Exploring discourse practices in American wedding invitations
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Zohreh R. Eslami
Zohreh R. Eslami is a professor in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University, USA, and Liberal Arts Program Chair at Texas A&M University at Qatar. She has published numerous journal articles in journals such as
Intercultural Pragmatics, System, ELT Journal, Modern Language Journal, Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, and Bilingual Education Journal . Her research interests include instructional and intercultural pragmatics, cyber-pragmatics, linguistic politeness, and second language teacher education.
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Angelica Ribeiro
Angelica Ribeiro is a Ph.D. student in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University. Her research interests include task-based communication and technology.
Marianne Snow is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, USA, where she works on nonfiction children’s books and teaches an undergraduate course on children’s literature. She received her Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University.
Anna Wharton is currently a doctoral student at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, having previously received her Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University, USA.
Abstract
The paper looks into discourse practices in American wedding invitations, identifying possible trends and patterns. Using predominantly genre analysis (Swales 2008) and Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclaugh 1985), the paper analyses a corpus of American wedding invitations collected between 2002-2013, identifying their discoursal characteristics, frequency of occurrence, and their communicative purpose. It is concluded that further studies are needed to provide researchers with a more insightful view of the impact of religion and traditions on discursive patterns of different speech events.
About the authors
Zohreh R. Eslami is a professor in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University, USA, and Liberal Arts Program Chair at Texas A&M University at Qatar. She has published numerous journal articles in journals such as Intercultural Pragmatics, System, ELT Journal, Modern Language Journal, Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, and Bilingual Education Journal. Her research interests include instructional and intercultural pragmatics, cyber-pragmatics, linguistic politeness, and second language teacher education.
Angelica Ribeiro is a Ph.D. student in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University. Her research interests include task-based communication and technology.
Marianne Snow is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, USA, where she works on nonfiction children’s books and teaches an undergraduate course on children’s literature. She received her Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University.
Anna Wharton is currently a doctoral student at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, having previously received her Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University, USA.
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