Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as
important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical
manuals

k 2018

Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals

POVOLNÁ, Renata

Basic information

Original name

Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals

Authors

POVOLNÁ, Renata (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

14th ESSE Conference, 2018, 2018

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60203 Linguistics

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14410/18:00101703

Organization unit

Faculty of Education

Keywords (in Czech)

technický diskurz (TD); technické manuály (TMs); uživatelské manuály; persvaze; persvazivní strategie; direktivy; imperativy; modální slovesa; predikativní adjektiva

Keywords in English

technical discourse (TD); technical manuals (TMs); user guides; persuasion; persuasive strategies; directives; imperatives; modal verbs; predicative adjectives

Abstract

V originále

The contribution provides a contrastive analysis of directives as linguistic realizations of persuasion in technical communication represented here by technical manuals. The aim is to identify differences and similarities between the ways persuasion is expressed in this type of specialized discourse in English and Czech. The data comprise manuals to various technical devices, such as TV sets, monitors, cameras, mobile phones, freezers and microwaves, and amounts to about 300,000 words. This specialized corpus (20 manuals in English and 20 in Czech) enables the comparison of the ways in which technical communicators express persuasion. The analysis, which is conducted from the perspectives of corpus analysis and discourse analysis, focuses on the ways in which the persuasive power can be expressed: 1. explicitly (i.e. using directives expressed by imperatives of full verbs, modals of obligation, necessity, prohibition, and predicative adjectives expressing the writer’s judgement of the necessity or importance to perform an action) and 2. implicitly (i.e. using other language means than directives, such as conditional clauses, rhetorical questions). The findings are expected to be relevant and applicable in the education domain to provide instructions for technical writers to produce effective manuals since their quality, including the appropriate degree of persuasiveness, can influence prospective consumers of particular technical devices.

Links

GA17-16195S, research and development project

Name: Persvaze v anglickém a českém specializovaném diskurzu

Investor: Czech Science Foundation

Citovat

POVOLNÁ, Renata. Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals. In 14th ESSE Conference, 2018. 2018.

@proceedings{1496981,
   author = {Povolná, Renata},
   booktitle = {14th ESSE Conference, 2018},
   keywords = {technical discourse (TD); technical manuals (TMs); user guides; persuasion; persuasive strategies; directives; imperatives; modal verbs; predicative adjectives},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals},
   year = {2018}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1496981
AU  - Povolná, Renata
PY  - 2018
TI  - Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals
KW  - technical discourse (TD)
KW  - technical manuals (TMs)
KW  - user guides
KW  - persuasion
KW  - persuasive strategies
KW  - directives
KW  - imperatives
KW  - modal verbs
KW  - predicative adjectives
N2  - The contribution provides a contrastive analysis of directives as linguistic realizations of persuasion in technical communication represented here by technical manuals. The aim is to identify differences and similarities between the ways persuasion is expressed in this type of specialized discourse in English and Czech. The data comprise manuals to various technical devices, such as TV sets, monitors, cameras, mobile phones, freezers and microwaves, and amounts to about 300,000 words. This specialized corpus (20 manuals in English and 20 in Czech) enables the comparison of the ways in which technical communicators express persuasion. The analysis, which is conducted from the perspectives of corpus analysis and discourse analysis, focuses on the ways in which the persuasive power can be expressed: 1. explicitly (i.e. using directives expressed by imperatives of full verbs, modals of obligation, necessity, prohibition, and predicative adjectives expressing the writer’s judgement of the necessity or importance to perform an action) and 2. implicitly (i.e. using other language means than directives, such as conditional clauses, rhetorical questions). The findings are expected to be relevant and applicable in the education domain to provide instructions for technical writers to produce effective manuals since their quality, including the appropriate degree of persuasiveness, can influence prospective consumers of particular technical devices.
ER  -

POVOLNÁ, Renata. Cross-cultural variation in the expression of directives as important persuasive strategies in the genre of technical manuals. In \textit{14th ESSE Conference, 2018}. 2018.

Detailed Information on Publication Record