Abstract
Over the last few decades, researchers have shown much interest in written academic genres to the detriment of spoken academic genres, though spoken genres such as viva voces are quintessential to postgraduate studies and form part of the enculturation process of novice academics. Using the ethnography of communication approach as proposed by Dell Hymes and focusing on setting, participant and act sequence, this paper examined how these elements of ethnography are operative in three recordings of viva voces organised by a department of a university in Ghana. The study revealed that the setting, day, scene, and clothing of participants highlight the formal nature of viva voces, a finding which projects academics as business-minded individuals. Further, it was revealed that the participants of viva voces are usually academics who share similar beliefs and engage in practices cherished by the community of practice. The relationship between candidates and the assessors, was asymmetrical and power-laden as realized though the address terms and lexico-grammatical choices that the candidates make. Finally, the study revealed that the viva voces are organized into four schematic structures. The study makes key contributions to scholarship on postgraduate pedagogy, text construction, and ethnography of communication.
Highlights
Academic genres are to a large extent, one of the most researched genres in discourse studies
As ESP casts an increasingly larger net over the linguistic demands made of students in particular academic fields, its focus has likewise widened to include a greater variety of genres [28]
The considerations of Setting, Participant, Act and Norms of interaction are especially crucial and worthy to be discussed. These elements are selected for discussion since I find them interesting and core to the organisation of viva voces
Summary
Academic genres are to a large extent, one of the most researched genres in discourse studies. They can be defined as genres that are primarily aimed at researching, producing and evaluating knowledge. Such genres are governed by norms accepted by members of the academic discourse community such as professors, lecturers, researchers and graduate students. Academic genres can be written or spoken. Written academic genres include the research article, conference papers and journals. Spoken academic genres include inaugural lectures, seminar presentations, round table discussions and viva voces. As Bridges [4] as cited in Markulis and Strang [14] notes, viva voces like other oral examinations aims at providing students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate oral communication ability as well as helping students develop explanatory skills, powers of persuasion, oral poise and self-confidence
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