Critical genre analysis of professional discourse

Written genres in academic and professional contexts have traditionally been the focus of much of ESP (English for Specific Purposes)-inspired genre analysis. However, the emphasis in this tradition has often been on the use of text-internal linguistic resources, particularly on the use of lexico-grammatical and rhetorical properties of language use, with some attention to text-external resources, which also play an important role in the socio-pragmatics of professional genres. This chapter gives a general overview of this approach to genre analysis, and at the same time, widens the scope of the construction, interpretation, and use of professional genres, focusing particularly on socio-pragmatic space within which such genres invariably function. It will also consider how experienced professionals exploit this socio-pragmatic space to create new and hybrid forms by interdiscursively appropriating conventional resources across disciplinary, institutional, as well as cultural boundaries.