Genre Analysis So far, we have described and categorised genres. Now, let's look at different possible ways to define them: According to Scott Thornbury (1999), “Language is context-sensitive. To understand language we need to have some knowledge of its context. Context can also determine the kind of language that is used. For example, a request for a loan will be worded differently if its made to a friend rather than to a bank manager. The study of the ways in which social contexts impact upon language choices is called genre analysis. A genre is a type fo text whose overall structure an whose grammmatical and lexical features have been determined by the contexts in which it is used, and which over time have become institutionalized. A sports commentary, an e-mail message, a political speech and an Internet news bulletin are all examples of diffeent genres. Instances of a genre share commom characteristics, such as their overall ogranization, their degree of formality, and their grammatical features. These characteristic distinguish them form other genres”. While to Bathia (1993:13), a genre is “..a recognizable communicative event characterized by a set of communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the members of the professional or academic community in which it regularly occurs”. ‘As we can see, the context and the communictive situation are inherent to genres. Besides, their characteristic features have been institutionalize by users over time. These traits encompass items related to the linguistic, discoursal and pragmatic levels of language. Let's pass on to the analysis of these then.Aspects to focus on when analysing discourse genres. [setting | Steps to follow in the analysi: 1. The situation (context - purpose - participants) 2. Recurrent items & patterns (discursive, linguistic) (structures - functions - lexical choices) 3. Interpretation (Why were these choices made? To what effect?) Class Forum: On the basis of the texts presented before, let's analyse the texts collaboratively. Each participant will focus on one or two items. Assignment: Individually or in pairs, choose a text (oral), describe its main relevant discoursal aspects and interpret/analyse it accounting for your choices.