Textography: A Multi- Dimensional Applied Genre Analysis of Business Writing in an Educational Institute

Abstract

Using a multi-dimensional methodology, this study examined language use in an educational institute as a professional practice. It examined the genre of business letters, memorandums, faxes, emails, documents, noticeboard notes and face-to-face and telephone conversations in their institutional context. It strived to find how these genres are constructed and why they are constructed in that way. After examining the institutional practices, on the one hand, and the ‘genre system’ used in the Institute, on the other, it was found that the institutional practice in the Institute influenced the language used. It was also found that email genre invaded and overlapped with the communicative intentions of all other genres and practices. The email messages invaded the generic integrity of other genres, which was reflected in the framing structure, the purposes of the communication, and language use.