Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings / John M. Swales
01 Jan 1991-Vol. 1991, Iss: 1991, pp 1-99
About: The article was published on 1991-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 5640 citations till now.
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TL;DR: This article found that the teacher's actions encouraged univocal discourse between students and their reproductive understanding of scientific concepts and argued that before a class can become more like a scientific discourse community, teachers need to promote dialogic discourse and transformative understanding.
Abstract: So that we might understand better how the discursive practices of classroom participants lead to students' transformative understanding, we immersed ourselves in a Grade 8 science class for an extended period of observation. Our observation and interview data were interpreted from two overlapping perspectives, namely, an action orientation and a discourse orientation. We found that the teacher's actions encouraged univocal discourse between students and their reproductive understanding of scientific concepts. We argue that before a class can become more like a scientific discourse community, teachers need to promote dialogic discourse and transformative understanding. The contextual descriptions and interpretations presented might help teachers form images of classroom practices that will be conducive to students' transformative understandings of science.
45 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the corporate environmental reports of 100 companies listed in the 2009 Fortune 1000 in order to illustrate how this type of genre communicates a green corporate ethos to audience members who are trying to distinguish between greenwashing tactics and true environmental concerns.
Abstract: This study examines the corporate environmental reports of 100 companies listed in the 2009 Fortune 1000 in order to illustrate how this type of genre communicates a green corporate ethos to audience members who are trying to distinguish between greenwashing tactics and true environmental concerns. The authors analyze how corporate environmental reports are constructed at macro and micro discursive levels to promote a socially responsible image to in-group (e.g., employees and stockholders) and out-group (e.g., consumers) members. The results of the analysis show how these reports use ideological persuasion to influence or change audience members’ opinions about corporate environmental sustainability.
45 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight gaps in our knowledge from research in this field, and pose attendant questions for debate by medical educators, and consider the following key aspects of debate on cross-cultural work.
Abstract: 1 Most research into medical communication has had a western setting. It has been undertaken by western researchers and been influential in shaping communication skills curricula. However we know much less about what communication is effective under other circumstances. This article highlights gaps in our knowledge from research in this field, and poses attendant questions for debate by medical educators. We consider the following key aspects of debate on cross-cultural work. (i) To what extent can our understanding of general principles in other cultures be summarized and presented for teaching in a way which does not descend into caricature? Alternatively, can features of other cultures be presented in ways which do not descend into particularity? (ii) Can such paradigms as ‘patient-centredness’ be transferred from culture to culture? Should they be presented across cultures as features of ‘good’ consultations? (iii) What use can be made of the role of interpreters for teaching purposes? What importance does it have to the educator that a doctor may not be a native speaker of the majority language of the culture in which s/he is operating? (iv) Although the language of illness, and particularly metaphors associated with illness, are studied in other cultures, the way in which illness is metaphorized in British English is seldom discussed. What can educators learn and teach from a study of such matters? (v) What are the implications for communication skills teachers of the need to present materials within a culturally diverse environment?
45 citations
TL;DR: However, studies have shown that sometimes Donald Trump does not speak the way he used to as discussed by the authors, which is not a good sign for the future of the United States of America.
Abstract: During the 2016 election, Donald Trump was characterized by his simple, pompous and repetitive language. However, studies have shown that sometimes he does not speak the way he used to. Critical di...
45 citations
TL;DR: To what extent the classification of a web page by a single genre matches the users' perspective is investigated to help understand whether there is a need for a different classification scheme that overrides the single-genre labelling.
Abstract: The goal of the study presented in this article is to investigate to what extent the classification of a web page by a single genre matches the users' perspective. The extent of agreement on a single genre label for a web page can help understand whether there is a need for a different classification scheme that overrides the single-genre labelling. My hypothesis is that a single genre label does not account for the users' perspective. In order to test this hypothesis, I submitted a restricted number of web pages (25 web pages) to a large number of web users (135 subjects) asking them to assign only a single genre label to each of the web pages. Users could choose from a list of 21 genre labels, or select one of the two 'escape' options, i.e. 'Add a label' and 'I don't know'. The rationale was to observe the level of agreement on a single genre label per web page, and draw some conclusions about the appropriateness of limiting the assignment to only a single label when doing genre classification of web pages. Results show that users largely disagree on the label to be assigned to a web page.
45 citations