Genre/Rhetorical/COLFV Analysis

Text content is not always obvious:

· Appropriate topics and relevant details

· Assumptions behind the author’s statements

· Disciplinary knowledge

· Insider knowledge

· Participants: who gets to speak and who gets left out?

Organization Strateiges:

macrostucture (whole document)

microstucture (smaller portions of the text)

· Problem-solution

· General – particular

· Matching-contrast

· Topic-restriction-illustration

· Description

· Narrative

· Instruction

· Explanation

· Definition

· Exemplification

· Classification

· Compare-contrast

· Cause-effect

· Discussion-argumentation

Features of Language:

· Vocabulary

· Specific grammar features, such as passive voice

· Verb choice

· Modals

· Sentence structure

· Jargon

· Figurative language, such as metaphor and simile

Format:

· Macrostructure – the entire text

· Headings

· Particular phrases

· Formal discourse features within one section of a longer text, often called “moves”

Values:

· Shared understanding of language

· Shared life experience

· Shared cultural values

· Shared disciplinary values

(2013 Adapted from previous version)

From Johns, A. Text, Role and Context