Genre, Form and Register of Writing

Genre and Form of Writing

A native English speaker can tell two important things by the sequence, the vocabulary and the appearance of a text: the kind of writing the text is and the type of reader the text is aimed at. However, a non-native English speaker will have more difficulty in constructing the text due to lack of knowledge of the genre in relation to English culture.

· Purpose (the reason for the text, for example, a job application),

· Specific name (what kind of text it is, for example, a letter),

· Typical / atypical: how the structure of the writing and content are typical for the purpose and specific name.

· Stages: the text is usually divided into stages. For example, a letter would starts with the address at the top, then ‘Dear Sir/Madam’, the body copy, the ending ‘yours sincerely’, and finally the signature.

Register of Writing

Another consideration for developing the writing skills of EFL students is the register of their writing. Register has three aspects:

· Field: field tells us just what the text is about. For example, in a job application letter, the field is jobs: there is a job opening that is being applied for.

· Mode: Mode is how the text is produced. In terms of mode, the example job application letter is a written discourse conducted and laid out as a typed letter. The formal lay out and typed text would have the effect of reinforcing the serious and respectful nature of the text. A typical letter of this sort, for example, would be less than a page long and always include contact information.

· Tenor: Tenor is about who is involved in the discourse and the relationship between the participants. In a job application letter, the tenor is the prospective employer, as the text is addressing a person who is interested in hiring a new employee. The writer might not know exactly who will read the text, but assumes that it is someone who is potentially interested in hiring them to do a job and would therefore find the letter relevant to them. The language would be typically formal. As a whole, tenor is influenced by mode and field. Depending on who the reader is intended to be, the writer would alter how he/she conveys the message. In this way, the text’s content and subject affects the participant.

Return to Orthography main page