Transcript Communication Skills - Chapter 06

Chapter 6
Writing genres
‘How we are expected to write
affects what we can write about.’
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Learning objectives
On completion of this chapter students will
know how to:
• identify key features of academic and
business texts
• recognise the difference between formal
and informal register
• use language appropriate to business
settings, taking into account issues of
power.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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What does ‘genre’ mean?
• ‘Genre’ means style, kind or type.
• Usually, ‘genre’ refers to a type of art or
literature.
• It can also refer to ways of speaking, types
of movies or plays, or any written document.
• In this context, ‘genre’ refers to the various
types of texts that students need to learn
and master.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Academic genres
• The most common genre (type of text for
assessment) at Australian universities is the
essay.
• In business there are other genres which
are just as important:
– reports
– business letters
– email communication.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Context and genre
• Factors that impact on genre:
–
–
–
–
context
situation
audience
purpose of the text.
• Consider each factor in relation to the essay
genre.
• Now think about the business context. How
is it different to the academic context?
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Business context
• Business reports written in workplace:
– audience = supervisor or ‘superior’
– usually someone with power
– much at stake for the organisation
• All documents have ‘regular, predictable
patterns of organisation’ (Swales & Feak
1994, p. 10).
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Activity 1
• See Activity 1 on pp 133–140 of your
textbook.
• Work in pairs.
• Divide your page into five columns with the
headings ‘personal email’, ‘business email’,
‘business letter’, ‘essay’ and ‘report’.
• Examine each text and identify the different
features. List the features of each text, using
the suggestions in the annotations and at
the bottom of the activity.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Applying knowledge of
genres
• In your business studies you will need to
write in different genres, depending on the
course, assessment and preference of your
lecturers.
• Sometimes the genres will be ‘mixed’.
• Always be very clear about which genre is
expected before submitting work for
assessment.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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‘The vocabulary shift’
• Need to move from informal to formal writing
(academic and business contexts)
• Choice between verb + preposition or a
single verb (single verb is more formal).
• Example:
– The manager looked at the way tension builds
up during performance review meetings.
(less formal style)
– The manager investigated the way tension
develops during performance review meetings.
(more formal style)
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Activities 2 and 3
• Complete activities 2 and 3 on pp. 141–142
of your textbook.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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More advice on formality
• Avoid contractions (e.g. won’t = will not).
• Use the more appropriate formal negative
forms.
Example
– Do not write: The analysis didn’t yield any new results.
– Write: The analysis yielded no new results.
• Avoid run-on expressions such as ‘and so
forth’ and ‘etc’.
• Avoid using the first person ‘I’ and do not
address the reader as ‘you’. Focus on the
information rather than the writer or reader.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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More advice on formality
(cont.)
• Avoid asking rhetorical questions such as
‘What can be done?’
– Use statements instead, such as ‘X needs to be
considered’.
• Do not place adverbs at the beginning or
end of the sentence.
Examples
– Do not write: Then the solution can be
discarded.
– Write: The solution can then be discarded.
– Do not write: The profits have increased slowly.
– Write: The profits have slowly increased.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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Summary
• Different genres (texts) have distinct
requirements in terms of structure,
development, formality and
acknowledgment of sources.
• By learning and using the particular features
of texts, writers can produce easy-to-read
documents.
• The context, particularly the power relations
between the writer and receiver, affect the
formality of the document.
Copyright  2009 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Communication Skills, by Bretag, Crossman and Bordia
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