This collection sheds light on the ways in which corpus linguistics and the use of learner corpora might be applied to the study of academic discourse, revealing linguistic and rhetorical patterns and insights into variation across a range of disciplinary genres. Organized into three sections, the book highlights key tools and methodologies in corpus analysis to study such features as discourse markers, lexical bundles, linguistic complexity, lexico-grammatical conventions, and modality in case studies in studies of academic discourse, both in a second language and in English for specific purposes. The volume features examples from disciplinary genres not often covered in the existing literature, including MA theses, academic book reviews, and online student forums. Taken together with the study of learner corpora, the book demonstrates the impact of corpus linguistic tools in better understanding linguistic patterns of specific languages and language use and in turn, their role in helping to identify the needs of language learners. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, and English for Specific Purposes.
Genre analysis has become a key approach within the field of English for Specific Purposes and helps students understand particular language use patterns in target contexts. Introducing Genre and English for Specific Purposes provides an overview of how genre has been conceptualized and applied in ESP, as well as the features that distinguish ESP genre research and teaching from those of other genre schools. The macro and micro aspects of ESP genre-based pedagogy are also analysed and include: different possibilities for planning and designing an ESP genre-based course; the concrete, micro aspects of materials creation; and how genres can be learned through play. Introducing Genre and English for Specific Purposes is essential reading for students and pre-service teachers who are studying Genre, English for Specific Purposes or language teaching methodologies.
In recent years, Cognitive Linguistics (CL) has established itself not only as a solid theoretical approach but also as an important source from which different applications to other fields have emerged. In this volume we identify some of the current, most relevant topics in applied CL-oriented studies – analyses of figurative language (both metaphor and metonymy) in use, constructions and typology –, and present high-quality research papers that illustrate best practices in the research foci identified and their application to different fields including intercultural communication, the psychology of emotions, second and first language acquisition, discourse analysis and translation studies. It is also shown how different methodologies –the use of linguistic corpora, psycholinguistic experiments or discourse analytic procedures– can shed some light on the basic premises of CL as well as providing insights into how CL can be applied in real world contexts. Finally, all the studies included in the volume are based on empirical data and there are some analyses of languages other than English (Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Danish, German and Polish), thus overcoming the contentions that CL-theoretically-based research is often based on linguistic intuition and focused only on the English language. We hope that the present volume will not only contribute to a better understanding of how CL can be applied but that it will also help to encourage, even further, more robust empirical research in this field. Originally published as a special issue of Review of Cognitive Linguistics 14:1 (2016).
Since the 60's there has been an increasing demand for the teaching of English for specialized purposes (ESP), a major concern in both the English and non-English speaking world. The purpose of this book is to present readers with an overview of the underlying framework of ESP and to provide ideas about the structure of an English for Science and Technology course. Issues such as the different stages in the development of ESP research and their influence on teaching materials, the main linguistic features of scientific prose, genre analysis and future avenues for interdisciplinary research are dealt with.
This reference guide traces the "Writing Across the Curriculum" movement from its origins in British secondary education through its flourishing in American higher education and extension to American primary and secondary education.
In Writing Genres, Amy J. Devitt examines genre from rhetorical, social, linguistic, professional, and historical perspectives and explores genre's educational uses, making this volume the most comprehensive view of genre theory today. Writing Genres does not limit itself to literary genres or to ideas of genres as formal conventions but additionally provides a theoretical definition of genre as rhetorical, dynamic, and flexible, which allows scholars to examine the role of genres in academic, professional, and social communities. Writing Genres demonstrates how genres function within their communities rhetorically and socially, how they develop out of their contexts historically, how genres relate to other types of norms and standards in language, and how genres nonetheless enable creativity. Devitt also advocates a critical genre pedagogy based on these ideas and provides a rationale for first-year writing classes grounded in teaching antecedent genres.
Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes is an accessible and practical introduction to the theory and practice of developing ESP courses across a range of disciplines. The book covers the development of courses from needs analysis to assessment and evaluation, and also comes with samples of authentic ESP courses provided by leading ESP practitioners from a range of subject and global contexts. Included in this book are: The basics of ESP course design The major current theoretical perspectives on ESP course design Tasks, reflections and glossary to help readers consolidate their understanding Resources for practical ESP course development Examples of authentic ESP courses in areas such as business, aviation and nursing Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes is essential reading for pre-service and in-service teachers, and students studying ESP and applied linguistics.
Genre theory has focused primarily on the analysis of generic constructs, with increasing attention to and emphasis on the contexts in which such genres are produced, interpreted, and used to achieve objectives, often giving the impression as if producing genres is an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. The result of this focus is that there has been very little attention paid to the ultimate outcomes of these genre-based discursive activities, which are more appropriately viewed as academic, institutional, organizational, and professional actions and practices, which are invariably non-discursive, though often achieved through discursive means. It was this objective in mind that the book develops an approach to a more critical and deeper understanding of interdiscursive professional voices and actions. Critical Genre Analysis as a theory of discursive performance is thus an attempt to be as objective as possible, rigorous in analytical endeavour, using a multiperspective and multidimensional methodological framework taking into account interdiscursive aspects of genre construction to make it increasingly explanatory to demystify discursive performance in a range of professional contexts.
This book extends the scope and coverage of genre theory, giving more emphasis to what is known as pragmatic space; in other words it integrates the study of discourse at the textual level with the study of how that discourse operates in its social context.