A Review of Genre Approaches within Linguistic Traditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Farah Wani Wan Fakhruddin ◽  
Hanita Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
And Function ◽  
Linguistic Approach

This paper reviews three major approaches to genre analysis; Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Based on the review, it is noted that RGS is an approach which regards genre as a form of social action involving analysis of genre through detailed accounts of the social and cultural contexts with an emphasis on how a genre fulfills its social purpose and actions. On the other hand, ESP is an approach which views genre as a communicative event characterised by their communicative purposes as well as rhetorical features where the discourse community acts as those which recognises and sanctions the acceptance of a genre. The final genre approach, which is SFL, perceives genre as the cultural purpose of texts, achieved through a genre’s structural and realisational patterns where meanings are made within the genre. Overall, the ESP and SFL approaches share fundamental view that linguistic features of texts are connected to social context and function. Thus both of the approaches take on a linguistic approach in describing genres. RGS, in contrast, investigates genres through the study of society in which genre is being used thus taking an ethnographic approach to analysis of genres. This paper concludes with a discussion on the concept of genre presented in the various approaches and the possible emergence of other approaches in the study of genre.

scholarly journals A Tardy Uptake

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Anne Freadman
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Social Motive ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Action ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Following Carolyn Miller’s (1984) definition of genre as social action, subsequent work in the field of rhetorical genre theory has focused on two aspects of her account. The first is the claim that “a genre is a rhetorical means for mediating private intention and social exigence” (Miller, 1984, p. 163). The site of this mediation is now referred to as the subject—a term that is imported from psychoanalysis and critical social theory. I am concerned that the theoretical freight carried by this term—with its claim to address the “big questions” of subjectivity—diverts us from our focus on “how the genre works as rhetorical action” (Miller, 1984, p. 159). I shall replace the subject with the agent, moving then to argue that bringing uptake to bear on agency helps shift the debate to a more strictly rhetorical terrain. The second aspect that has been focused on is exigence: the “social motive” of rhetorical action, “an objectified social need” lying at “the core of situation” (Miller, 1984, pp. 158, 157). I consider an ambiguity at the heart of this concept of exigence between the work it does in accounting for punctual rhetorical action—the genre in actu—and its work in generalizing over some genre in virtu. Because of this, I move to replace exigence with alternative ways of conceiving the site of rhetorical action. Throughout, I accept broadly the framework of Rhetorical Genre Studies. While I seek to solve the problems through a rigorous reliance on rhetoric, I move beyond this frame when I discuss the restrictions on a theory of genre imposed by an exclusive assumption of verbal or discursive acts.

Markers of identification in Indigenous academic writing: A case study of genre innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurli Makmillen ◽  
Michelle Riedlinger
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Academic Genres

AbstractThis study contributes to research into genre innovation and scholarship exploring how Indigenous epistemes are disrupting dominant discourses of the academy. Using a case study approach, we investigated 31 research articles produced by Mäori scholars and published in the journal AlterNative between 2006 and 2018. We looked for linguistic features associated with self-positioning and self-identification. We found heightened ambiguous uses of “we”; a prevalence of verbs associated with personal (as opposed to discursive) uses of “I/we”; personal storytelling; and a privileging of Elders’ contributions to the existing state of knowledge. We argue these features reflect and reinforce Indigenous scholars’ social relations with particular communities of practice within and outside of the academy. They are also in keeping with Indigenous knowledge-making practices, protocols, and languages, and signal sites of negotiation and innovation in the research article. We present the implications for rhetorical genre studies and for teaching academic genres.

Toward a Rhetoric of Serious Game Genres

2010 ◽  
pp. 50-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Sherlock
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Serious Games ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Gaming Activity ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Research And Design

This chapter examines the construction of serious game genre frameworks from a rhetorical perspective. The author argues that to understand the forms of persuasion, learning, and social action that serious games facilitate, perspectives on genre must be developed and applied that situate serious gaming activity within larger systems of discourse, meaning-making, and text circulation. The current disconnect between popular understandings of serious game genres and those expressed by serious game developers represents one instance where rhetorical genre studies can be applied to generate knowledge about the “genre work” that serious games perform. Advocating a notion of genre that seeks to identify forms of social action and the persuasive possibility spaces of gaming, the author concludes by synthesizing digital game-based formulations of genre with perspectives from rhetorical theory to suggest implications for serious game research and design.

scholarly journals Digesting Data: Tracing the Chromosomal Imprint of Scientific Evidence Through the Development and Use of Canadian Dietary Guidelines

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-59
Author(s):  
Christen Rachul
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Registered Dietitians ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Nutrition Science ◽  
Scientific Representations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Genre

The Eating Well With Canada’s Food Guide (CFG), which represents Canada’s official dietary guidelines, is designed to address high rates of obesity and diet-related chronic disease in Canada. This article presents a qualitative study of the social and ideological actions that the CFG performs. The study draws on the concepts of antecedent genres and uptake from rhetorical genre studies, applying them in a multimodal analysis of the CFG and interviews with the CFG’s producers and registered dietitians (RDs) who work with vulnerable populations. Findings reveal that scientific representations play a profound role in the social and ideological actions that the CFG performs. The author demonstrates how representations of scientific evidence from nutrition science, as exemplified in the concept of the Food Guide Serving, are taken up by the CFG and, in turn, how these scientific representations influence RDs’ use of the CFG and dominate, rather than facilitate, discussions about healthy eating. The study suggests that the CFG, instead of being an enabling resource, is a limiting document: It limits who can make healthier food choices and how such choices can be made.

scholarly journals Always Already in Flux: A Response to Anne Freadman

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 152-160
Author(s):  
Charles Bazerman
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
North American ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Genre Theory ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Studies ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Communicative Actions ◽  
Freedom Of Action

Carolyn Miller’s rich and theoretically complex 1984 essay “Genre as Social Action” has been widely influential among scholars who have been variously identified as part of Rhetorical Genre Studies (Freedman, 1999), North American Genre Studies (Freedman & Medway, 1994; Artemeva, 2004), or American New Rhetorical Studies (Hyon, 1996). Despite being associated with each other, these loose congeries of scholars do not form a coherent whole with a commonly shared theory; nor have they taken up Miller’s essay in exactly the same way, to use the uptake term introduced into genre discussions by Anne Freadman (1987/1994). These scholars have a variety of understandings of how contexts configure perceived communicative opportunities within situations, how communicative actions are perceived by others, how social circumstances are relevant and articulated by the participants, the degrees of freedom of action by the writer and the interpreting reader, how mandatory certain elements of genres are and how those elements are realized in texts, as well as many other issues, including the natures of agency and exigency that Freadman (2020) considers in her current essay. Moreover, the theories or concepts advanced by these scholars are developed through empirical studies, each of a different character, although Freadman would like to distinguish sharply between genre theory and genre studies.

scholarly journals On Genre as Social Action, Uptake, and Modest Grand Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 161-171
Author(s):  
Sune Auken
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Grand Theory ◽  
Rhetorical Genre Studies ◽  
Special Place ◽  
Rhetorical Genre

Carolyn Miller’s (1984) “Genre as Social Action,” the primary topic—or target—of Anne Freadman’s brilliant and thought-provoking article, holds a special place in genre research. If I pick up an unknown piece of research on genre, the first thing I do is look for Miller’s article in the bibliography. If it is not there, the text in my hand will probably be of little of value to my work for lack of orientation. Moreover, as Freadman (2012) notes, convention in genre research suggests that when you mention the article, it is in good form to add a positive qualifier. It will often be framed as having “formative influence” (MacNeil, 2012), as a “landmark essay” (Feinberg, 2015), or as “seminal” (Andersen, 2008; Devitt, 2009a; Motta-Roth & Herbele, 2015; Møller, 2018; Paré, 2014; Tachino, 2012), “groundbreaking” (Bawarshi, 2000; Smart, 2003; Winsor, 2000), or “oft-cited” (Devitt, 2009b). More than just paying lip service to the greats in the field, adding this qualifier demonstrates that the author knows her way around Rhetorical Genre Studies and is mindful of Miller’s central place within it. This status as a classic text is in itself an example of the bidirectionality of uptake that holds a central place in Freadman’s work. “Genre as Social Action” could not be canonical when it was first published. A canon had to form, and the article’s central place within it had to be recognized by later researchers, before Miller’s text could be taken as oft-cited, seminal, or groundbreaking.

MENELUSURI JEJAK DAN KIPRAH KIAI MOHAMMAD HASAN GENGGONG; DALAM MEMBANGUN KEPEMIMPINAN SPRITUAL-TRANSFORMATIF

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fauzi ◽  
Chusnul Muali
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
Transformative Leadership ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
School Students ◽  
Value System ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Islamic Science

Pesantren and social value system is the result of constructing kiai's thoughts and social actions as an inseparable entity. This study aims to interpret the role and social action of kiai Moh Hasan, both as a fighter (al-haiah al-jihaadi li'izzi al-Islaami wal muslimin) in the community as well as guidance and guidance for the community (al-haiah al ta 'awuny wa al takafuly wal al ittijaahi) and teaching in educational institutions (al-haiah al ta'lim wa al-tarbiyah), significantly contributes greatly to the social realities of society in Indonesia. Portrait of central figure kiai Moh Hasan can not be separated from the depth of his field of Islamic science, simplicity, kezuhudan, struggle, sincerity and generosity. This view, not only recognized among the people around the boarding school, students and colleagues, but also spread in some areas in Indonesia. The fame of kiai Moh Hasan among scholars, habaib and society has many karamah and some other privileges, not even a few from the social recognition of kiai Moh Hasan Genggong, because the kiai are believed to have closeness with God, thus perceived as auliya'Allah. Thus the role and social actions of the kiai above, gave birth to the value system, so as to influence and move the social action of other individuals. The internalization of the aforementioned values becomes social capital in building a spiritual-based transformative leadership, as a strong leadership model and conducts various changes in the social field, by transforming the value of the ethical values.

scholarly journals Linguistic structures and functions of thesis and dissertation titles in Dentistry

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Alberto Morales ◽  
Bexi Perdomo ◽  
Daniel Cassany ◽  
Rosa María Tovar ◽  
Élix Izarra
Keyword(s):  
Single Unit ◽  
English Language ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Nominal Phrase ◽  
Research Students ◽  
Linguistic Structures ◽  
Grammatical Structures

AbstractTitles play an important role in genre analysis. Cross-genre studies show that research paper and thesis titles have distinctive features. However, thesis and dissertation titles in the field of dentistry have thus far received little attention. Objective: To analyze the syntactic structures and their functions in English-language thesis and dissertation titles in dentistry. Methodology: We randomly chose 413 titles of English-language dentistry theses or dissertations presented at universities in 12 countries between January 2000 and June 2019. The resulting corpus of 5,540 running words was then analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, the two complementary focuses being grammatical structures and their functions. Results: The average title length was 13.4 words. Over half of the titles did not include any punctuation marks. For compound titles, we found that colons, dashes, commas, and question marks were used to separate the different components, colons being the most frequent. Four syntactic structures (nominal phrase, gerund phrase, full-sentence, and prepositional phrase) were identified for single-unit titles. Single-unit nominal phrase titles constituted the most frequent structure in the corpus, followed by compound titles. Four particular rhetorical combinations of compound title components were found to be present throughout the corpus. Conclusions: Titles of dentistry theses and dissertation in English echo the content of the text body and make an important contribution to fulfilling the text’s communicative purposes. Thus, teaching research students about the linguistic features of thesis titles would be beneficial to help them write effective titles and also facilitate assessment by teachers.

scholarly journals Quantum and systems theory in world society: Not brothers and sisters but relatives still?

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 434-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Albert ◽  
Felix Maximilian Bathon
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Theory ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
World View ◽  
Social World ◽  
Critical Engagement ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Theories ◽  
Entire World ◽  
And Function

This article provides a sympathetic, yet also somewhat critical, engagement with the notion of ‘quantizing’ by exploring substantive overlaps between quantum and systems theory. It is based on the observation that while quantum theory is ‘non-classical’ in its entire world-view, there is a danger that when it comes to the social world it is simply laid on a world-view of that world, which remains at its core ‘classical’. This situation calls for engaging quantum with existing non-classical social theories. Resemblances between quantum and systems theory are obviously given through similarities around the concepts of observation and meaning, whose status and function in both bodies of theory is explored. We then probe the degree to which obvious analogies in fact could be read as overlaps and similarities that could be put to complementary analytical use: in a sense, we argue that systems theory ‘does’ quantum theory, and vice versa. The article concludes with some vistas of this discussion for the field of international relations.

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