Genre Analysis Of English Voluntary Food Recall Statements

Genre is a time-honored concept with broad identities in art and letters. Scholars from folklore, literature,rhetoric and linguistics shed light on notion of genre. Application of genre analysis dates back to the1990s abroadwhich employs genre as a discourse analysis tool. The two leading schools are the British English for SpecialPurpose School and the Australian Systemic-functional School. Genre analysis in China and abroad sharessimilarities of switching from theoretical reflection to pragmatic application and shows great responsiveness totechnological and economical developments since corpus-based research is conducted on some emerging mediasuch as webblogs. In literature review, it is found that research on genre analysis has been carried out in literaturereview, academic writing and genre-based teaching. Although genre analysis is carried out on business-relateddiscourse, long-shot general studies in business letters, electronic communications, published advertisement,presidential report, resumes outweigh investigations on some more pragmatic medium-shot or even close-upanalyses.With the economic globalization and China’s integration into the world market, English voluntary food recallstatements is a wise choice for companies penetrating into global market in order to avoid greater losses sinceeven the top-notch corporations could not eliminate occasional mistakes or intractable defeasibilities. A smoothand prompt English voluntary food recall statements could save a company’s name and prevent further damagesdue to unsafe products. Apart from the aspects of legal liabilities, economic considerations, public health, publicrelations etc., linguistic study has also been carried out on recall statements. However, in terms of genericallocation, food recall statements can be classified to mixed-genres because it simultaneously have image repairfunctions in crisis communication(Benoit,1997) and distinctive move structure of advertisingdiscourse(Bhatia,2004). As a result, genre analysis on recall statements is complicated and less analyzed byscholars in China and abroad. This study attempts to conduct detailed generic analysis of English voluntary foodrecall statements.This research is designed to confirm the general hypothesis whether there exists stable and predictablegeneric structure potential in English voluntary food recall statements, which would provide guidelines forexport-oriented Chinese companies to compete advantageously in terms of conception of English voluntary foodrecall statements in case of recalls. The purpose of this research is to construct the GSP(Generic StructurePotential) for recalling companies which facilitates the recall and minimizes the undesirable influences of it andmake use of this opportunity to publicize for the involved company as a responsible and professional one. Based on Benoit’s image repair strategies in crisis communication and Bhatia’s seven-move structure inadvertising discourse, Hasan’s generic structure potential model, this research conducts qualitative and quantitiveanalysis of the corpus constituting eleven samples, identifies the frequently-used moves, uncovers thesociocultural and psycho-cognitive factors contributing to it and constructs the Generic Structure Potential in theend. The corpus of English voluntary food recall statement includes eleven intact recall statements which werepublished between July of2010and November of2012, involving10recalling companies. The involved productsinclude seasoning, baby food, peanut butter, ground beef, snacks, infant formulas etc. in countries mainlyconcentrating in the US, accompanied by South Africa, France and Canada.The findings of this research show that the generic structure potential of English voluntary food recallstatements starts with the macro-move introduction of the recall and brochures enclosed. In the commencing partof the first macro-move, there are optional micro-moves of denial, evasion of responsibility, differentiation,bolstering, among which bolstering micro-move may recur. They are followed by minimization micro-movewhich may integrate recurring reasons and symptoms and brochures enclosed in turns. The second macro-moveapplication of incentives and pressure tactics can be broken up into an obligatory refund micro-move and anoptional correction micro-move. The sequence of the third macro-move solicitation of response and the fourthmacro-move polite endings is interchangeable. The macro-move solicitation of response may even recur. Politeendings macro move constitute an obligatory apology micro-move and an optional gratitude micro-move. Thesequence of move structure in English voluntary food recalls agrees with Bhatia’s modified four-move structuresince the alteration of the micro-moves can not deny the general order of the recall statements. The recurrencemainly appears in micro-moves because they enjoy higher flexibility in depicting facts or delivering opinions. Therecurrence happens to bolstering move, minimization move, brochures enclosed move, reasons and symptomsmove and contact information move. The possibility of recurrence of one move is proportional to its intactnessand compatibility.The two conspicuous communicative purposes, which are successful recall of the unsafe products and boostthe companies’ profile, underline the macro-moves. Each macro-move constitutes various micro-moves withspecific field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse to realize their various specific functions,which has governing power in lexical selection, sentence structure, mood and voice choices etc. This researchshows the explaining power of genre analysis and provides guidelines for recall statements perception andconception. The proposal of the GSP(Generic Structure Potential) of English voluntary food recall statements can facilitate the recall process, repair the image of recalling companies, and minimize the undesirable influences onthem and meanwhile make full use of this opportunity to publicize for the involved companies as responsible andprofessional ones and boost their profiles.