stages and phases.
The set of genres, taken together, realize a cultural potential or all possible contexts of culture.
Genres consist of families that contain fuzzy borders.
Genres often pattern together to form what are termed macro-genres.
Genres may be realized by various semiotic modes such as spoken/written language, gesture, image, body position and others.

14. GENRE ANALYSIS New Rhetoric – North American Genre Studies
ethnographic methods of analysis
target audience: L1 speakers (under/graduates)
raising awareness of social contexts that shape genres
genre knowledge is not taught but acquired tacitly through enculturation
genres in scientific communities, tax accounting firms, banks

15. Berkenkotter and Huckin (1995: 4)
Activity:
Explain how you understand these characteristics of genre.
Dynamism.
Situatedness.
Form and content.
Duality of structure.
Community ownership.

16. Berkenkotter and Huckin (1995: 4)
Dynamism. Genres change over time in response to their users’ sociocognitive needs.
Situatedness. Our knowledge of genres is derived from participation in the communicative activities of daily and professional life.
Form and content. Genre knowledge embraces both form and content.
Duality of structure. As we use genre we constitute social structures (in professional, institutional and organizational structures) and simultaneously reproduce these structures.
Community ownership. Genre signals a community’s norms, epistemology, ideology, and social ontology.