In our first course on basic business literacy skills, in the lecture entitled understanding genres, we talked about what a genre is and gave some examples of different types of business writing genres. In case you have not taken that course or need a bit of a review, let me start this lecture with a bit of a recap. So if you recall, the technical definition in linguistics for foreign genre is that it's a socially agreed upon and recognized form of communication that's been developed over time to communicate more effectively and efficiently. In my lecture and course number 1, I explained that a telephone conversation is an example of a speech genre. Because a phone conversation has expected ways to develop the conversation and ways to end the conversation in terms of organization and language used. So this is an example of a speech genre. There are also written genres. In my previous lecture, I gave you some examples of written genres that are used in different professions. For example, like medical chart used by doctors and legal briefs, used by lawyers and I pointed out that it's very important to know the typical genres of writing and speaking used by the members of your chosen profession, since this shows you're a member of the group and you know how to communicate in the expected fashion within this group. If you need a review of this material, I suggest watching the lecture in Course 1 on understanding genres one more time. In this video lecture, we'll be talking about some of the common written genres in business. The aim of this lecture is that by the end of the video, you will be able to identify different written genres common in the business world. So let's talk about business writing genres. In the world of business, there is wide variety of different written genres. For example, to name just a few written genres in business, there are resumes, business letters, proposals, reports, executive summaries, contracts and advertisements. Reading, writing and editing these written genres actually will take up a large amount of the average business person's workday. So it's very important to understand the basics so you can differentiate and hopefully effectively reproduce them when you need to. Let's talk about how to differentiate between genres. Since there are so many different types of business writing genres, how can you differentiate between them? Well, first, you should realize that every written genre has three specific areas of difference. By this, I mean, every genre will have a different register, a different format, and a different structure. Let me explain each of these terms and areas in more detail, starting with the register of a genre. Each written genre has an expected register or formality and type of language that is used. In a sense, a register can be thought of as the type of vocabulary and the degree of formality that's used in different contexts and for different genres within specific domains. For example, the level of formality or register that's expected in a business e-mail is different from the register or formality expected in a business contract and the register in a business letter would be different from the language or formality expected in a proposal. Different written genres all have different registers that are associated with them. Being aware of this makes it easier for you to communicate effectively with others in the business world. Now let's talk about another way to differentiate business writing genres. This is in terms of a genre's format. In addition to the type of language or register expected in each genre, every genre also has a specific format that's recognized by different members of the business community. By format, I mean how a document is typically designed on a page. For example, think about a business letter you have either written or read recently. Business letters tend to all have a similar design. I mean, all business letters tend to begin with the receiver's address, the date of the letter, and a greeting and they all tend to end with a salutation at the end of the letter. All of these pieces of information are arranged conventionally on a page. If you can visualize a business letter like this, and you are visualizing the format or design of a business letter. Every business writing genre has a specific format or design. Knowing how to correctly format or design a piece of business writing you create makes your writing more effective. Each written genre also has a structure that is distinct. Now by structure, I mean the set of topics that readers of this particular genre expect to find in the content of the document. Using the example of a business letter, again, there are a distinct set of topics we would expect to find in a business letter. For example, you might write a business letter inviting the founder of a company that you've been doing business with to come over and see your offices next time he or she comes to town. Compare that to the topics you would expect to find in a CV. In a CV or resume, readers would really find it very strange to find topics related to an invitation to view your new offices. Instead, the structure of a CV or a resume tends to be focused on factual descriptions of past work experience. Now, I know that the use of the terms format and structure may have the potential to be confusing. So let me explain a bit more about the difference between the two terms. Remember, the format of a genre means the visual design of the text. A format actually could be reproduced and is many times actually available as a template online or in a book. But the format says nothing about the content of a document. The structure of a genre or the document is a set of topics that are expected. If you visualize the outline or table of contents for a document in a specific genre, you're visualizing it's structure. The structure or set of topics can actually be formatted in its different ways and the content of these topics will then be expressed in a specific register or level of formality, really depending on the specific genre or purpose for writing. Though within each genre there might be variations in content, each should be consistent in terms of its format, structure, and register, which is what makes up that type of written communication in a specific genre. In this course we'll go into more detail about the specifics of some of the more common business writing genres. Hopefully by the end of this course, you'll have a clearer sense of how these genres can be differentiated from each other. After this lesson, I hope you feel a bit more confident about your ability to identify the different kinds of genres common in the business world. Thank you very much.
