Table Of ContentGENRE, FRAMES AND WRITING IN RESEARCH SETTINGS
Pragmatics & Beyond
New Series
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Teun A. Van Dijk (University of Amsterdam); Richard Watts (University of Bern)
45
Brian Paltridge
Genre, Frames and Writing in Research Settings
GENRE, FRAMES
AND WRITING IN
RESEARCH SETTINGS
BRIAN PALTRIDGE
University of Melbourne
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paltridge, Brian.
Genre, frames, and writing in research settings / Brian Paltridge.
p. cm. -- (Pragmatics & beyond, ISSN 0922-842X ; new ser. 45)
Based on four of the author's articles published in various sources, 1993-1995.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
1. Discourse analysis. 2. Literary form. 3. Frames (Linguistics) 4. Rhetoric. 5. Research. I.
Title. II. Series.
P302.P25 1997
808'.0014-dc21 97-8793
ISBN 90 272 5058 8 (Eur.) / 1-55619-807-8 (US) (alk. paper) CIP
© Copyright 1997 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O.Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America • P.O.Box 27519 • Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 • USA
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of figures viii
List of tables ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Outline of the book 4
Chapter 2 Approaches to genre 5
Genre and folklore studies 5
Genre and linguistic anthropology 9
Genre and the ethnography of speaking 12
Genre and conversation analysis 13
Genre and rhetoric 14
Genre and literary theory 17
Genre and the sociology of language 20
Genre and applied linguistics 23
Definitions of genre 28
Genre and the structure of a text 36
Genre and context 38
Genre and culture 39
Genre and cognition 41
Genre and social structures 42
Genre and audience 43
Genre and language 44
Chapter 3 Genre and frames 47
Frame semantics 48
Interactional and cognitive frames 50
vi GENRE, FRAMES AND WRITING IN RESEARCH SETTINGS
Frames and context 51
Frames and the notion of prototype 53
Frames and semantic memory 56
Frames and intertextuality 57
Frames and inheritance 60
Frames and genre 61
Chapter 4 A Sample analysis: Writing up research 63
Selection of the texts 63
Examination of the texts 64
Generic structure potential 66
Semantic attributes 71
Lexico-grammatical patterns 74
Group structures 77
Logico-semantic relations 79
Technical taxonomies 81
Genre and language 84
Interactional frames 85
Cognitive frames 87
Discourse elements, discourse relations, components of discourse
elements, and semantic relations 90
Genre, discourse structures and language 92
A framework for genre assignment 98
Further research 102
Conclusions 103
Chapter 5 Summary and conclusions 105
A definition of genre 106
Summary of conclusions 107
Further research 108
Summary 108
Appendix 111
Bibliography 135
Name index 183
Subject index 186
Acknowledgements
This book represents the development of a number of arguments which were
first published in the following articles:
Paltridge, B. 1993. Writing up research: A systemic-functional perspective.
System. 21, 2. 175-192.
Paltridge, B. 1994. Genre analysis and the identification of textual boundaries.
Applied Linguistics. 15, 3. 288-299.
Paltridge, B. 1995. Working with genre: A pragmatic perspective. Journal of
Pragmatics. 24.393-406.
Paltridge, B. 1995. Genre and the notion of prototype. Prospect. 10, 3. 28-34.
The material that first appeared in System is reprinted with permission from
Elsevier Science Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, 0X5 1GB,
UK. The material from Applied Linguistics is reproduced with thanks to
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, England. The
material from the Journal of Pragmatics is reprinted with kind permission
from Elsevier Science - NL Sara Burgerhartstraat 25, 1055 KV Amsterdam,
The Netherlands. The material from Prospect is reprinted with permission
from the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research,
Macquarie University, Sydney NSW 2109 Australia.
List of Figures
1. Levels and stages of analysis: First stage of the investigation 67
2. Types of semantic attribute 72
3. Technical taxonomies: Superordination and composition 82
4. An integrated taxonomy 83
5. A sample analysis: Discourse elements, discourse relations,
components of discourse elements and semantic relations 93
6. A sample analysis: Frames, discourse structures and language 94
7. Components of discourse elements and semantic relations:
Background Information and Purpose of Study 97
8. A sample frame: Scientific reports (Introductions) 101
List of Tables
1. Sample texts, journals and impact rankings: Texts 1-12 61
2. Sample texts, journals and impact rankings: Texts 13-15 65
3. Generic structure potential: scientific reports (introductions) 69
4. Components of discourse elements: Texts 13-15 70
5. Generic structure: scientific reports (introductions) 71
6. Semantic attributes: Background Information 73
7. Lexico-grammatical patterns and sample realisations: Quantity 76
8. Process environment, verbal groups, nominal groups:
Background Information 77
9. Nominal groups: Text 1 Sentence 1 78
10. Logico-semantic relations: Background Information 80
11. Logico-semantic relations and semantico-pragmatic relations:
a comparison 98
