EAP, Business English and Swales' approach to genre analysis

Abstract

One of the most influential genre scholars is John Swales. His 1990 book Genre Analysis is a point of reference in the field and he is considered one of the most widely respected and cited researchers. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how John Swales' approach to genre analysis, which was originally designed to research English in academic and research settings, can al so be used for the textual analysis of occupational genres. The theory he develops in his latest two books (1990, 2004) focussing on discourse community, methodology and genre will be considered and applied to an occupational research corpus.