Textography: A Multi-dimensional Applied Genre Analysis of Business Communication in an Educational Institute

Abstract

Using a multi-dimensional methodology, this study examined language use in a Malaysian educational Institute as a professional practice. It examined the genre of business letters, memorandums, faxes, emails, documents, noticeboard notes and face-to-face and telephone conversations in their institutional context. The study strived to find how these genres are constructed and why they are constructed in the way they are. After examining the institutional practices, on the one hand, and the ‘genre system’ used in the Institute, on the other, it was found that the institutional practice in the Institute influenced the language used. It was also found that email genre invaded and overlapped with communicative intentions of all other genres and practices. The email messages invaded the generic integrity of other genres, which was reflected in the framing structure, the purposes of the communication, and language use.