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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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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The degree of distress, dissatisfaction, and lack of mutual understanding between mentors and trainees was striking, and these themes have important implications for best practices and resource development.
Abstract: PurposeScientific communication, both written and oral, is the cornerstone of success in biomedical research, yet formal instruction is rarely provided. Trainees with little exposure to standard academic English may find developing scientific communication skills challenging. In this exploratory, hy

35 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The initial findings of a genre-based case study at a large Swedish company, with a record of early use of internal e-mail (1982), are presented, finding that many messages were part of informal conversations, rather than being instances of genres.
Abstract: Presents the initial findings of a genre-based case study at a large Swedish company, with a record of early use of internal e-mail (1982). The design of the particular e-mail system was closely mapped to the organizational hierarchy. One of our informants kept one week of incoming e-mail messages. We then asked questions about each message and how it related to the work of the informant and to the organization. Based on the messages and the interviews, we clustered the messages into different genres. Most of the literature on genres of organizational communication has focused on the genres themselves, e.g. e-mail messages constituting different instances of genres. We found, however, that many messages, rather than being instances of genres, were part of informal conversations. In these conversations, however, it was common to discuss and negotiate which genres were appropriate to use in different situations.

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a study revisits the neutrality of research writing by investigating expression of moral obligation-deontic modals and related expressions-in 105 research articles in three disciplines: Forestry, Social Psychology, and Urban Geography.
Abstract: Despite growing evidence of its social and rhetorical aspects, research writing still has a reputation for impersonal neutrality and facelessness'. This study revisits that neutrality by investigating expression of moral obligation-deontic modals and related expressions-in 105 research articles in three disciplines: Forestry, Social Psychology, Urban Geography. In all three disciplines, deontics express obligation to pursue knowledge, these expressions composing disciplined cohorts of researchers. In all three disciplines, but with varying frequency, deontics express obligations to take action in the world, these expressions imagining arenas of professional and public responsibility to act on research-attested knowledge. Urban Geography is unique in quoting, in some cases, deontically modalized statements from worldly sources and thereby implicating rather than directly prescribing action. Modal mergers-pragmatic blends of deontic and dynamic modality-found in Forestry and Social Psychology are described as epitomizing the reciprocity of research-attested knowledge and ratified action. Deontic expressions appear to be a discursive resource for representing knowledge and orienting it to social sectors-research communities and public systems. Findings are interpreted as evidence for the cooperation of neutrality and sociality in research writing-a modern basis for conscientious action.

35 citations

Book ChapterDOI
05 Nov 2009

35 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors make a distinction between conversational and instituted genres, and propose a genre-based analysis of an instituted genre, a report on the thesis defence meeting (soutenance de these), as practised in French academic institutions.
Abstract: This article begins with some reflections on the notion of genre as used in discourse analysis and aims to make a distinction between two types of genre — conversational genres and instituted genres. Varying levels can be distinguished in the range of instituted genres: from genres deprived of any authorship to genres in which a single author partly defines the frame of the communicative event. However, this article deals mainly with a genre-based analysis of an instituted genre, a report on the thesis defence meeting (soutenance de these), as practised in French academic institutions. This genre is interesting for discourse analysts, not only because it is closely linked to scientific research communities, but also because it implies an original configuration of authorship and triggers indirect interpretation strategies.

35 citations