Genre Variation in Business Letters: Second Printing: 24 (Linguistic Insights: Studies in Language and Communication) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3039116819 ISBN 13: 9783039116812

Publisher: Verlag Peter Lang, 2008

Synopsis

The focus of this volume is on the business letter genre, a seminal and widely used genre in business communication. Since the introduction of the Internet, interest in this genre has increased once again, because of the digital format of the letter. E-mail has partially taken over the multiple functions of the traditional business letter and bypassed, again partially, the fax. However, the letter has also survived in its written form.
Since the 1990s, genre theory has been receiving a lot of attention, both in academic and pedagogical circles. Discourse analysts have increasingly discovered the importance of the genre concept for the understanding of discourse. Not only do we get a better understanding of the linguistic characteristics (register, lexico-grammatical features) of texts, but we also become aware of their macrostructures which appear to be organised according to genre expectations and conventions rooted in the socio-cultural context. This evolution is also reflected in the different research approaches to the business letter, as shown by the various chapters of this volume.

About this title

About the Author

The Editors: Paul Gillaerts is Professor of Dutch at the Department for Translators and Interpreters of the Lessius Hogeschool in Antwerp, Belgium. He teaches Dutch applied linguistics courses on genre, style and text revision. His research concerns applied genre analysis of Dutch texts in professional, institutional and business settings.
Maurizio Gotti is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Bergamo. He is currently President of the Italian Association of University Language Centres and Director of CERLIS, the research centre on specialized languages based at the University of Bergamo. His main research areas are the features and origins of specialized discourse, both in a synchronic and diachronic perspective.

Edition details

• Publisher: Verlag Peter Lang
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3039116819
• ISBN 13: 9783039116812
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Gillaerts Paul, Gotti Maurizio