Grammar &

Discourse in English

Genre Analysis
Outline
• Genre in SFL
• Genre and Register in SFL
• Approaches
 Genre and Language Learning
o David Rose
o Jim Martin
 Research articles and Intercultural Rhetoric
o Swales
o Connor
• Links and Resources 2
Genre in SFL

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Genre
• In general, the study of the social functions
of texts
• And how their social function has an impact
on
 Structure
 Cohesion
 Coherence

4
 Genre
• Genre
 A staged, goal-oriented, purposeful activity in
which speakers engage as members of our
culture (Martin 1984: 25).
• Definition:
 Purpose of the activity
 Stages of the genre (schematic structure) –
also known as moves or phases

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Schematic structure of a
genre
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Schematic structure of a
genre (cont)
• Stages, steps, or moves, that one has to follow (in a particular
order) in a particular genre.
• When analyzing a genre:
 It involves examining constituent structure
• Constituent structure in sentences:
 S -> NG VG
 NG -> d h
 …
• Constituent structure in genres:
 Varied, most basic:
• Beginning
• Middle
• End

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Schematic structure (cont.)
• In sentence structure, two elements:
 Symbols (constituents)
 Rules of combination
• Same in genre structure:
 Constituents: functional parts
 Rules: generic structure (of a particular genre)

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Some sample generic
structures
• News story
 Purpose: Tells events regarded as newsworthy
 Stages: Lead ^ Key events ^ (Quotes)
• Procedure
 Purpose: Instructs how to do something
through a sequence of steps
 Stages: Goal ^ Steps 1-n ^ (Results)

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Genre, cohesion and coherence

• Both register and genre influence the types

of cohesive and coherence devices present
in a text
 Cohesion – types of lexical items and chains
 Coherence – types of rhetorical relations, where
they occur
• Newspaper articles: summary at the beginning
• Review articles : summary at the end

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Example, news item
• Structure
 Newsworthy events
 Background events
 Sources
• Linguistic features
 Short, telegraphic information in a headline
 Verbs of action to retell the event
 Verbs of saying to report on what sources describe
 Many circumstances

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Example, procedure
• Structure
 Goal
 Materials
 Steps
• Linguistic features
 Focus on generalized agents (you, one, or implicit)
 Simple present tense, often imperative
 Verbs of action
 Temporal conjunctions

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How to analyze genres
• How do we know:
 When we have left one stage and started another?
• Patterns will be different across stages
 When we have left one genre and started another?
• Patterns will be different across genres
• You will find that, with a bit of thinking, you can identify
stages and label them based on functional purposes
 After all, genres are a reflection of our culture
 As members of the culture, we are able to describe how we
use genres to do things

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Genres in relation to each
other
• Genres relate to each other, and often a
whole area of human activity has its set of
genres, related through intertextuality
 The job application process: ad, letter of
application, reply to the letter, interview
 The university class: registration, course outline,
syllabus, lectures, homework, papers, office
hours

15
Genres in relation to each other
(cont)

BA dissert

16
Genre ecologies
• Genres related to each other affect each other
 The job application process has changed since ads are
placed online, and email and pdfs are the preferred
application methods
• Genre chains
 Sets of genres that relate to each other (process of
applying to graduate school)
• Genre blending and bending
 Blending – genres mixed together
• Speech and writing in chat
 Bending – creative change of genres (typical in comedy)

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 Genre bending
• Evolving Out Loud, KYLE CEASE (Stand up
comedy) (2’58’’, the link only works with
Mozilla)
https://kylecease.com/alexandria/

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Genre and register in SFL

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Genre and register

Source: Martin, J.R. and David Rose (2008) Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. London: Equinox. (p. 17). 20
Genre and register
• Relationship between genre and register
 Register fills in the specifics of general genres
(or macrogenres)
• Term paper genre can have different fields (but
similar tenor and mode)
 Genre potential: configuration of register
variables
• Some register configurations are not allowed in a
culture

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Context of culture and context of
situation

• Genre reflects the influence of the context

of culture on the language
• Register has to do with the context of
situation (what is taking place, how the
participants relate)

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Context of culture and context of
situation

on

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 David Rose
James Martin

Raising awareness of genre-register variation

Rose, David and James R. Martin (2014) Intervening
in contexts of schooling. In Flowerdew, John (ed.)
Discourse in Context. London: Bloomsbury. (pp.
273-300). 34
The Sydney School
• The SFL approach to genre
• Brought to the primary school level
• Structure of genres students typically encounter
• Explicit teaching of genre and genre structures
• Natural-language texts
• Students at different levels of ability work on the same
texts
• Outcomes: underperforming students do catch up
 “…successful students tacitly acquire skills at each stage that
will prepare them for the next stage” (p. 296)
 What the program does is make the learning of those skills
explicit

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26
Resarch articles
Intercultural Rhetoric
• Research Articles
o Title & Abstract
o Introduction Ulla Connor John Swales
o Methods
o Results
o Discussion
o How to publish?
• Intercultural Rhetoric
Connor, U. 1996. Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second language writing. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Connor, U. 2004. Intercultural rhetoric research: Beyond texts. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 3 (4): 291-304.
Ene, E., McIntosh, K., Connor, U. 2019. Using intercultural rhetoric to examine translingual practices of postgraduate L2 writers of English
Journal of Second Language Writing, 45: 105-110.
Swales, J., & Feak, C. B. (2000). English in today's research world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. M. 1990. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. 2012. Academic Writing for Graduate Students (3rd ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press (Second ed.
2000). 54
Resarch articles (RA)
RA Abstracts

Research article abstracts have become an

increasingly important genre, or type of text used to
achieve a communicative purpose.

“According to a recent study, papers with poorly

written abstracts were more than twice as likely to
be rejected as articles that had complete, well-
written abstracts.”
(Hahs-Vaughn and Onwuegbuzie 2010)

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Structure of RA Abstracts

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Structure of RA Abstracts
Move # Typical labels/Implied questions
• Move 1 Background/introduction/situation what do we
know about the topic?
Why is the topic important?
• Move 2 Present research/purpose what is this study
about?
• Move 3 Methods/materials/subjects/procedures how was
it done?
• Move 4 Results/findings what was discovered?
• Move 5 Discussion/conclusion/implications what do the
findings mean?

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RA Abstracts: Points for consideration
 It is not necessary to include all 5 moves.
 Include sections needed to “sell” the work.
 How the 250 words are apportioned in each section will
depend on the focus of the work.
 Typically, the background is the shortest section.
 Results will often be the longest.
 However, Methods may be the longest if the research
introduces a new methodology.

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RA Abstracts: Example

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RA Abstracts: Tips
Introduction: use strong verbs for the aims or objectives:
assess determine explore
clarify examine investigate
compare evaluate validate
Methods: use past tense with passive or active voice
Results: report key findings generally, in past tense
Discussion: indicate your stance and the strength of your
claim

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RA Titles

Good Research Article titles:

 are clear
 are informative
 are representative of the content and breadth of the study
 adequately capture the importance of the study
 are inviting to the reader

Types of RA titles include:

 Complex noun phrase Colon
 Conclusion Yes/no

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 RA Introductions: Problems

Typical problems include:

 Information that is not relevant to the aims of the study
 Insufficient background or “foundational” research
 Unclear or no stated purpose
 Misplaced information (i.e., information in the introduction
should be in another section of the paper such as the results)
 Length (often because the introduction is considered too long)
 Unsubstantiated claims and personal opinions

*As presented by Johnson and Green (2009)

RA Introductions

• Move 1: Establishing a research territory

 Showing how central your research is, reviewing previous research
• Move 2: Establishing a niche
 Showing a gap in previous research, going against previous claims
 Raising a new question, doing incremental research
• Move 3: Occupying the niche
 Summarizing goals of the present research
 Announcing findings
 Outlining article structure

(Swales & Feak, 2004)

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 RA Introductions: Some tips

• Use past tense to:

• describe your methodology and report your results
• refer to the work of previous researchers
• cite previous research
• describe facts that are no longer valid or relevant

• Use present tense to:

• express findings that continue to be true
• general truths or facts supported by research
• refer to the article (or thesis) itself
• refer to your findings
RA Introductions: Some tips
•Use reporting verbs:
RA Introductions: Some tips
•Use linking words & phrases:
 RA Discussion Section

• When writing a RA Discussion section, it is important to

remember the overall purpose of the Discussion. Is it to:

•summarize your research?

•restate significant findings?
•display “intelligence”?
•give meaning to your findings?
•invite applause and “pat yourself on the back” for a job well
done?
 RA Discussion Section: Problems

• Research has shown that research article (RA)

Discussions are often criticized for:

• being poorly organized and confusing

• having an inappropriate focus (disconnected from the
research) or lacking a focus
• making claims that are too strong or not supported by
the results given
• failing to clearly demonstrate the value of the work—
being incomplete and lacking something important.
 RA Discussion Section: Tips

•Discussions, then, should be much more than summaries.

•They need to offer an interpretation of the results and
reveal how those results agree (or disagree) with other
research.
•Thus, they may be more theoretical, or more abstract, or
more general, or more integrated with the field, or more
connected to the real world or more concerned with
implications or applications.
•Overall, Results deal with facts, and Discussions deal with
points; facts are descriptive, while points are
interpretative.
•Generally, Discussions should “emphasize the new and
important aspects of the study and the conclusions that
follow from them.”
 RA Discussion Section: Tips

• Author’s stance: refers to the attitude, or perspective,

toward their work.
In Discussions, stance markers are important because
they reveal not only what you know or found, but what you
think. Many perspectives can be conveyed:
o clearly shown

o elegantly described

o greatly contributed

o unfortunately
 RA Discussion Section: Tips

• Strength of the Claim: One way to indicate your stance

toward your work in the Discussion is by indicating the
extent to which you can commit to your claims.
• As Skelton (1988) neatly observed, “it is important for
academic writers to learn to be confidently uncertain” by
using hedges and qualifications.
• At the same time, however, in order to highlight the
significance of your work, you may also need to use
boosters
 RA Discussion Section: Tips

• Strength of the Claim

o Using a modal verb (e.g. may, might, can, could . . .).

o Using expressions such as “likely” or “unlikely”

The process of getting published

How to work collaboratively?

How to find the right journal to
publish?
How to respond to editors? How
much negotiation should take
place?
How to publish collaboratively?

Finding the right collaborators are essential aspects for

doctoral students in their attempts to start their academic
life.
Despite the difficulties that can arise, generating
and bouncing ideas off your writing partners is often less
lonely, more interesting and more productive than doing it
alone. Especially for a first-timer.
Talk with your professor and ask for feedback on aspects
that you nominate – eg. structure, flow, engagement of the
reader etc.
How to find the right journal?

Four things to consider when choosing a journal:

1.Subject area(s) covered by the journal (particularly when the research
is cross-discipline)
2.Types of articles published (original research, review, case study)

3.Reputation of the journal (impact factor, size of readership/open

access, peer review, quality of accepted articles and authors, indexing
level, author fees)
4.Audience of journal and time to publication

 You may consider the following tools:

Edanz Journal Selector (Beta)
Elsevier Journal Finder
Revise & Resubmit
Example 1. Rejection, do not resubmit.
 Your paper has been examined by 2 expert reviewers. Unfortunately,
we must decline this manuscript for publication. The reasons for this
decision are indicated in the reviewers' comments.
Example 2. Declined for now, future acceptance possible.
 Your paper has been examined by 2 expert reviewers. For the
reasons explained in the comments, we cannot accept this
manuscript for publication in Clinical Chemistry. We would consider a
revised version that takes these criticisms into account but cannot
offer assurance that submission of a revised manuscript will lead to
acceptance.
Example 3. Declined for now, future acceptance very likely.
 Your paper has been examined by 2 expert reviewers. As you will
see in their comments, each reviewer finds merit in the work but
makes constructive suggestions. Please consider the suggestions
carefully, as the changes will produce an article that better serves
you and our readers.
How to respond to the editors?

I have just received a decision letter for my submitted

manuscript to an Elsevier journal. It was a revise and
resubmit (R&R). Two reviewer’s comments were included in
the decision letter. One of the reviewers suggested minor
revisions. The other reviewer on the other hand
recommended rejection and his comments were really
unfair. Evidently, he hasn't bothered reading the manuscript
completely. I am really disappointed and don't really know
how to even respond to his comments. What do you
recommend me to do? I am really frustrated.
- Anonymous
How much negotiation should take place?

Choose Your Battles Wisely

o If a change to a sentence or paragraph requested by the
reviewer does not affect the intended meaning, do your best to
make the change.
o If you believe that a requested change will negatively affect the
paper, go ahead and respectfully disagree. It is your name on the
title page. But do not respond by stating that the reviewer is
wrong without allowing the reviewer, wherever possible, to save
face. Explain where the reviewer may have misinterpreted the
section and that you want to keep the text intact. You might find,
however, that as you explain the rationale for keeping the text as
is, some of the wording and logic you use to respond to the
reviewer might be worth adding to the paragraph in question to
help the reader better understand the paper.
 Intercultural Rhetoric
• [Intercultural rhetoric is] an umbrella term that
includes cross-cultural studies as well as studies
of interactions in which writers with a variety of
linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds
negotiate through speaking and writing”
(Connor, 2011, p. 2).
• “Intercultural provides an appropriate
connotation of collaborative interaction
between and among cultures, on one hand, and
within cultures on the other” (Connor, 2011, p.
1).
Intercultural Rhetoric
Background
• Contrastive Rhetoric and Kaplan’s “Doodles”
(1966)
• Contrastive Rhetoric and Connor (1987, 1996)
• Intercultural Rhetoric (2011)
Links and Resources

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Links and resources
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Daut5e0k
WBo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8NCEkm
XX5s
• http://www.popflock.com/learn?s=Genre_anal
ysis
• http://englishadmin.com/2015/11/english-
text-types.html
• https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/reg
ister-degrees-formality
• https://mobillegends.net/genre-language-
definition-and-examples
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