Review of Corporate Discourse, Ruth Breeze (2013)_ESP

identitiesandimagesthroughdiscourses.

Thisbookincludessevenchapters,whicharemappedinaclearandheuristicsequenceofconceptualbases,methodological

approachesandanalyticalapplications.Thefirstchapterdefinescorporateidentity,image,shareholdersandtheirdiscursive

construction.Corporateidentityisdefinedasthediscursiverepresentationofacompany’sself-understandingandits

independentlegalpersonality,whichissubstantiatedbycorporatecultureandvalues.Incontrast,corporateimageconcerns

socialimpressionsandthereceptionofacompany’soutwardprojection.Therefore,companiesseektoconstructtheirimages

inlinewiththeiridentitiesthroughtheirdiscursive,professionalandsocialpractices.Inotherwords,companieswanttheir

stakeholderstoperceivetheminaparticularwayandrepresentthemselvessoastoachievethisidentityconstructionby

meansofpersuasivecommunicativeresourcesandstrategies.Breezeclassifiesacompany’sstakeholdersintofourcategories:

customers,investors,employeesandwiderpublic.Moreimportantly,sheexplainsthestakeholdergroupingsusingagenre-

basedapproachtocorporatediscoursewhenshemapsanalyticalapplicationsinChapters3–6.Forexample,sheaddresses

companycommunicationwithinvestorsthroughitsreificationintotwogenres:theAnnualReportandtheCEOLetter.

Explainingthelinkbetweenstakeholdersandgenresnotonlyhighlightsrelationshipsbetweencompanyanditsaddressees

butalsoforegroundsthecommunicativepurposeofeachgenre.

Beforemovingontoanalysesofspecificgenres,BreezereviewsdifferentapproachestocorporatediscourseinChapter2

andhercriticalreviewrevolvesaroundthetext-to-contextcontinuumofdiscoursestudies.Whenexaminingcorporate

discourse,onecanstarteitherfromtextsorfromthewidersocialcontextinwhichtextsperformrhetoricalactions.If

oneisinterestedinlanguage-in-use,varioustext-orientedapproachescanbeadopted,includinggenreanalysis,corpus

analysis,multimodalresearchandcriticaldiscourseanalysis.Breezeemphasizesthatakeyprincipleofgenreanalysisis

90Reviews/EnglishforSpecificPurposes35(2014)89–95

tovalidatetheconcrete‘‘discursivemanifestation’’foundinagenreoftextsbysupplementingtheanalysiswithinterview

dataorethnographicresearchaboutthecontextinwhichthetextsareused.Asalsoexplained,corpuslinguisticsholds

considerablepromiseforcorporatediscoursestudiesbutcurrentlyisemployedonlytoinvestigatelexicalfrequencyand

association.Evenso,multimodalresearchintotheroleofsemioticresourcesinmeaning-makingiscrucialtocorporate

discourseandhasbeenappliedtostudiesofadvertisingandcorporatewebsites.Finally,shearguesthatcriticaldiscourse

analysiscouldinformourinterpretationofcorporatediscourseinabroadersocial,culturalandideologicalcontext.

andtimeprovidedtothosewhowouldwanttodevelopaCEFProfessionalProfilefortheirinstitution.Thiswouldberegret-

table,sincetheprinciplesandpracticessetoutinthisbookareflexibleenoughtobeadaptedforawiderangeofpedagogical

environments,andwouldserveasahelpfulresourcetoESPandEAPprofessionalssearchingformorepurposefulapproach

toneedsanalysis.Theaccessibleanditerativeapproachpresentedinthisvolumewouldhelpteacherstocutthroughthe

statedaspirationalideologiesoftheireducationalinstitutions,andencouragethemtoseewhatishappeningintheirinsti-

tutionswithneweyes.Thenewperspectivesthusgainedcouldthenresultincourseswiththepotentialofbetteraddressing

theactualneedsoftheirlearners.

References

Geertz,C.(1973).Thickdescription:Towardaninterpretivehistoryofculture.InC.Geertz(Ed.),TheInterpretationofCultures(pp.3–30).NewYork:

BasicBooks.

Kachru,B.(1982).TheOtherTongue:EnglishacrossCultures.Urbana:UniversityofIllinoisPress.

Long,M.(2005).SecondLanguageNeedsAnalysis.Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

GregoryHadley

NiigataUniversityofInternational&InformationStudies,Japan

KelloggCollege,TheUniversityofOxford,UnitedKingdom

E-mailaddress:[e-mail]

Availableonline6February2014

doi:10.1016/j.esp.2014.01.001

CorporateDiscourse,RuthBreeze.Bloomsbury,London(2013).216pp.,US$140,Hardback,ISBN:978-1-4411-2718-1

Forthepastcentury,companieshavehadapervasiveandoverwhelminginfluenceonindividuals,theeconomyand

society.AsRuthBreezecommentsintheintroductiontoherbookCorporateDiscourse,wearesoboundupwithcompanies

invariouswaysandsoaffectedbytheiractionsthattheirlanguageandpracticeareofpertinenceandimportancetousall.

Thismanifestsitselfintheincreasinginterestinresearchonbusinessandcorporatediscourse.Researchdescriptionsof

corporatediscourse,unfortunately,arestillelusiveandunsatisfactorybecauseofdataaccessibility,problemidentification

andinterpretability(Sarangi,2002).Breezemakeshercontributionstothisfieldofstudybyframingwhatgenres,audiences

andactivitiesareinvolvedincorporatecommunicationanddemystifyinghowcompaniesconstructtheiractivities,

Reviews/EnglishforSpecificPurposes35(2014)89–9591

Chapter2alsoassessestwocontext-orientedparadigmsforstudyingcorporatediscourse.Ontheonehand,ethnographic

approachesqualitativelydevelopaninsider’sview,usuallythroughobservationorinterviews.Thethickdescriptionsof

situationtheyoffercanextendresearchers’understandingandconclusionsbeyondimmediatecontextandshedlighton

thenatureofbroadersocialcontext.Ontheotherhand,interculturalapproachesaimtodescribeandinterpretcultural

variationsthroughsocialanthropologicalandculturaltheories,whichhelptodemystifyculture-salientcorporatediscourse.

Breezeaddsthatafullerpictureofcorporatediscoursewouldbeobtainedifstudiesintegratedbothtextandcontext-

orientedapproachesintoacoherentvision.

WhendiscussingcommunicationbetweencompaniesandtheiremployeesinChapter3,Breezedescribesagenrechain

includingthejobadvertisement,thejobinterview,orientationsessionsandemployeenewsletters.Jobadvertisementsserve

multi-facetedcommunicativepurposes:theynotonlystatetheformalrequirementsforthepositionandpromotea

company’spositiveimage,butalsobuildsolidaritywithrecenthires,whichcanbeevidencedbythefrequentuseof

positive-connotationnouns,adjectivesandadverbs,aswellasengagementrecoursessuchas‘‘we’’and‘‘you’’.Thejob

interviewistakenasa‘‘tricky’’genrebecausecandidatesseeminglytrytofittheirlanguageandexperienceintocompanies’

criticalexpectations.Inthissense,BreezesuggeststhatGrice’s‘‘cooperativeprinciple’’andLeech’s‘‘modestymaxim’’are

usefulframesforthestudyofjobinterviews.Theorientationsessiongenreisaprocessofsocializationandassimilation

ofrecentlyhiredemployeesinwhichdiscourseplaysakeyroleincultivatingcompanyloyaltyandencouragingnew

employeesto‘‘buyinto’’thecorporateimage.Thegenreofemployeenewsletterscontributestobuildingandmaintaining

community,whichfacilitatesreciprocalidentificationbetween‘‘employeebranding’’and‘‘employerbranding’’.

Chapter4discusseshowcompaniescommunicatewiththeirstakeholderinvestorsintermsofAnnualReports.Thisgenre

ridesonthebalancebetweenfactualinformationandpersuasivepromotion,withinwhichwritersmaneuverlinguistically

andrhetorically.TheAnnualReport,consistingmainlyofareviewofthepreviousyearaswellasoperationandfinancial

reviews,servesthedualpurposesoffulfillingthelegalrequirementtopresentaccurateinformationandofforgingapositive

companyimageinpublicrelations.Inthissense,ithaswideraudiencesthanshareholdersandpotentialinvestors.Forthis

reason,Breezeidentifiesvariousrhetoricalstrategiesusedthroughoutthereport.Intermsofmultimodality,images,colors

andvisualinformationareseentobeabundantinthefirsthalfofthereport,whichfocusesonpublicrelations,whereasthe

visual‘‘dullness’’ofthesecondhalfofthereport,whichfocusesonfinancialinformation,highlightsitsfactualityand

reliability.Linguisticallyspeaking,stancefeaturesarefrequentlyused,suchasfirst-personpluralpronounslike‘‘we’’and

evaluation-chargedadjectiveslike‘‘good’’.Inaddition,modalhedgesappeartowithholdstatementsforthesakeof

disclaimers.Intheremainderofthechapter,Breezeanalyzes,asaseparatesub-genre,theCEOletterfoundwithinthe

AnnualReport.Inthisletter,theCEOtendstolegitimizethecompanyandrestoreitsreputationinthefaceofwrongdoing.

Communicatingwiththeworldofwideraudiencesisreflectedbygenericandculturalcomplexity,asitinvolvesbothpres-

entandpotentialcustomersandcomplicatespublicrelations.Chapter5considersadvertising,whichisorganizations’most

emblematicdiscursivetypeandfulfillsasalientpromotionalfunctionaimedatthepublic.Advertising’spersuasivestrategies

aremadesalientbyarichmultimodalityandthelinguisticandrhetoricalmetaphorsembeddedinitsdiscourse:associations

arebuiltbetweenimages,wordsorsoundsshowingthepositiveattributesoftheproductorserviceadvertised.However,such

associationsarenottransferablecross-culturally,soitissuggestedthatadvertisingbecustomizedtolocalculture,particularly

inthecaseofglobaladvertising.Inaddition,Breezediscusseshowadvertisementcolonizesthespaceandfeaturescharacter-

isticofinformativegenres,resultinginhybridgenres.Atypicalexamplegivenis‘‘advertorials’’,whichappearasadvertise-

mentsbutarewritteninthestyleofaneditorialreport.Eventhoughthedeceitfulness/two-sidednessofadvertisingposes

challengestoanalyzingit,Breezebelievesthetrendtowardcombiningpromotionalandinformativediscoursewillcontinue.

Chapter6focusesontheInternetasaconduitforcompanies’communicationwithaglobalaudience,focusinginpartic-

ularoncompanywebsites.Breezedescribeshowwebsitesprovideareader/user-friendlyplatformforconveyingcorporate

information,forexamplethroughtheuseof‘‘aboutus’’sections,missionstatements,socialresponsibilityreports,annual

reviewsandsponsorship.Companywebsitesmaintaininteractionwithreadersonboth‘‘vertical’’and‘‘horizontal’’planes,

whicharepresentedmultimodallythroughicons,titles,soundandhyperlinks.Althoughmuchoftheinformationgivenon

websitesisalsopresentinannualreports,Breezebelievestheaudienceisdifferent.Inthatregard,‘‘aboutus’’sectionsarean

importanttoolforconstructingandnegotiatingcompanies’identitieswithlinguisticandmultimodalchoicessoastohead

offcriticism,presentpositiveimagesandachieveinteractivity.

Chapter7concludeswithanoverviewofthepreviouschapters,distinguishingcorporatediscoursefromacademicdis-

course,andproposingacriticalreconsiderationofcorporatediscourse.ForBreeze,corporatediscoursediffersfromacademic

discourseintermsofcollectiveundertaking,responsibilityforclaimsandsocialfunction.Althoughthegenresofcorporate

discourseexaminedinthebookdifferincertainrespects,theyallhavepurposesincommon:toprovideappropriate

informationandtoenhancethecompany’simage.Inaddition,thespecificityofcorporatediscourseiscloselyrelatedto

thehighlypromotionalfeatureof‘‘epideictic’’rhetoric.Intheend,Breezesviews‘‘ideologicalmechanisms’’asadrivingforce

forcausingcorporationstoactastheydo,soacriticalperspectiveisneededtorevealthepoliticalsystemandsocio-cultural

conventionsbehindcorporatediscourse’spromotionalpursuitsandconstraints.

Corporationspowerfullyshapeourworldandourlives.Examiningcorporatediscourse,bothinternalandexternal,not

onlybenefitssocietyandindividualwell-being,butalsoadvancesourresearchandpedagogyinprofessionalcommunication

(Bhatia,2004).Forthisreason,itcanbeconcludedthatBreeze’sworkusefullycontainspracticalinsights,proposesa

researchmethodologyandprovidesappliedreferences.Ultimately,understandingcorporatediscourseandthebusiness

92Reviews/EnglishforSpecificPurposes35(2014)89–95

worldwouldbemoreaccessibleifthecriticalperspectivedevelopedbyBreezewerefurtherbroadenedtoincorporateboth

social-politicaldeconstructionandethnographicrecontextualization.

References

Bhatia,V.K.(2004).Worldsofwrittendiscourse.LondonandNewYork:Continuum.

Sarangi,S.(2002).Discoursepractitionersasacommunityofinterprofessionalpractice:Someinsightsfromhealthcommunicationresearch.InC.N.

Candlin(Ed.),Researchandpracticeinprofessionaldiscourse(pp.95–133).HongKong:CityUniversityofHongKongPress.

FengJiang

CentreforAppliedEnglishStudies,TheUniversityofHongKong,HongKong

HarbinNormalUniversity,Harbin,China

E-mailaddress:[e-mail]

Availableonline12March2014

doi:10.1016/j.esp.2014.02.001

EvolvingGenresinWeb-mediatedCommunication,S.Campagna,G.Garzone,C.llie,E.Rowley-Jolivet(Eds.),PeterLang,

Bern.CityUniversityofHongKongPress(2012).337pp.,US$103.95,ISBN:978-3-0343-1013-0

Web-mediatedcommunicationhasbeengainingmoreandmoreacademicattentionfromvariousresearchfieldssuchas

multimedialiteracy,communicationstudiesanddiscourseanalysis(e.g.,Djonov,2005).AsaneditedvolumefromtheLin-

guisticInsights:StudiesinLanguageandCommunicationseries,EvolvingGenresinWeb-mediatedCommunicationsystema-

ticallyexaminesdiscursivecharacteristicsofgenresinWeb-mediatedcommunication,focusingespeciallyongenrechange

andevaluation,influencedbytherenewalofcomputationaltechnology,ontheavailabilityofnewaffordances,andonemer-

gingnewtheoreticalconventions.Thisvolumebeginswithabriefeditorialintroductionwheretheoveralldevelopmentof

genrechangeinWeb-mediatedcommunicationisreviewedandthestructureandcontentsofthevolumearebrieflysum-

marized.FollowingtheIntroduction,thirteenchaptersareorganizedintothreesections.SectionOne(Chapters1–4)inves-

tigatesthegenresofweb-mediateddiscourseappearingontraditionalwebsites(Web1.0).SectionTwo(Chapters5–8)

discussesthegenresofweb-mediateddiscoursewhichappearonvarioustypesofcommunicativeplatforms(Web2.0),such

asWikipedia,laboratoryprotocols,etc.SectionThree(Chapters9–13)focusesonthegenresfoundinuser-generatedblogs

andmicro-blogs,likeTwitterandacademicweblogs.

InChapter1,PaolaCatenaccioundertakesanempiricalandtheoreticalinvestigationofthewebsiteconstructonthebasisof

genretheory.Thischapterprovidesanewandmoresuitabledefinitionofthewebsiteconstruct,whichcapturesthecharacter-

isticof‘self-containedness’,andisconsideredasarhetoricalinterfacebetweenthehypertextmediumandspecificgenres.

TheavailabilityofWeb-mediatedcommunicationhasledtothewebsiteconstructbeingusedcommonlyforvariouspur-

posesandhasdeeplychangedtheformsandcontentsofcommunication(e.g.,Kress&vanLeeuwen,2006).Thefollowing

threechaptersexaminethepracticalusesofthewebsiteconstructasgovernmentalwebsitesforhealthcareinstitutions,for

theChinesegovernmentandforNGOs.Tobegin,inChapter2,AlessandraVicentinifocusesontheapplicationofwebsitesby

Italy’spublichealthcareservicestoprovidinghealthcareinformationforforeignimmigrantsusinge-brochures.Asisre-

vealed,thetextstructureofe-brochuresissimplifiedandfewerrhetoricaldevicesareusedthanintraditionalbrochures,

strategieswhichtosomeextentindicatetheemergenceofaspecializedgenrethathelpstoeasilyinformandcontact

newimmigrantsonhealthcareissues.InChapter3,BettinaMotturaconcentratesontheuseofthewebsiteconstructbygov-

ernments,specifically,thePeople’sRepublicofChina.Similarlytothepreviouschapter,theauthorfindsthatlinguisticre-

sourcesarestrategicallychoseninordertoachieveoneofthefollowingthreefunctions:tospreadadministrative

informationtothepublic,toachieveself-promotionandtogatherfeedbackfromsociety.Chapter4,byChiaraDegano,is

acasestudyoftwoNGOscampaignsontheirwebsites,anddiscussestheinfluenceofthewebmediumoncomputer-

mediatedargumentativetexts.Itisshownthatcoherencerelationsinargumentativediscoursesareweakenedduetothe

potentiallydispersivecharacterofhypertexts.Itisalsosuggestedthattomaintaincoherence,websitewritersshouldkeep

inmindhowargumentativetextsareaccessedthroughdifferentcommunicatingmedia.

Inthefollowingfourchapters,attentionisdrawntothegenrecharacteristicsofdiscoursesappearinginWeb2.0applica-

tionssuchasWikipedia,OpenScience,etc.InChapter5,ElizabethRowley-Jolivetdiscussessomeofthesignificanttransfor-

mationsthattraditionallaboratoryprotocolhasundergonewhenpublishedinweb-mediatedcontextslikeOpenScience.

Changesarefoundinitsstructure,purpose,andlinguisticexpression,whichshowsthattraditionaldiscoursehasbeen

adaptedtotheweb-mediatedcommunicativecontext.InChapter6,MaristellaGattodiscussestheinfluenceofWeb2.0’s

technologicalaffordancesonthecentripetalandcentrifugalforcesofdiscourse,asreflectedinadiachronicanalysisofaspe-

cificsampleofWikipediaentries.Chapter7,byEnricoGrazzi,isacasestudyofthespreadofEnglishmemesinaweb-

mediated,EFLlearningcontext.Asisshown,guidedsocial-networkingactivitiesduringEFLlearninghasapositiveinfluence

onlearners’communicativecompetence.Chapter8,byElisaCorinoandCristinaOnesti,focusesonthestrategicuseof