Genre and Rhetorical Modes: A Literature Review

Max Flores Figueiredo

Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, maxfloresf2@gmail.com:

RESUMO. This paper discusses the concepts of genre, rhetorical modes, text types,
textual patterns recognition as defined by Paltrigde (1996), Meurer (2002), Lucena
(2000) and Humphrey (2007) in order to organize and review these concepts.
Palavras-chave: Genre. Rhetorical Modes. Text Types.

1. INTRODUCTION

The English language teaching tradition has been subject to tremendous change,
especially throughout the last two centuries. Perhaps in a greater proportion than any other
discipline, while the teaching of Maths or Physics, that is, the methodology of teaching Maths
or Physics, has, to a greater or lesser extent, remained the same, this is hardly the case with
English or language teaching in general. In an attempt to organize and review concepts
deemed important for an ELT classroom, this paper will discuss the definitions in use when
speaking of Rhetorical Modes, Genre, Text type, and Textual patters recognition.

2. EMBASAMENTO TEÓRICO

When Brian Paltridge wrote ‘Genre, Text Type, and the Language Learning
Classroom’ in 1996, the ELT classroom was seeing a rise in the use of genre, however, it was
not unusual to find this concept being mixed with the concept of text types. To clarify this
misconception, Paltridge suggests that genre describes types of activities, such as prayers,
‘which regularly occur in society’ and ‘are considered by the speech community as being of
the same type’. Swales (1990:58) while text type groups texts similar in linguistic form,
irrespective of genre.
While the same text type can belong to a variety of different genres, the same genre
can also contain a variety of linguistic pattern within itself. The article suggests an analysis of
texts considering generic structure and text structure in a problem-solution method based on
Hammond et al. 1992:57. It classifies the text into sections, which are situation, problem,
solution, evaluation and reminds the reader that the order in which each section appears is not
necessarily unchangeable. Applications of this method in an English class are also briefly
discussed. For Paltridge, genre and text type work as two sides of the same coin, one
complements the other in the process of understanding what is behind the organization of a
text. This suggested concept of text types would also be called rhetorical modes and according
to the author is a valuable tool to improve students’ comprehension of texts.
These concepts would be put into practice by Lucena in ‘Situation - Problem -
Solution - Evaluation: Recognizing How These Functions Are Signaled in a Text’, written in
the year 2000. This paper brings a text analysis where the author identifies the pattern
Situation - Problem - Solution - Evaluation in an excerpt extracted from a magazine entitled
Speak up. It reinforces the idea that recognizing these patterns can improve students’ ability to
write texts.
Referencing Paltridge’s work, Meurer writes in 2002 Genre as Diversity, and
Rhetorical Mode as Unity in Language Use, arguing that rhetorical modes can be
incorporated as a tool in the analysis of genres in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and
other traditions of genre analysis. In a similar fashion to Paltridge, he draws a distinction
between genre and rhetorical modes.
Defining genre as reasonably stable types of text, either oral or written, formal or
informal, which can be recognized because of their rhetorical structure and function, that is,
their organization and function, formed by co-occurring clusters of both denotative and
connotative semiotic components used to achieve given purposes in recognized social milieus.
And dividing rhetorical modes into traditional and organizational, the first being textual
strategies of exposition, argumentation, description and narration, including subcategories
such as illustration, classification, explanation, process and definition and the latter
comprising textual organizing semantic principles that may further subdivide into
macrostructural and microstructural rhetorical modes.
Meurer proposes macrostructural rhetorical modes include clause relations which
constitute Basic Text Structures and microstructural rhetorical modes include conventional
semantic relations, such as matching, retrospection or labelling. He perfectly encapsulates the
difference between genre and text types as ‘genre stands for diversity while rhetorical modes
stand for unity’ and reinforces that genres can have mode than one mode and the same mode
happens for different genres.
Another topic explored are clause relations, which are defined as rhetorical
mechanisms of text organization and as such they also constitute specific rhetorical modes
occurring in different genres. The notion of clause relation applies both to text interpretation
and production. They are limited in number and in number of conventionally preferred patters
of combination. They divide into Basic Clause Relationships, our stock of relationships
between two clauses or sentences when put together, and Basic Text Structures, the basic
message structures which act as particular linguistic contexts or vehicles for Basic Clause
Relations. For example, Situation-Evaluation, Hypoyhetical-Real, Preview-Detail or Preview-
Example. Basic Clause Relations include microlevel relations such as logical sequence and
matching. He concludes highlighting the need for further research as the impact of genre and
rhetorical modes was not well understood yet at the time.
To fill this gap in research, comes Humphrey with ‘The Use of Textual Patterns in
Reading’ in 2007, he provides an analysis for an excerpt of a text and identifies five major
elements of the Problem-solution pattern: Situation - Problem - Response to Problem - Result
of Response - Evaluation of Result of Response and finds the ‘General-Specific’ pattern to be
present as a subordinate (minor) structure. He uses this analysis to support his thesis that
comprehending discourse patterns allows students to predict what follows and how the text
will develop, improving their reading abilities, Humphrey uses specifically L2 level students
in his paper, as at this level can often read a text out loud and understand the vocabulary of a
text but cannot understand its overall message.
He defines micro-analysis focus to be on vocabulary and grammar including cohesive
relations and grammatical regularities while acro-analysis investigates the organization of
texts such as patterns and types. Learning text patterns can enable students to decode the
spoken/written language at the level of macro structure. However, for the purpose of
interpreting texts, both can be said to be efficient, they can be said to be mutual requisites.
Lexical items are emphasized in his work as crucial for understanding text
organization, because a certain word can be a signal to a textual property, for example, the
word crisis and problem that can be used to recognize that a sentence presents a problem.
The author states there are three main patterns for text recognition, Problem-Solution,
according to Hoey (1983) any genre of text includes this structure and it consists of fours
parts Situation-Problem-Response-Evaluation; General-Specific, this one consists of a text
that starts with an initial broad statement, followed by a series of progressively more specific
statements; and Claim-Counter-Claim which consists of a series of claims and contrasting
claims, which is presented on a given topic.
Perhaps the most important contribution of Humphrey’s work is the discussion of two
problems: teaching the students how to identify rhetorical modes is a problem on itself, it may
require time to practice and apply such knowledge to actual reading; building the readers’
schemas on the target language is also a necessity in comprehending contexts and patterns
specific of the culture in which that language is spoken.

1. METHODOLOGY

In order to find a definition for the concepts of rhetorical modes, genre, text types
and textual patterns, the articles 'Genre, Text Type, and the Language Learning Classroom'
(PALTRIDGE,1996), 'Situation - Problem - Solution - Evaluation: Recognizing How These
Functions Are Signaled in a Text' (LUCENA,2000), 'Genre as Diversity, and Rhetorical
Mode as Unity in Language Use' (MEURER,2002) and 'The Use of Textual Patterns in
Reading,' (HUMPHREY,2007) were read and then summarized and analyzed in this
present text.

2. ANALYSIS

In conclusion, we can define genre as social practices "that occur regularly in

society" and "are considered by the speaking community to be of the same type"
(SWALES,1990:58), as reasonably stable text types, oral or written, formal or informal,
which can be recognized by their rhetorical structure and function (MEURER,2002) that
represent variety; text types as grouping similar texts in linguistic form, regardless of genre
(PALTRIDGE,1996), which represent unity and follow established patterns
(MEURER,2002). With an understanding that textual types refer to the same concept
expressed by rhetorical modes, which has as its most common example the textual pattern
Problem-Solution, which may consist of four parts, being these: Situation-Problem-
Answer-Evaluation (HOEY, 1983).
One can also add subdivisions to the classification of rhetorical modes, these being
at the micro-structural level (vocabulary and grammar, including cohesive relationships and
grammatical regularities) and macro-structural level (textual organization, such as textual
patterns and types), both approaches being effective, essential, and complementary. 
For future studies in the area, it is necessary to investigate and research the
effectiveness and possible approaches to be used in the classroom when presenting the
concepts discussed here to students, although they are capable of improving text
comprehension, reading and writing skills of foreign language learners, they also present a
challenge in themselves because they require time and practice until they are effectively
used by students.  

3. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

PALTRIDGE, B., Genre, text type, and the language learning classroom, ELT Journal,
Volume 50, Issue 3, July 1996, Pages 237-243, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/50.3.237

MEURER, J.L., Genre as Diversity, and Rhetorical Mode as Unity in Language Use, Ilha
do Desterro Florianópolis n43 p.061-082, Jul./Dec. 2002
LUCENA, M.I.P., Situation - Problem - Solution - Evaluation: Recognizing How These
Functions Are Signaled in a Text, Fragmentos número 18 p. 17/21 Florianópolis, Jan./Jun.
2000

HUMPHREY, K.M., The Use of Textual Patterns in Reading, Takenoko Institutional

Repository, 31 July 2007

HOEY, M. On the Surface of Discourse, London: George, Allen and Unwin, 1983

SWALES, J. Genre Analysis, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990