Genre analysis has become firmly established as one of the most popular frameworks for the study of specialized genres in academic, professional and institutional as well as other workplace contexts. In recent years, genre theory has also developed in the direction of a more comprehensive and powerful multidimensional and multi-perspectived framework to examine not only the text but also the context in a much more meaningful manner than had ever been done earlier.

The theoretical perspectives and the individual case studies of this volume testify to the wide range of methodological tools made available by genre theory, enabling researchers to handle problems relating to the description of variations in language use. Moreover, the following relevant issues are addressed: how are specialized genres constructed, interpreted and exploited in the achievement of specific goals in highly specialized contexts?

Contents:

- Vijay K. Bhatia/Maurizio Gotti: Introduction – Davide Simone Giannoni: Evidence of Generic Tension in Academic Book Acknowledgements – Pedro Martín-Martín/Sally Burgess: Reader and Writer Responsibility in Abstracts in Spanish Social Sciences Journals – Lilo Moessner: The Birth of the Experimental Essay – Hilkka Stotesbury: From Interdisciplinary to Intradisciplinary and Beyond: Subfield-specific Differences within Research Article Abstracts in Economic Sciences – Khurshid Ahmad/Maria Teresa Musacchio: Citation Patterns in Nobel Prize Lectures in Economics – Belinda Crawford Camiciottoli: Rhetorical Strategies of Company Executives and Investment Analysts: Textual Metadiscourse in Corporate Earnings Calls – Polly Walsh: Playing Safe? A Closer Look at Hedging, Conditions and Attribution in Economic Forecasting – Eleonora Chiavetta: A Genre Analysis of 'How to' Feature Articles in British Gardening Magazines – Merja Koskela: Writer-oriented Authorities on the Web: Features of Reader-orientation on Tax Authorities' Website – Amanda Murphy/John Morley: The Peroration Revisited – Ulisse Belotti: Genre Characteristics of Invitations for Bids – William Bromwich: Specialised Discourse in Parliament: The Joint Committee on the Draft Disability Discrimination Bill – Davide Mazzi: "This is an attractive argument, but…": Argumentative Conflicts as an Interpretive Key to the Discourse of Judges – Girolamo Tessuto: Opinions of Counsel: An Exploratory Survey of Generic Features.

The Editors:

Vijay Bhatia is Professor in the Department of English at the City University of Hong Kong and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia. His main areas of research are applied genre analysis of academic and professional discourse, including legal, business, newspaper, advertising and other promotional genres; ESP theory and practice; simplification of legal and other public documents; cross-cultural and disciplinary variation in professional discourse.

Maurizio Gotti is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Bergamo. He is currently President of the Italian Association of University Language Centres and Director of CERLIS, the research centre on specialized languages based at the University of Bergamo. His main research areas are the features and origins of specialized discourse, English syntax, and English lexicology and lexicography.