A model of the operations manual speech genre in engineering communication

• Main Author: Kurkan , Nataliya Vladimirovna
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Saratov State University 2021-03-01
• Series: Жанры речи
• Subjects: speech genres; professional communication; engineering discourse; discourse practices
• Online Access: https://zhanry-rechi.sgu.ru/sites/default/files/49-56.pdf

The article addresses basic genre parameters of the operations manual and aims to develop its genre model within engineering discourse. Engineering communication is becoming a subject of a special focus for linguists due to its rapid development driven by dynamic changes in technology, society and industry, which results in continuous exchange of information between the members of the engineering society. Despite the significant number of studies in the field of certain institutional discourses, the genre structure of engineering discourse, one of the promising fields of communicative linguistics, is still a research challenge due to insufficient studies of the engineering discourse as well as the professional communication in general. Since discourse is embodied in certain genres, and genres, in turn, are always included into a certain discourse field, the author proposes the idea that the engineering discourse provides a number of core genres which reflect the values, strategies and information of engineering communication. The research is based on the texts of operations manuals for the equipment produced by Russian manufacturers.  The analysis of genre parameters and lexical aspects has revealed a number of key characteristics of the operations manual as well as its peculiar linguistic presentation as of a specific genre of engineering communication. The analysis proves that the operation manual genre meets the primary goal of professional communication in the engineering field. The peculiar characteristics of the studied genre are determined by the professional communicative purposes and the situation. The results of the research may be used in university lectures on professional communication, cognitive linguistics and cognitive terminology studies.