The consumer advice article in Xhosa as genre-text

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The study investigates text properties of the consumer-advice magazine article in Xhosawithin the framework of the genre-based approach to literacy and writing. The view ofwriting as component of the communication competence component in Grabe and Kaplan's(1996) theory of writing is assumed. It is argued that the analysis of (non-fictional) genresis a core ability in terms of the specifications of Curriculum 2005 for outcomes-basedlanguage teaching for writing skills. The term genre as it is used within genre theory refersto a (non-fictional) text which has an identifiable social (or cultural) purpose, anidentifiable form (including beginning, middle and end) and specific constrains on thepossible deviations allowed in its form. This study will examine seven BONA magazinearticles to establish what identifiable generic properties can be attributed to these genretexts.The cognitive move structure of these magazine articles on consumer advice will beanalysed to determine whether a typical move structure occurs for this genre.The text-linguistic properties of the various magazine articles will be investigated invokingGrabe and Kaplan's model of text-structure. In particular, properties like pronominalreference conjunctive devices, which contribute to text coherence and cohesion will beconsidered as well as lexical choices as a reflection of communicative purpose.Finally, the study will briefly address the issue of the significance of the genre-textknowledge underlying writing skills as the relevant kind of knowledge to be developed interms of the specifications of outcomes-based language teaching in Curriculum 2005. Thekind of analytic skills exemplified in the examination of the Xhosa magazine articles aretherefore necessitated for accomplishing the outcomes for writing. The nationale fordeveloping such analytic abilities with respect to writing skills is to empower learners to becompetent writers in their future career lives.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University