Understanding genres

UNIT 1
ENGLISH FOR HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
GE2412
 Discussion

Activity
 1) What factors do you need to consider before you start writing a text?

Your
 target readers?
The
 purpose of your text?
The length of your text?

The content of your text?

The style of your text?

The structure of your text?

Genres and sub-genres

 “Genre” is a French word meaning “kind” or “type.”

 Genres are types of texts which have shared characteristics and follow specific rules and
conventions.
 Some genres you meet when you study could involve textbooks, newspaper articles, journal
articles, conference papers, and lab reports.
 Sub-genres are sub-categories within a particular genre.
 Example: If the genre is “novel”, some sub-genres are science fiction novels,
detective novels and romance novels.
More Examples of genres and sub-genres

poem speech

• sonnet • campaign speech

• limerick • after-dinner speech
• ballad • vote of thanks

[Fiction] [Non-fiction]
 Everyday genres

 Activity 2) Yesterday, what written (sub-)genres did you (and your group mates)
encounter?
Novels Diaries Calendars Food packaging
Signs Graffiti on walls Letter Bills
Children’s scribbling Greeting cards Maps Bank statements

Mugs T-Shirts Open Rice Memos

Menus Film subtitles Instagram Schedules
Addresses Announcements Advertisements Weather forecast
Newspaper Invitations Washing instructions MTR station names

Directories Building names Applications Comic strips

Facebook Recipes Whatsapp Diplomas
Genre is important

 Genres have certain linguistic and rhetorical features in common.

 Recognising genres is important since it allows writers to know what specific linguistic
and stylistic features are the most suitable in a given text.
 Readers can understand texts better if they recognise features of different genres.
Genre classification - hierarchies
Genre classification

 Activity 3) Create a genre classification with the following sections & genres/sub-genres

Research writing Recipe Non-fiction Thesis Editorial

Promotional
Personal Journalism News report Job posting
witting

Procedural
TV commercial Scholarly article User’s manual Professional
writing
 Non-fiction

Personal Professional

Research writing Journalism Procedural writing Promotional writing

Scholarly ar- Editorial News report User’s man- Magazine adver-

Thesis ual Recipe Job posting
ticle tisement
Classifying genres

 Activity 4) When you were classifying genres and subgenres, what criteria were
you considering? What made you classify in that way?

 Activity 5) Read the passage in your handout and identify its genre/sub-genre.
(Wells, 2017)
Restaurant review genre features

Activity 6)
 Lexical features: Food vocabulary like tomato, burger, Neapolitan ice cream, meringue; evaluative
language like juicy, sweet and complex.
 Syntactic features: informal structures like contractions, first person (“I”) and second person (“you”). A
mixture of present tenses (this is what the food is like) and past tenses (this is what my specific
experience was like). Relatively long and ‘winding’ sentences.
 Organizational structures: following the chronological course of a meal (main course first, dessert
later); contrasts (children might like one thing, adults another), some general background/history, then the
description of a specific visit/meal had by the writer (sometimes with price, etc).
 Formatting/layout: Eye-catching heading (including name of restaurant?), address, phone number, short
paragraphs, columns.
 Non-linguistic features: Star rating, photographs of environment/food
Exploiting genres

 Activity 7) With a partner, write a short restaurant review, following the guidelines
provided by your teacher.
Genres have shared objectives

 Members of a genre have shared textual features because those features enable shared
objectives. For example, restaurant reviews are similar in these ways:
 Purpose: helping readers decide whether they want to eat at the restaurant (This creates a space
for first and second person, and many of the non-linguistic features.)
 Rhetorical functions: telling the reader what the experience was like. (This creates a space for
evaluative language.)
 Target readers: people considering this restaurant. (This creates a space for the contrasts; the
target readers want to know if it’s suitable for children, for mature groups, etc.)
Genre conventions and awareness

 What distinguishes genres from each other is the distinctive pattern of what we call
conventions.
 Conventions can be based on the agreed expectations created within a certain genre;
 e.g. In academic writing, it is expected that you would write in a formal style and use citations
when you construct your arguments.
 Genre awareness is crucial to both comprehension and composition (McCutchen, 2000).
 It lets the authors and readers know what type of writing to expect.
Genres as dynamic systems

 Rather than a set of fixed conventions (for example, follow a specific organization, define
your thesis in the introduction, etc.), you may find it more useful to regard genres as
“dynamic systems" that constantly change over time.
 Genres are negotiated and renegotiated between writers and readers through texts, and
these conventions change according to different social contexts (Halliday, 1978).
 e.g. A person's first language and his/her culture may affect his/her writing in a second language.
 e.g. changes in technology: magazines - webpages - blogs - apps
Genre as a tool for readers

 Readers’ understanding of genres makes them read and interpret in certain ways.
 Genre awareness causes readers to have expectations before they start reading
 Knowledge of generic conventions enables writers to meet readers' expectations.
 Activity 8)
a) For example, the following excerpts are from two different texts: one is a fairy tale and the
other is a newspaper article. Which excerpts are from the fairytale, which from the newspaper?
 Imaginative descriptions (“Her hair was long and flowing like the most beautiful river in the kingdom”)
 Precise descriptions (“a tall man with very short, dark-brown hair”)
 Language describing a non-specific time long in the past (“once upon a time”)
 Language describing recent events with some precision (“It was announced yesterday afternoon that. . . “)
Genre expectations

 What are the genres of these single-sentence excerpts (where would you expect to see
them)?

 Ignoring the sweat streaming down his brow, he edged his way
step by step across the narrow ledge.

 Always hold the handrail

Genre quiz

 Activity 9) On a separate handout, write down 5 single-sentence excerpts from different genres/sub
genres, found from authentic sources (online or in the room)
 Note the genres/sub-genres on your main hand outs
Genre as a tool for writers

 It is important for writers to be familiar with the conventions of the genre or genres they
wish to write, so the writer can choose the right language to use according to the social
context and clearly demonstrate the purpose of the writing.

 Essentially, if you want your writing to be accepted, it must ‘look right’

 Activity 10) What different university (student) genres can you list? Note, each has its
own conventions, and all should be carefully learnt for effective writing of that type.
Common university (student) genres

 Argumentative  in-class exercise  proposal

essay  problem-solution  research report
 critique essay  email to tutor
 design  literaturesurvey  lab report
specification  methodology  short test
 reflective writing recount
answers
 case study  narrative recount
Characteristics of assessment genres

 Assessment genres are texts like the ones in the previous list which are used to evaluate
whether students have mastered the learning objectives for a course. (Grades are a
reflection of this.)
 The purpose of an assessment genre is dictated by the assignment.
Example: The purpose of a lab report is to demonstrate that the student knows how to perform a
laboratory procedure, by explaining how a procedure was done and what its result was.
 Rhetorical functions include knowledge display (showing the teacher what you know and can
do); appearing objective (and therefore believable).
 Target readers: The teacher; classmates; a grading panel (and sometimes a “pretend” audience).
 Understanding the genre you’re asked to write will help you write it. For
assessments, always read the marking rubrics carefully
Reading strategies
Reading: Fundamental to success

 Reading at university is a critical means of learning subject matter, and of learning how
academic genres are constructed. Good reading behaviors are key contributors to
academic success.
 How much do university students read?
 A survey (Pecorari, Shaw, Irvine, Malmström, & Mežek, 2012)
asked over 1,200 university students the following questions
about their reading behaviour.
Survey results 100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Textbooks are an When I get a reading When reading is I read in preparation
important source of assignment, I do all or assigned in this for today's class.
learning in my most of it. course, I do all or most
courses. of it.
Survey results 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Textbooks are an When I get a reading When reading is I read in preparation
important source of assignment, I do all assigned in this for today's class.
learning in my or most of it. course, I do all or
courses. most of it.
Survey results 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Textbooks are an When I get a When reading is I read in
important source reading assigned in this preparation for
of learning in my assignment, I do course, I do all or today's class.
courses. all or most of it. most of it.
Survey results 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Textbooks are When I get a When reading I read in
an important reading is assigned in preparation for
source of assignment, I this course, I today's class.
learning in my do all or most do all or most
courses. of it. of it.
Language, thinking, and reading

The purpose of reading is

understanding.

Reading
Reading IS
Thinking.
Language
Reading comprehension strategies

 Identify the purpose for reading

 Use graphemic rules and patterns to help with bottom-up decoding
 Use silent reading to improve fluency (intermediate/advanced)
 Skim
 Scan
 Use semantic mapping
 Guess meaning of new vocabulary while reading, then check repeated words after you finish
 Analyze vocabulary
 Distinguish between literal and implied meanings
 Use discourse markers
Activity

 Read the text by Smith and Pell (2003) in 30 seconds.

 What’s the genre/sub-genre?
 What are the main messages in the text?

 Revisit the text and read it more carefully for five minutes. This time, describe the process
through which you approached your reading. Did you read from the beginning to the end?
Did you read every line or word? What did you do when you encountered an unknown
expression?
Types of reading

Think about how the text is expected to be read – here are a few ways to read a text –
consider the different reading skills necessary when reading speeches or editorials, novels or
bus timetables.

 Oral
 Silent
 Intensive
 Extensive
Oral and silent reading

Oral Silent
Manner Utterance of every word Silent
Speed Usually slow Usually fast
Purpose Usually to share information Usually to get information

Skimming, scanning, predicting; Guessing

unknown words; Understanding details;
Skills involved Pronunciation and intonation Understanding relations between sentences and
between paragraphs; Understanding references;
Understanding inferences
 Intensive and extensive reading

Intensive reading Extensive reading

Students can be prompted to notice language fea-

Reading for meaning, students can appreciate the
tures within a text, paying attention to grammati-
affective and cognitive window of reading: an en-
cal forms, discourse markers, and other surface
try into new worlds.
structure details

Reading accurately, usually must finish, perhaps Global or general meaning, focus on fluency,
to answer questions or for study reading for pleasure, can stop if you want
References

Halliday, M. A. K. (1978) Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. London:
Edward Arnold.
McCutchen, D. (2000). Knowledge, processing, and working memory: Implications for a theory at writing. Educational
Psychologist, 35(1), 13-23.
Nell, V. (1988). Lost in a book: The psychology of reading for pleasure. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Pecorari, D., Shaw, P., Irvine, A., Malmström, H., & Mežek, Š. (2012) Reading in tertiary education: Undergraduate
student practices and attitudes. Quality in Higher Education, 18, 235-256.
Rothman, J. (2014). Why is academic writing so academic?. New York: The New Yorker.
Wells, P. (2017, December 26). From Burgers to Sundaes, the Loyal Plays to the Crowd. The New York Times. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/26/dining/the-loyal-review-nyc.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Frestaurant-
review&action=click&contentCollection=dining&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=coll
ection