6. Determining discourse-based moves in professional reports
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Lynne Flowerdew
Abstract
This chapter reports on a study which combines corpus-based and genrebased approaches to the analysis of a 225,000-word corpus of 60 environmental recommendation-based reports. I first describe the discourse-based coding system, which draws on the concept of genre move structure analysis, accounting for three different, but inter-related levels of text: (i) macrostructure; (ii) genre structure, and (iii) textual patterning, i.e. elements of the Problem-Solution pattern. I then describe the keyword analysis for the corpus as a whole and the key-key word analysis for each individual report. These keyword analyses provide internal linguistic evidence for classifying the reports as Problem-Solution based. An analysis of selected words (problem / problems and impact / impacts) reveals that their collocational behavior and involvement in certain causative phrases are related to specific discourse-based move structures.
Abstract
This chapter reports on a study which combines corpus-based and genrebased approaches to the analysis of a 225,000-word corpus of 60 environmental recommendation-based reports. I first describe the discourse-based coding system, which draws on the concept of genre move structure analysis, accounting for three different, but inter-related levels of text: (i) macrostructure; (ii) genre structure, and (iii) textual patterning, i.e. elements of the Problem-Solution pattern. I then describe the keyword analysis for the corpus as a whole and the key-key word analysis for each individual report. These keyword analyses provide internal linguistic evidence for classifying the reports as Problem-Solution based. An analysis of selected words (problem / problems and impact / impacts) reveals that their collocational behavior and involvement in certain causative phrases are related to specific discourse-based move structures.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- 1. The challenges of different settings: An overview 1
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Section I. Exploring discourse in academic settings
- 2. '…post-colonialism, multi-culturalism, structuralism, feminism, post-modernism and so on and so forth' : A comparative analysis of vague category markers in academic discourse 9
- 3. Emphatics in academic discourse: Integrating corpus and discourse tools in the study of cross-disciplinary variation 31
- 4. Interaction, identity and culture in academic writing: The case of German, British and American academics in the humanities 57
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Section II. Exploring discourse in workplace settings
- 5 . 'Got a date or something?': A corpus analysis of the role of humour and laughter in the workplace meetings of English language teachers 95
- 6. Determining discourse-based moves in professional reports 117
- 7. // --> ONE country two SYStems //: The discourse intonation patterns of word associations 135
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Section III. Exploring discourse in news and entertainment
- 8. Who's speaking?: Evidentiality in US newspapers during the 2004 presidential campaign 157
- 9. Television dialogue and natural conversation: Linguistic similarities and functional differences 189
- 10. A corpus approach to discursive construction of hip-hop identity 211
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Section IV. Exploring discourse through specific linguistic features
- 11. The use of the it-cleft construction in 19th-century English 243
- 12. Place and time adverbials in native and non-native English student writing 267
- Author index 289
- Corpus and tools index 291
- Subject index 293
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- 1. The challenges of different settings: An overview 1
-
Section I. Exploring discourse in academic settings
- 2. '…post-colonialism, multi-culturalism, structuralism, feminism, post-modernism and so on and so forth' : A comparative analysis of vague category markers in academic discourse 9
- 3. Emphatics in academic discourse: Integrating corpus and discourse tools in the study of cross-disciplinary variation 31
- 4. Interaction, identity and culture in academic writing: The case of German, British and American academics in the humanities 57
-
Section II. Exploring discourse in workplace settings
- 5 . 'Got a date or something?': A corpus analysis of the role of humour and laughter in the workplace meetings of English language teachers 95
- 6. Determining discourse-based moves in professional reports 117
- 7. // --> ONE country two SYStems //: The discourse intonation patterns of word associations 135
-
Section III. Exploring discourse in news and entertainment
- 8. Who's speaking?: Evidentiality in US newspapers during the 2004 presidential campaign 157
- 9. Television dialogue and natural conversation: Linguistic similarities and functional differences 189
- 10. A corpus approach to discursive construction of hip-hop identity 211
-
Section IV. Exploring discourse through specific linguistic features
- 11. The use of the it-cleft construction in 19th-century English 243
- 12. Place and time adverbials in native and non-native English student writing 267
- Author index 289
- Corpus and tools index 291
- Subject index 293
