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Empowering ESP practitioners: Rethinking the paths to ‘specialized knowledge’ through the lens of genre analysis An Cheng Department of English Oklahoma State University an.cheng@okstate.edu. Analyzing specialized discourses. Understanding learner needs. Developing curriculum.
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Empowering ESP practitioners: Rethinking the paths to ‘specialized knowledge’ through the lens of genre analysis An Cheng Department of English Oklahoma State University an.cheng@okstate.edu
Analyzing specialized discourses Understanding learner needs Developing curriculum Experimenting with methodologies (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984; Mackay & Mountford, 1978; Robinson, 1980; Selinker, Tarone, & Hanzeli, 1981; Schleppegrell & Bowman, 1986; Swales, 1985).
Analyzing specialized discourses Learner identities Understanding learner needs Critical ethnography Developing curriculum ESP program evaluation Experimenting with methodologies Corpus linguistics Multi-methodological genre analysis (Mackay & Mountford, 1978; see also Holden, 1977; Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984; Robinson, 1980; Selinker, Tarone, & Hanzeli, 1981; Schleppegrell & Bowman, 1986; Swales, 1985; Basturkmen, 2006, 2010; Belcher, 2009; Belcher, Johns, & Paltridge, 2011; Paltridge & Starfield, 2013).
“ESP has frequently been a hotbed of conflict—the Wild West of ELT” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 158). How specific? Laurence Anthony What kinds of needs? Collaborate, corporate, team-teaching, or not at all? Wide-angled or narrow-angled? Product-oriented or process-oriented? Image from http://lukenixblog.blogspot.jp/
Content knowledge, should we? How much? • “The most frequently asked questions and the core of many debates in the field” (Tsou & Kao, 2014, p. 5) • “A feeling of inadequacy” (Tsou & Chen, 2014) • Turning away from specialized ESP teaching (Anthony, 2011; Cai, 2004) • A part of teacher empowerment (Tsou, 2013)
How much content knowledge? • Process-oriented skills (Anthony, 2011) • Specialist knowledge vs. specialized knowledge (Fergusson, 2014)
Outdated easily Too much to learn Not easy to determine what a discipline is
The third knowledge of genre Linguistic Understanding the language of the discipline/profession Genres as structuredcommunicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Structured:moves/steps as function units/indicators of communication functions Lexical grammatical features
OPENING SALUTATION SUBJECT ACTIONS TAKEN DISCUSSION OF ISSUES (with [optional] clear distinct issue headings) SOLICIT ACTION EXPRESS AVAIL ABILITY CLOSING SALUTATION The recurrent schematic structure of Tax Computation Letters (Flowerdew & Wan, 2006, p. 141).
The typical rhetorical organization of the introduction section of technical instructions • Describing the goal of the instructions, • Defining the intended readers of the technical instructions • Motivating the readers to read the technical instructions • Explaining the usage and conventions used in the technical instruction, including safety information • Providing a list of tools and equipment necessary for completing the tasks described in the instruction
SOLICIT ACTION [politeness strategies and the avoidance of modal auxiliary] • Please note that the filing date of the above return is on. . . . • We look forward to receiving your agreement to the holdover application before.. .being the first payment due date of the provisional tax liability. • (Flowerdew & Wan, 2006, p. 147).
Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis (Bawarshi & Reiff, 2010; see also Basturkmen, 2010; implied in Fergusson, 1997) ) • Context • Culture of discourse community • Communicative purposes valued by discourse community • Text • Schematic structures (Moves and steps) • Lexico-grammatical features
Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis (Bawarshi & Reiff, 2010; see also Basturkmen, 2010; implied in Fergusson, 1997) ) • Context • Culture of discourse community • Communicative purposes valued by discourse community • Text • Schematic structures (Moves and steps) • Lexico-grammatical features
Additional ways to turn genre into a window into context • Genre system • Meta genre
Genres as structured communicative events engaged in by specific discourse communities whose members share broad communicative purposes (Swales 1990) Trajectory of inquiry in genre analysis • Context • Culture of discourse community • Communicative purposes valued by discourse community • Text • Schematic structures (Moves and steps) • Lexico-grammatical features
Take-home messages/Implications for ESP? • The need for and quantity of specialist knowledge will continue to be an elusive question • The power of genre analysis enables us to ask the right questions • Not constrained by issues of specificity • Enable a particular stance of working with content experts