ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
The Yearbook of the Estonian Mother Tongue Society cover
The Yearbook of the Estonian Mother Tongue Society
Impact Factor (2022): 0.3
AVALDUSTE TEKSTISTRATEEGIAD; pp. 167–184
PDF | http://dx.doi.org/10.3176/esa62.06

Author
Riina Reinsalu
Abstract

Textual strategies of applications

Professional and administrative communication requires the creation of different types of texts. While some of them merely serve the purpose of preserving information, others are intended to influence people’s actions. In this article, I will explore applications as a textual genre based on 19 applications presented to Sauga Municipality. My goal is to find out what kind of generic structure these applications have and by what linguistic means the applicants aim to direct the actions of those who receive them. Since the applicants are citizens and the receiver is a state authority, the analysis of textual strategies also sheds light on practices between citizens and local authorities as well as on possible power relations between them.
The structural analysis of the applications reveals that they have a somewhat rigid generic structure stemming from the tradition of the genre, the particular communicative situation, and the relations between the applicants and the receiver. Applications, in general, are based on two obligatory moves (presenting background information and naming the desired action) and an optional move (expressing one’s point of view). In addition, in presenting the background information, we can distinguish between three steps: one can elaborate when and where the problem occurred, how the applicant is related to the problem, and what in fact is the problem. While the general structure of the analyzed applications is fairly standardized, some differences can be detected in the particular order of moves and steps.
The choices of strategies in applications appear in certain textual patterns. The content of an application is usually either a request or wish and expressed as I request, I wish, and wish. In some rare cases, citizens also use propositions or orders in communicating with their local government. Since the application is in the applicant’s own best interest, a direct obligating or coercive approach is usually found inappropriate. The citizen’s demand or order would come across as harsh and as violating the traditions of the genre, and in doing so would create unnecessary opposition from state authorities and thereby undermine the communicative purpose of the application: influencing the receiver to perform the act desired by the applicant.

References

Askehave, Inger 1999. Communicative purpose as genre determinant. – Hermes 23, 13–23. http://download2.hermes.asb.dk/archive/FreeH/H23_02.pdf.

Askehave, Inger, John Swales 2001. Genre identification and communicative purpose: a problem and possible solution. – Applied Linguistics 22 (2), 195–212.

Bawarshi, Anis S., Mary Jo Reiff 2010. Genre. An introduction to history, theory, research, and pedagogy. – Reference Guides to Rhetoric and Composition. Ed. Charles Bazerman. West Lafayette: Parlor Press, WAC Clearinghouse.

Bhatia, Vijay Kumar 1993. Analysing Genre. Language Use in Professional Settings. Applied Linguistics and Language Studys. New York: Longman.

Bhatia, Vijay Kumar 2008. Towards critical genre analysis. – Advances in Discourse Studies. Eds. Vijay K. Bhatia, John Flowerdew, Rodney H. Jones. Abingdon: Routledge, 166–177.

Bhatia, Vijay Kumar 2015. Critical genre analysis: theoretical preliminaries. – Hermes 54, 9–20. http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/her/article/view/22944/20054 .

Hyland, Ken 2002. Genre: language, context and literacy. – Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 22, 113–135.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0267190502000065.

Hyon, Sunny 1996. Genre in three traditions: implications for ESL.Tesol Quarterly 30 (4), 693–722.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3587930.

Kerge, Krista 2010. Kirjažanrite keeleparameetrid mitme tekstiliigi taustal. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 55 (2009). Peatoim. Mati Erelt. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus, 32–62.

Lassen, Inger 2006. Is the press release a genre? A study of form and content. – Discourse Studies 8, 503–530.

Lepajõe, Kersti 2011. Kirjand kui tekstiliik. Riigieksamikirjandite teks­tuaalsed, retoorilised ja diskursiivsed omadused. (= Dissertationes philologiae estonicae Universitatis Tartuensis 31.) Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus.

Martin, James Robert 2001. Language, register and genre. – Analysing English in a Global Context: A Reader. Eds. Anne Burns, Caroline Coffin. London: Routlege, Macquarie University, The Open University, 149–166.

Puksand, Helin, Krista Kerge 2012. Õpiteksti analüüs kirjaoskuse omandamise kontekstis. – Emakeele Seltsi aastaraamat 57 (2011). Peatoim. Mati Erelt. Tallinn: Teaduste Akadeemia Kirjastus, 162–217.  
http://dx.doi.org/10.3176/esa57.09.

Pullerits, Egle 2005. Ametikiri kui tekst: struktuur ja keelekasutus. Bakalaureuse­töö. Tartu Ülikool. Eesti keele õppetool. Juhendaja dotsent Reet Kasik. Tartu: Tartu Ülikool.

Raadik, Maire 2014. Väikesed tarbetekstid. Käsiraamat. Teine, täiendatud trükk. Eesti Keele Instituut. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus.

Ratassepp, Katre 2016. Inimeste kogemus suhtlusest ametiasutustega kirjade arusaadavuse näitel. Magistritöö. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool.

Reinsalu, Riina 2011. Leping tekstiliigina: žanristruktuur. – Eesti Rakendus­lingvistika Ühingu aastaraamat 7. Toim. Helle Metslang, Margit Langemets, Maria-Maren Sepper. Tallinn: Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühing, 215–229.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/ERYa7.13.

Rätsep, Siret 2006. Ametikirja vorm ja keel ühe riigiasutuse näitel. Magistritöö. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool.

Swales, John Malcolm 1990. Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, John Malcolm 2012. A text and its commentaries: toward a reception history of „Genre in three traditions“ (Hyon, 1996). – Iberica 24, 103–116.

Tardy, Christine M. 2013. Genre analysis. – The Bloomsbury Companion to Discourse Analysis. Eds. Ken Hyland, Brian Paltridge. London etc.: Bloomsbury.

Tardy, Christine M., John Swales 2014. Genre analysis.Pragmatics of Discourse. Eds. Klaus P. Schneider, Anne Barron. Handbooks of Pragmatics. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 165–188.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110214406-007.

Tomiste, Sirje 2012. Ametikirjade keeleparameetrid. Magistritöö. Tallinna Ülikool. Eesti keele ja kultuuri instituut. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikool.

Back to Issue