Genre Analysis

【Abstract】Swales CARS model is a robust method of genre analysis.The model is first designed for article introductions； its application covers a wide range from academic to non-academic.The present paper is completely a theoretical framework.At last，future research is proposed.

【Key words】genre； move

1.Introduction

In the analysis of text，we can start from the form （looking at past participles or imperatives，for example，and then establishing their use） or we can start by trying to establish what the author is trying to do in the text or move （“establishing a territory” for example） and then looking to see what forms （phonological，lexical and grammatical） are used to realize each move or the steps that make up these moves.It is this latter method that Swales chose as the preferred method for genre analysis… （Bloor，1998，p.60） Genre analysis is the study of situated linguistic behavior in institutionalized academic or professional settings… （Bhatia，1997，p.181）

A genre can be briefly defined as a class of texts characterized by a specific communicative function that tends to produce distinctive structural patterns （Holemes，1997，p.322）.While the most popular definition of genre is still provided by Swales （1990，p.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 parent discourse community，and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre.This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style.Communicative purpose is both a privileged criterion and one that operates to keep the scope of genre as here conceived narrowly focused on comparable rhetorical action.In addition to purpose，exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure，style，content and intended audience.The main characteristic of Swales analysis in his（1990） seminal work is the division of the text into phases or ‘moves，further subdivided into ‘steps（Toledo，2005，p.1063）.A ‘move is a unit that relates both to the writers purpose and to the content that s/he wishes to communicate.A ‘step is a lower level text unit than the move that provides a detailed perspective on the options open to the writer in setting out the moves in the introduction （Dudley-Evans& St John，1998，p.89）.This two-layer analysis in terms of move and steps，as earlier shown by the CARS model （Swales，1990，p.141），is a robust method of genre analysis （Yang & Allison，2003，p.370）.Swales （1990，p.141） generalized the Create a Research Space （CARS） model for article introductions.However，his model has been successfully extended to various parts of the research article（RA），such as the introduction section （Swales，1981，1990； Samraj，2002； Bhatia，1997），the result section （Brett，1994），the discussion section （Holmes，1997），the conclusion section （Yang & Allison，2003）.A substantial literature covers a variety of academic genres including lectures，theses，dissertations and text books，on the one hand.On the other hand，Swales framework has also been applied to numerous studies of written and spoken non-academic genres，for instance，grant proposals （Connor & Mauranen，1999），business letters of negotiation （Santos，2002），money chasing letters （Vergaro，2002） and even letters of application （Henry& Roseberry，2001）.Whatever in academic or non-academic，these studies have delineated the macro-organization of these genres in terms of their constituent moves… （Samraj，2005，p.141）

2.Future Research

While，whats most encouraging is the recurrent trends in contrastive study （Vergaro，2002） based on Swales move structure analysis.In spite of wide application of Swales CARS model，humor is not touched upon yet.The future research is expected to redress this gap.The prosperous study aims at teacher humor in classroom of China，expecting to excavate some positive pedagogical value.First，from the perspective of macro-level，the overall structures of these selected classroom humors will be generalized based on Swales move structure analysis.Then at the micro-level，the future study will go deeply to find and then conclude the underlying linguistic characteristics.Finally，in the conclusion section，pedagogical implication and potentiality of further research will be proposed.

References：

[1]Bhatia，V.K.（1997）.Genre-Mixing in Academic Introductions.English for Specific Purposes，16，181-195.

[2]Bloor，M.（1998）.English for Specific Purposes：The Preservation of the Species （Some notes on a recently evolved species and on the contribution of John Swales to its preservation and protection）.English for Specific Purposes，17，47-66.

[3]Brett，P.（1994）.A genre analysis of the results section of sociology articles.English for Specific Purposes，13（1），47-59.

[4]Connor，U，& Mauranen，A.（1999）.Linguistic analysis of grant proposals：Eurpean union research grants.English for Specific Pusposes，18，47-62.

[5]Dudley-Evans，T，& St John，M.J.（1998）.Developments in ESP.Cambridge：CUP.

[6]Henry，A，& Roseberry，R.L.（2001）.A narrow-angled corpus analysis of moves and strategies of the genre：‘Letter of Application.English for Specific Purposes，20，153-167.

[7]Holmes，R.（1997）.Genre Analysis，and the Social Sciences：An Investigation of the Structure of Research Article Discussion Sections in Three Disciplines.English for Specific Purposes，16，321-337.

[8]Pinto dos Santos，V.B.M.（2002）.Genre analysis of business letters of negotiation.English for Specific Purposes，21，167-199.

[9]Samraj，B.（2002）.Introductions in research articles：variation across disciplines.English for Specific Purposes，21，1-17.

[10]Swales，J.（1981）.Aspects of article introductions.Birmingham：The University of Aston.

[11]Swales，J.（1990）.Genre analysis.English in academic and research settings.Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.

[12]Toledo，P.F.（2005）.Genre analysis and reading of English as a foreign language：Genre schemata beyond text typologies.Journal of Pragmatics，37，1059-1079.

[13]Vergaro，C.（2002）.“Dear Sirs，what would you do if you were in our position？”.Discourse strategies in Italian and English money chasing letters.Journal of Pragmatics，34，1211-1233.

[14]Yang，R，& Allison，D.（2003）.Research articles in applied linguistics：moving from results to conclusions.English for Specific Purposes，22，365-385.

作者簡介：张楠（1979-），女，汉族，硕士，辽宁大学外国语学院英语语言文学系，讲师，研究方向：应用语言学。