The linguistic and the contextual in applied genre analysis: The case of the company audit report

Abstract

By means of an analysis of the genre of the audit report, this study highlights the respective roles of linguistic and contextual analysis in genre analysis, if the results are to be of maximum use in ESP course design. On the one hand, based on a corpus of current and authentic written auditors’ reports produced in a large international Hong Kong accounting firm, the study explores how communicative purposes are achieved through the systematic schematic structuring and linguistic realisation patterning of the genre. On the other hand, through a more ethnographic analysis of the context of production, the study investigates the respective roles of templates and original writing in the production of such reports. The texts analysed and the auditors observed and questioned show that, although the use of templates is widespread, there is, in fact, some original writing involved in drafting the reports, especially in reports which draw attention to irregularities in the accounts reviewed (qualified reports). The study also finds that although the reports are written in English, a mix of languages (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) is used by the members of the audit team in their production. The implications of the findings are highlighted, with suggestions on how language trainers can focus on particular sections of the audit report in order to help auditors write better. The overarching conclusion of the paper is that the linguistic and contextual approaches to genre analysis can complement each other effectively.