- BaxleyMetacognitive Reflection of a Genre Translation from an Academic Journal in

Environmental Science to a Visitor’s Brochure

For this assignment, I translated an academic, environmental science journal article into a

visitor’s brochure. In 1990, D.G. Reid, Hu Jinchu, and Huang Yan published one of, if not the most

prominent, red panda research paper. This paper documented a study conducted at the Wolong Reserve in

the Sichuan Province of China. This paper examined the habitat, diet, behavior, and more about the red

panda (Ailurus Fulgens) and the weather in the reserve. Because the study was done in a place with a

panda sanctuary that people can visit, I found it appropriate to genre-translate this study into a visitor's

guide. Through this genre translation, I found that a visitor's guide, acting essentially as an advertisement

for an attraction, is much more concise, must be aesthetically pleasing, and easily digestible by an average

person rather than an academic in the field of environmental science.

I will begin by examining the genre conventions specific to an academic journal in the

environmental science discourse community, and why they exist. The first genre convention I noticed

while reading the study was the usage of jargon specific to environmental science. When describing the

diet of the red panda, the authors used the following language: “Bashania fangiana Yi (syn.

Sinarundinaria fangiana (A. Camus) Keng ex. Keng F., Gelidocalamus fangianus Yi) grows from 2600-

3450 m and overlaps little with F. robusta. Culms average 0.4 cm in basal diameter, and 1.4m in height,

and shoot production occurs from mid-May through June.”1 Scientific naming allows the reader to

understand the specific type of bamboo the author is talking about, as this may be indicative of certain

important matters regarding this population of red pandas, and “basal diameter” helps the reader to

understand how thick the bamboo is at a deeper level. However, this information isn’t necessarily relevant

to a layperson who’s simply curious about the red panda. Connected to this idea, is the extensiveness and

length of an academic journal, as difficult scientific concepts are often harder to explain and require more

words than general information that would be more relevant to the average reader. Within the same quote,

1 Reid, Jinchu, Yan, 349

the extensive use of citations is another genre convention found in most academic journals. The goal of

citations is to give credit where credit is due to the specific findings discussed in academic papers and

offer sources to readers interested in more detailed information. 2 The last important genre convention I

will mention is the use of scientific graphs and tables not easily understood by the average layperson. The

most notable of these that I included in my translation are a graph of the times of day when the pandas are

most active, and a map showing where they roam.3 These images are alternate ways of displaying data

and information to convey information as effectively and accurately as possible. However, these methods

are only useful if your audience needs detailed data, which most of the time the average reader does not;

rather they just need or want to know the general implications of the data.

Moving forward, a visitor’s guide has just as many unique genre conventions as any other genre,

making the transition from an academic journal somewhat difficult. In preparation for this project, I

researched brochures from various national parks, zoos, and nature reserves. In every single one, the first

thing I noticed was the prioritization of aesthetics for this genre. When first looking at the Grand Tetons

National Park visitor’s guide, there was a multitude of breathtaking and professional photos to entice the

reader, the first of which was a mesmerizing timelapse of a mountain at sunset. 4 This was also the case

with the San Diego Zoo guide, in which every page includes pictures of animals you can find in the zoo. 5

Paired with this convention is how the information is formatted. Chunks of information are more brief,

and get to the point more quickly. They are also more aesthetically pleasing than other paragraph formats.

These conventions point to the true purpose of works in the visitor’s brochure genre which is to grab the

audience’s attention and entice them to engage with a given product or service; essentially acting as an

advertisement. Another shared genre convention I noticed was the writing style used in these brochures.

Instead of long paragraph-style explanations of the park's features, they used concise blurbs that contained

only the most interesting and relevant information to visitors. They often used exclamation points, or

2 Reid, Jinchu, Yan 364

3 Reid, Jinchu, Yan 364
4 Mishev, Dina. “The Outside Guide to Grand Teton National Park.” Outside Online, September 15, 2022.
5 San Diego Zoo Pamphlet with Map of San Diego.” San Diego Zoo pamphlet with map of San Diego | California
Revealed.
large titles with flashy fonts to further grab the reader’s attention. This was especially evident in the

Glacier National Park Visitors Guide6, and another reason I compare this genre to that of advertisements.

Now that the genre conventions of each respective genre have been established, it is important to

identify how this translation of genres took place. The most important genre translation I had to consider

was the number of words, going from 10,000-plus to a mere 300. My strategy here was to take each main

section from the journal article and give each a small paragraph in the brochure. These sections included

diet, habitat, location of the pandas, information about the study area, and information about the study

itself. Additionally, I had to switch the writing style from a detailed presentation of study design and

factual scientific research results to something that would grab the reader’s attention, elicit emotion, and

help the brochure serve as an effective advertisement for tourists and families to visit the reserve. To

make the information more concise and digestible for laypeople, I had to figure out how to eliminate

jargon that the average reader wouldn’t understand and allow them to stay engaged and willing to

contribute to the reserve. For example, instead of copying the quote about bamboo 6 directly from research

paper, I wrote a shorter, more digestible description that contains only the most relevant information

about the bamboo (rather than an extensive list of scientific names, for example): “The vast majority of

the red panda’s diet is bamboo with B. Fangiana Bamboo leaves as found in 93.7% of their scat! In the

summer months, they eat more bamboo shoots as well as fruit from deciduous shrubs or creeping vines.”

Notice how I added an exclamation point, a convention rarely found in the academic genre. One difficult

aspect of this genre translation in particular was not only did I have to condense most of the study, but I

also had to add elements to the brochure that weren’t even present in the study, namely pictures and other

general aesthetics. I accomplished this by using a brochure template I found online and a myriad of

photos of pandas, bamboo, and the sanctuary along with added graphics. Canva.com offered free

templates for brochures, one of which had a green theme and was meant to advertise a forest resort. I then

searched on google for images that captured the most adorable red pandas, and the most breathtaking

views from the sanctuary. By renaming itthe projects different parts and adding different pictures, the

6 “USA Trip Planner, Glacier.” Authentik USA

general aesthetic worked perfectly for my project. One of my goals in completing this genre translation

was not to completely lose the point of the study, which is why I cited the study itself and the journal it

came from. Not only did this citation give context to the facts I was presenting, but it also doubled as an

attraction about the park (that of course being that it hosted the most prominent red panda study to date).

This convention further advances the goal of making the reserve appealing to the audience, which is the

purpose of this non-academic genre. Although this makes sense for my project, the citation is the only

part of my translation that seems out of place for the typical brochure/visitor’s guide. Lastly, I felt

strongly about keeping the academic genre convention of graphs and such because I thought they add a

needed level of clarity to the topics discussed and that presenting data is one, if not the most integral, part

of a scientific research paper. However, I fully modified them and added much simpler explanations than

originally used. I also tweaked them to be part of the “visitor tips” section as I used a graph and map to

show where and when to spot the red pandas. This is a clear example of changing the purpose of content

in the genre: the graphs went from a way to format research data to a mechanism for drawing the reader

to the attraction being advertised, essentially by saying “This is where and how you can see the red

panda.” I don’t think there were any rules of this non-academic genre that I necessarily broke, but there

are not many brochures among those examples noted above that look like mine, especially including the

journal citation.

Based on the class reading by Boyd, I realized that there are often many parts of a genre you

don’t realize are vital to a piece of work in that genre. It takes further analysis and reflection to truly

understand the core principles of a genre.7 So, I made extra sure to familiarize myself with different

brochures before starting my translation. For example, you essentially need to “dumb down” your

vocabulary and writing style for a lay audience compared to academic writing, which is something I

didn’t notice when I originally thought of a brochure. The process for this refleciton as a whole tie into

the reading from Giles, where we as students are prompted to think more deeply about our writing. Giles

7 Janet Boyd, “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking).” Volume 2 ed Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky
(Anderson, South Carolina, Polar Press, 2011). 88
refers to the importance of projects like this metacognitive reflection and how they prompt student writers

to understand the intention of their writing and connect with their intended audience. Giles mentions the

importance of thinking about more than just trying to get information across from your perspective. 8 This

reflection and Giles' reading helped me understand how to evaluate the audience for whom you are

writing, which is why I changed parts of my translation while writing this reflection. Specifically, my

reflection helped me realize that brochures are more than reading for entertainment. This realization

prompted me to change the language I was using and try to make the titles of the subsections in my

brochure more catchy and noticeable. For example, instead of titling the first part of my brochure “study

area” as the authors do in the journal article, I changed it to “A Red Panda’s Safe Space.”

8 Sandra L. Giles, “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were you Thinking?” Volume 2 ed
Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky (Anderson, South Carolina, Polar Press, 2011). 194