Genre/Register Analysis
Table of Contents
Features of Cohesion and Coherence 5
Register/Genre Feature Ratio 8
Appendix 1: Sample 1 Professional Email 14
Appendix 2: Sample 2 Personal Email 16
Appendix 3: Noun and Pronoun Count 18
1. Introduction
Language is an important concept through which communication with others is possible. Written text is another form of expression that has three varieties, such as genre, register, and style (Biber & Conrad, 2019, p. 2). Therefore, the purpose of this report is to perform register/genre analysis for written text and different features. The theoretical framework is based on personal email compared and contrasted with professional email.
Email communication is used as a theoretical framework to understand written and analyze text used for personal and professional language. The e-mail is classified into four genres – discussion for describing issues; inquiry on people making a request; delivery for sending documents and informing for something (AlAfnan, 2017, p. 24). Hence, to analyze the theoretical framework, it is necessary to put emails into categories. Whereas, business email focus on sending information, persuading, negotiating and collaborating (AlAfnan, 2015, p. 2). After analyzing the genre for email communication, professional email has two genres, such as discussion and persuading arguments, whereas personal email informing styles. Text variety for email theoretical framework has field own and business field, written mode and tenor involved are friends and professional colleagues. Further, an in-depth genre/register for the conceptual framework is provided in the report.
These forms of text types are selected to analyze the language in personal and professional lives. Usually, talking to a friend has a different writing style, grammar, and flow; for example, we speak with someone personally in an informal tone. On the other hand, a professional way of speaking, writing, and communication has a formal tone. Hence, the purpose is to compare how both texts differ from each other in terms of discourse analysis. Furthermore, it will help to understand how language differs from each other as per the communication medium. Therefore, this report will compare/contrast personal and professional email text types.
2. Situational Analysis
Before going towards situational analysis for sample texts, it is necessary to consider two concepts. Genre refers to the property of a book which identifies the sequence of moves that complete the purpose of writing (Nodoushan, 2011, p. 63). While register determines how context is adjusted as per different situations (Kolata, 2010, p.54). The context analysis for text types is done on the concept of genre and register. Hence, seven variables are proposed through which sample texts are investigated. The variables are participants, relations among participants, channel, production circumstances, setting, communicative purposes and topics (Biber, & Conrad, 2019, p. 40). The situational analysis is done to understand how text is used as per the situation. In the sample text 1, professional email was written to persuade the receiver for an offer within an organization. Whereas, in the sample text 2, personal email was written to describe the particular incident that happened with the sender. Hence, the variables are useful to analyze the book in terms of their situations. The situational analysis, as per the variables, is presented in the table below.
Situational Variables
For Sample Text 1: Professional Email
| Situational Variables | Analysis |
| participants: sender, receiver Mr. Serling, Susan Parkar addressor: Single, Social Characteristics: Susan Parkar, Corporate Client Relations addresses: Company
|
| interactiveness |
| writing mode, email medium |
| planned |
| The public setting, contemporary timings |
| persuade |
| Business opportunities, relationships with other people |
For Sample Text 2: Personal Email
| Situational Variables | Analysis |
| Participants: sender and receiver from an email attachment. John, Bill address: Single, Social Characteristics: Bill, working at Omega, bought a new car, sports, trekking addresses: self |
| A personal relationship is between John and Bill. Shared Knowledge |
| writing mode, email medium |
| Real-time |
| Private place, contemporary timings |
| narrate |
| Daily activities, sports, buying new things, trekking, funny incidents |
3. Analysis
The analysis below defines cohesion, coherence, hypothesis for linguistic items, noun/pronoun count, ratio and summary. This analysis describes text types and how grammar for writing is implemented in both emails differently.
Features of Cohesion and Coherence
Cohesion and Coherence are the linguistics terms that are part of discourse analysis. Before analyzing the sample texts, it is essential to gather how they work in writing. Cohesion refers to relations of meaning which is present in the text, and that define it as a text (Wang & Guo, 2014, p.462). For example, cohesion provides connectivity within sentences and combine them as a whole. There are several categories of coherence used in the form of linguistic terms. Some examples include pronominal, comparative, causal, adversative, ellipsis, and substitution (Wang & Guo, 2014, p.463). Whereas, coherence refers to an idea that makes everything in writing meaningful not through words; however, with a reader who interprets the text.
Furthermore, three elements are present within coherence, such as connectedness, consistency, and relevance (Wang & Guo, 2014, p.464). The sentences in the text should be connected, must have a consistent flow, and should be relevant to one topic. Hence, cohesion and coherence are both important linguistics terms and used in the text types often.
Let’s take examples from sample text one and sample text 2 to understand the use of cohesion and coherence.
Sample Text 1: Professional email:
- Cohesion is used to connect the qualities of the writer within a causal manner.
Excerpt: “I feel I am a natural in sales and marketing because I think on my feet, am open-minded in negotiation, have excellent communication skills, and know our product/service.”
- Coherence is used to show the idea presented by the writer Susan Parkar to Mr Serling. In this paragraph, she talks about one purpose of marketing and connects sentences with that topic only.
Excerpt: “What interested me about your marketing philosophy is that it seems to support our experience, but I would like to know more about how to improve my/our attempts to improve customer relations/service…”
Sample Text 2: Personal email:
- Pronominal cohesion is used to refer to a third person with Bill and John.
Excerpt: “Do you remember how drunk he was on Saturday? You had to take him back and put him to bed.”
- Coherence with all three elements, such as connectedness, consistency, and relevance in each paragraph is seen. Here, Bill explains the trekking experience, and each sentence and paragraph is connected to one idea in the text.
Excerpt: “A funny thing happened to Julia and me when we were in trekking in Wales about two months ago. We were walking up Snowden when it suddenly started to snow. I thought that it wouldn’t last for long, so we continued going up. But it did…”
Hypothesis
Linguistic items can be seen in both the sample text used in the report for email communication. They often consist of vocabulary, sounds and other linguistic features in writing. Some of the examples for linguistic items are described below that demonstrate for sample texts.
Sample Text 1: Professional email excerpt
In the professional email excerpt, lexico-grammatical features such as nouns, pronouns, coordination, and verbs can be seen. For example, words like you, I, but, Gina Jefferson, and, left are used in writing. Secondly, theme-rheme organization is also used in this text type where the theme is the central point and based on a rheme pattern (Dejica-Cartis, & Cozma, 2013). The paragraph has a subject of discussion related to some ideas and based on an interest rheme.
Furthermore, Cataphoric and Anaphoric references are also provided in the sample text types. Here ‘you’ is a cataphoric reference that addresses the receiver Mr Serling in the future. Whereas, an anaphoric reference that addresses first Gina Jefferson and then uses ‘who’ next in the writing.
Sample Text 2: Personal email excerpt
In the personal email excerpt, lexico-grammatical features are seen in which nouns, pronouns, and connecting words are present. Some examples of vocabulary are I, you, Omega, but, and, left, working. Here theme-rheme organization is current however, in informal language. For example, Bill talks about his personal experiences and other incidents, which is theme whereas rheme is talking about those experiences, sports, funny events and other own casual stuff. Cataphoric and Anaphoric references are also provided in the sample text type 2. Here ‘you’ is a cataphoric reference that addresses the receiver John in the future. Whereas, an anaphoric reference that addresses first ‘you’ for whether working in the company and then uses ‘you’ next for changing. Therefore, linguistics terms are used in the text type 2 in the personal email step.
Noun/Pronoun Count
Noun and pronoun come under linguistic features and seen used in the theoretical framework of email. The noun is defined as a group of person, place or thing, whereas; pronouns are words that replace a noun in a sentence. The first sample text is written in the form of a professional language and uses a business form of writing. On the other hand, the following sample text is written in the way of informal communication and considered a private email. However, it can be seen that nouns and pronouns are used in both text types. In sample 1: professional email, there are 19 nouns and 45 pronouns while sample 2: personal email contains 31 nouns and 62 pronouns for replacing those nouns (Appendix 3). Additionally, example 1 uses an orange colour to demonstrate the use of noun and sample 2 uses yellow. For pronoun sample 1 and sample 2 both have a blue colour circle to show the usage.
Register/Genre Feature Ratio
The register/genre feature ratio is defined as the ratio of feature to the total number of words in a text.
- Sample Text 1: Professional email
Total Number of Words: 402
Total Number of register/genre features of noun and pronoun is 64 words.
Ratio = 64/402 = 0.15 = 15/100
- Sample Text 2: Personal email
Total Number of Words: 565
Total Number of register/genre features of noun and pronoun is 93
Ratio = 93/565 = 0.16 = 16/100
Normalise Ratio
The normalised ratio for 100 words for sample text 1 and sample text 2 is done below.
- Sample Text 1: First paragraph
There are five pronouns for 35 words used.
5/35 x 100 = 14.2 words per 100 words
There are three nouns for 35 words used.
3/35 x 100 = 8.5 words per 100 words
- Sample Text 2: Fourth paragraph
There are eight pronouns for 61 words.
8/61 x 100 = 13.1 words per 100 words
There are three nouns for 61 words.
3/61 x 100 = 4.9 words per 100 words.
Summary of Counted Features
| Features Name | Sample Text 1: Professional Email | Sample Text 2: Personal Email |
| Noun | Nineteen | Thirty-one |
| Pronoun | Forty-five | Sixty-two |
| Register/Genre Feature Ratio | 15/100
| 16/100
|
| Normalise Ratio | 14.2 words and 8.5 words | 13.1 words and 4.9 words |
4. Discussion of Findings
Register Difference
The assumptions for register differences are made in the analysis section. The cohesion and coherence are often used in both sample text types. As the mode of communication was e-mail, the use of both can be seen equally. However, in a personal email, cohesion is present more, and coherence is found less. The regular mail talks about one concept in whole paragraphs and structure. However, informal or personal correspondence does have more cohesion and more coherence. As the discussion is about own experiences, as many topics are included. Furthermore, linguistic features such as lexico-grammar were used to analyze the differences. The purpose was fulfilled because both writings differ from each other. The use of noun and pronouns are more effectively seen. However, the use of the pronoun in the personal language is more as compared to the professional setting. Hence, register differences were found in the text types. Similarly, micro-genre is also deduced in both text types. For example, the first sample has arguments to persuade the reader, and the second sample has characteristic features to share incidents and personal changes. Thus, the aim of this report is accomplished as vast register/genre differences were identified for a theoretical framework.
Situational Analysis
The linguistic features differ from each other in the sample text type 1 and sample text type 2. The situational variables have identified the difference between writing in a professional setup and personal setup. The register differences can be seen with the help of seven situational variables. In the sample text type 1, it is clear that Susan Parker is the sender participant, and Mr Serling is receiver participant. She explains her professional experience, job position, and other educational qualifications. On the contrary, sample text 2, Bill is the sender, and John is a receiver, and they are friends with each other. Further, he talks about the profession, changing jobs and personal experience of trekking. Hence, linguistic features differ from each other due to interaction, tone, medium, purpose, and circumstances. The idea of analyzing situations with variables is quite useful. For instance, the purpose of writing in business is to persuade the audience however, in personal life is to discuss each other’s experiences. This is a practical example of using situational variables in text types.
Furthermore, identification of text types and their approaches in different settings can be understood. Henceforth, situational variables such as participants, relationships, mode, medium, circumstance, context, purpose and topic present differences for the theoretical framework. Additionally, sample text types have been immediately contrasted through these situational variables.
5. Conclusion
The genre/register analysis is a crucial aspect to understand text variety. The theoretical concept was based on email communication text types in professional and personal lives. Furthermore, in this project, situational variables were used to analyze situations in sample text types. According to Biber’s variables for the job are participants, relations among participants, channel, production circumstances, setting, communicative purposes, and topics. The linguistic items are also used to analyze and gather how writing for both texts differs. For instance, in personal email text is written informally whereas, professional email has formal language. It has also been identified that lexico-grammatical features, theme rheme organization, and cataphoric and Anaphoric references are used in both text types. Furthermore, the noun/pronoun count defines how much they are used in both text types. Hence, linguistic terms for text types have set how writing style is different in email communication. The email has a diverse variety and text changes as per the backdrop.
The analysis of text variety is a vital part of gathering how linguistics is composed of many features. However, the genre and register analysis can be expanded to understand corpora linguistics in business writing. Additionally, business writing differs from another genre and has a different approach used. Four text types of different business writing, such as memos, reports, letters, and articles could be used. Therefore, a mini-project could be expanded into comprehensive research for analyzing corpora linguistics for business writing.
The study offers identification for text variety within text types based on genre, register, and style. However, the analysis of text types has its limitations within the context of this theoretical framework. For example, the procedure for choosing email communication text is a bit difficult due to multiple applications. The communication in the form of email is used for many purposes such as description, information, sending, receiving. Therefore, the identification of the exact meaning is one limitation to the study.
References
AlAfnan, M. A. (2017). Critical Perspective to Genre Analysis: Intertextuality and Interdiscursivity in Electronic Mail Communication. Advances in Journalism and Communication, 5(01), 23-49.
AlAfnan, M. A. (2015). Language use in computer-mediated communication: An investigation into the genre of workplace emails. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 3(1), 1-11.
Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style. Cambridge University Press.
Clayton, C. How to write an email to a friend you haven’t contacted in a long time exercise | Blair English. Retrieved 15 November 2019, from http://www.blairenglish.com/exercises/emails/exercises/how-to-write-email-friend-long-time/how-to-write-email-friend-long-time.html
Dejica-Cartis, D., & Cozma, M. (2013). Using Theme-Rheme analysis for improving coherence and cohesion in target-texts: a methodological approach. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 84, 890-894.
Kołata, J. (2010). The reformulation of genre and register analysis. Styles of Communication, 2(1). 50-74.
Nodoushan, M. A. S. (2011). The Place of Genre Analysis in International Communication. Online Submission, 5(1), 63-74.
Serling, B. (2006). How to Market Your Way to a Million Dollar Professional Service Practice (p. 183). Blaine: The Internet Marketing Centre.
Wang, Y., & Guo, M. (2014). A short analysis of discourse coherence. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 5(2), 460-465
Appendix
Appendix 1: Sample 1 Professional Email
Source (Serling, 2006)
Genre Analysis
Sender Greeting
Salutation
Argument:
- Purpose: The purpose of this email to persuade a prospect for a marketing consultancy.
- Schematic Structure
- Claim: The claim is made in the first paragraph where the writer explores why he is approaching and what he will talk about in the email.
- Argument A: he argues that they require someone for advertising.
- Evidence 1: Provide credibility to the company and where there are so many relationships.
- Argument B: he persuades the reader for having better opportunities.
- Evidence 2: Provide his own experience as evidence for marketing.
- Position: Takes position to the original point.
Body of Email
Signoff
Signature
Sender’s Name
Formal Language
Genre: Micro
Appendix 2: Sample 2 Personal Email
Source (Clayton, n.d.)
Genre Analysis
Sender Name and Greeting
Informal Language
Genre: Micro
Narratives
- Purpose: The purpose is to tell about personal lives.
Recounts
- Purpose: The purpose is to recount old events.
Anecdotes
- Purpose: The purpose is to share anecdotes and a funny incident with friends.
Body of Email
Signoff
Signature
Sender’s Name
Informal Language
Genre: Micro
Appendix 3: Noun and Pronoun Count
Sample 1: Professional Email
Orange Line: Noun
Blue Circle: Pronoun
Sample 2: Personal Email
Yellow Line: Noun
Blue Circle: Pronoun